Articles by mgedwards

The “B” Word

I talked to my mom tonight on the phone.  She surprised me by calling at 5:30 p.m. Korea time, or after midnight her time.  Usually I call her much earlier.  I was happy to hear from her.  She asked how we’re doing.  I told her the "B" word.  She usually dislikes hearing the "B" word.  No, not that "B" word, the one you might be thinking.  This "B" word has four letters.  The "B" word means "busy," a word shortened to one letter because it can grate on the ears like an uttered profanity.  Usually, "B" refers to work or family activities, but in this case, "B" means that it’s the Christmas season and holiday activities are starting to occupy our calendar.  Last night some friends took us to dinner.  On Saturday morning, our son was slated to attend the children’s Christmas Party, and this evening we went to a goodbye dinner for a good friend who is also a colleague.  Afterwards, we went to hear the Seoul Singers perform at a Christmas Concert at Yeongnak Church in Seoul (if you recall, I briefly joined the Seoul Singers earlier this year but had to drop out because of time commitments).  Tomorrow, I plan to attend "My Fair Lady" to watch one of my colleagues who is a member of the cast.  My wife and son will go to a goodbye party for a classmate and her family, who will depart soon.  If we have time, our family also plans to visit our nanny’s Filipino church for their annual Christmas extravaganza.  We might be too "B" to attend, but we’ll see.
 
In the meantime, we finished our Christmas letter, and we’re in the middle of writing Christmas cards.  My wife has taken the lead on Christmas preparations, doing virtually all of the Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts.  I’ve mailed them, though.  I feel like such a Christmas slacker this year.  I’m so glad that my wife has taken the initiative on gift preparations.  I spearheaded the Christmas tree decorating over Thanksgiving weekend, but ever since that initial holiday cheer, my interest in Christmas has been subdued this year.  Not the reason for the holiday–Jesus’ birth, mind you–but all the commercial trappings surrounding Christmas.  The commercialism makes the Christmas season feel too "B," in my humble opinion.  As much as I love family members and friends, it’s just become a real chore this year planning and executing Christmas logistics in a foreign country.  Plus, we are leaving Korea in less than two months.  My thoughts are now preoccupied primarily on getting us ready for our move and extricating ourselves from this country.  I’m glad though that we aren’t too "B" to go to some Christmas productions reminding us to be festive during this holiday season.

Guest blogger: Silly cold day thoughts…

My wife wrote another interesting blog entry for your reading enjoyment.  She’s right…things could always be worse!  They could always be better too.  Her thoughtful entry is a refreshing change from my meandering musings.

Have you noticed that weather really has an impact on our moods?  Every time I feel sorry for myself for enduring another cold winter day in Seoul, I check CNN for the temperature in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  In Ulaanbaatar, today’s high is 12F (-11C), and the low is -21F(-29C).  THAT is cold!  Some of our friends are currently serving in Ulaanbaatar for a two-year tour, and they are enduring true hardship.  The spouse is a very adaptable lady, but last time I heard, she is not having that great time there.  And that was during summertime!  My thoughts go out to her family as well as the can of Godiva Hot Cocoa that I am sending them for Christmas.

 

After Ulaanbataar, I like to check the weather in Shenyang, China.  Shenyang almost became our next post.  Had we bid it one spot higher on our list, we very well could be heading there soon.  So it’s a “could-have-been” place.  Aside from hardships such as pollution, Shenyang is also not a city best known for its weather.  Today Shenyang’s high is 25F(-4C) and low is 5F(-15C).   Still too cold to do anything outside.

 

Usually by now, my mood would improve and my complaints would subside.  In comparison, today’s high in Seoul is 38F(3C) and low 26F(-3C).  I am thankful for being in Seoul. 

 

This self-comforting technique seems to work well for me.  So next December when we are in Paraguay enduring the summer heat, I will be sure to check CNN often for Riyadh, Kuwait city, or Cairo, for their summer temperature, of source.  Any other suggestions?

