Update from the home front
I haven’t posted an update on our goings-on at home lately. Life here could best be described as "too busy." I have a gazillion things to do at work. It seems as if each action item I complete is supplanted by yet another task. I really would like to be less busy than I am now. Granted, I’m not as busy as some people. On days when work seems overwhelming, I’m reminded of colleagues who left non-stop, fast-paced, highly stressful jobs in Manhattan and the Silicon Valley, and I’m glad I chose this career. I do feel the constant pressure to perform. Tomorrow I finish the training course I’ve been teaching since last November. My students will take their final exam. We’ll find out how whether they’ll pass the exam. I hope so, because it’s vital to their careers. Last Friday I delivered a speech on the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate to a group of 45 Korean students. The audience was receptive to my speech. At the same time, I have to begin working on three technical projects–our monthly performance analysis, an in-depth, statistically-significant survey of our customer base, and our information systems portfolio. Each one in and of itself will be a lot of work, and I’m doing my best to finish tasks that are nearing completion. The bottom line is that I have too much going on at work, and I need a really big shovel to unbury myself.
My wife is doing a fabulous job as a manager at the accounting firm she joined last October. She has many Korean and international clients. She is also a special matter expert on U.S. accounting practices and English-language financial statements. She recently started offering free English lessons to her Korean colleagues in order to help them improve their English. Although she does not work as many hours as her colleagues (thankfully!), I think she uses her time wisely. Because Korean accounting must be translated into English, she can quickly and efficiently translate it into English . Her job has also given her an intriguing window into Korean culture. She is one of the few foreigners in her firm, and she has developed excellent rapport with her Korean colleagues. Her colleagues have embraced her and have also learned more about other cultures through their interactions with her. She told me that she is glad she made the decision to go back to work. Our nanny takes care of our son during the day, and he has gotten used to both of us working full time. In fact, it has helped my son grow a bit more independent and more reliant on me.
My son keeps busy playing all day. Each week he attends a gym class and a music class and goes to the library for storytime. "Thomas the Tank Engine" is still his favorite children’s series, although he also likes "Bob the Builder" and "The Wiggles." We love to watch him act out storylines he’s developed in his mind, using his trains and other toys to animate the story. He loves play dough and sticker books, too. Lately he hasn’t done much coloring in his myriad coloring books, and he rarely does jigsaw puzzles nowadays–apparently doing puzzles was just a short-lived phase. My son seems to have a penchant for breaking things, and he always relies on daddy to "fix" it. Super glue is daddy’s favorite repairing compound.
Although we’re usually busy, we try to spend time together as a family. Family time means staying home, going out and about town, or even getting together with other families. When we’re not working, my wife and I sometimes go out on dates, like we did on Valentine’s Day. Sometimes I go out in the evening for meetings, networking events, or an occasional night out, as does my wife.