Very true!  I rarely ponder the weather.  It doesn’t affect my mood much, although I don’t like the frigid cold or sweltering summer days.  Seoul isn’t known for good weather, but it’s not bad considering the weather in other Asian locales.  Of course, the weather in U.S. cities is generally better than it is in Asia, in my humble opinion.  South America is a different story.  I’m under the impression that South America generally offers wonderful weather.  Paraguay will be very hot in the summer (November – February) and warm in the winter (June – August) , and it doesn’t have four seasons that I enjoy.  That’s OK…we can always find comfort in our pool!  Yes, we will have a pool, one of the nice little perks of life overseas in an exotic locale.

KT Tunstall’s history comes full circle

I don’t often blog about music or musicians, but lately I’ve been fascinated by KT Tunstall, a singer from Scotland whose debut album is a recent hit.  When I heard her first big hit, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," on the radio, I immediately thought, wow, a pop song.  She’s not a teen idol, country musician, American Idol winner, or hiphop artist.  She is an honest-to-goodness pop-rock singer, the kind who doesn’t come along very often nowadays.  Her music style reminds me of Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, and Michelle Branch.  I’m interested in seeing how her career fluorishes over the next few years.  Of the singers mentioned, all have enjoyed commercial success, although their first couple of albums were inevitably more popular than their follow-on releases.  They are usually best known for one or two hits.  KT Tunstall’s music is refreshing to hear amidst all the clutter on contemporary Top 40 radio.  I was surprised to find out that she grew up in Scotland, because her sound does not conjure images of the Scottish highlands.  Her strong, soulful, folk music style sound more like it originated from Nashville, not Edinburgh, Scotland.
 
I don’t want to dwell on Tunstall’s music.  You’ll have to listen for yourself to decide whether you like her style.  What I find most interesting is her personal history.  According to Answers.com, KT’s biological mother is of Chinese descent, and her father is Irish.  She was born in Edinburgh and adopted at birth by the Tunstall family.  The fact that her ancestry is partially Chinese in the land of the Scots piqued my interest.  It took a little sleuthing to learn a more about her personal history.  I found the following information on Scotsman.com:
She is quarter-Cantonese. Her grandmother was Chinese, but her mother, a dancer, was born in Edinburgh and has lived there all her life. Seven years ago, Tunstall tracked her down, after having seen Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies. "It’s such an outrageously awful, brilliant film, the story of a black woman who discovers her mother is white. I watched it and thought, ‘I could handle that. And if I could handle that, I could surely handle anything.’"

Her father is Irish and worked in a bar, but despite trying, she has never found him. In any case, it seemed natural to trace her mother first. "Your mother is a woman who could have had a termination and didn’t," she says. "Your father could have been a one-night-stand who hasn’t been seen since."

She is intrigued by the 18 days before she was adopted. "I find it fascinating to think that for two weeks I didn’t have a mother. You have this short time when you have no idea what this baby’s future is going to be."

Did she ever feel abandoned? "No, but there have been moments… I met her seven years ago, and that was a strange process. You go through moments of thinking, ‘Actually, how does that work, and what was she feeling?’ But you just have to keep asking questions. At the end of the day, you are meeting a stranger. I’ve known her seven years, but that’s not long. I have to be slightly protective of the relationship, because we still have a long way to go."

Because Tunstall’s biological grandmother is Chinese, it is quite likely that her grandfather, a Scot, lived for a time in China, probably in Hong Kong, during the 1920’s and/or 1930’s.  He most likely met her grandmother, fell in love with her in Victoria or Kowloon, married her, and brought her back with him to Edinburgh.  Tunstall’s grandmother did what Pocahontas had done in 1616, when she moved to England with her husband John Wolfe (not John Smith, as is popularly assumed).  Although Tunstall’s grandmother likely experienced British culture in China or Hong Kong, migrating to Scotland must have been an immensely life-changing experience.  She very likely never returned to Asia because of the difficulty traveling before the advent of trans-continental air travel and World War II.  Now, her granddaughter is a famous musician, and her music has found its way to Asia.  Tunstall’s popularity has definitely brought her full circle with her Asian heritage.