Family Update - Nov 2009

So, as mentioned on the cover page, I've been a bit delinquent in doing this web site thing and now there's a lot of ground to make up. <sigh>. Well, nothing to do but jump in. Month-by-month, here's what transpired since the last update one year ago.

Oct, 2008
In October last year we celebrated the 2nd anniversary of our assignment to Seoul by accepting an assignment extension to add a forth year to our stay (to October 2010). An easy choice since we have been having such a great time. Unfortunately, for General Motors the financial situation had built to a crisis and even with the extension in place the outlook was questionable as to whether we would still be here much longer (or if GM would still be around).  A pretty trying time in spite of the extension which in normal times would have provided reassurance and security.

Even after 2 years here we had hardly exhausted the supply of new and fun things to do though. October was no exception as we went to the Korean Performing Arts Center in Ilsan (West of Seoul) to see the "Raise The Red Lantern" - a dramatic Ballet about a Chinese concubine who falls in love with a commoner instead of her lord. A very good show (especially for a ballet - not usually my thing) and a famously dramatic show that has been performed in New York and other cities around the world. The ending is extremely dramatic and emotional as the performers disappear behind giant white backlit sheets which become covered in bloodly slashes as the lovers meet their fate. Not for kids.

October also saw us visit Seoul Forest, a large city park near our home, to see the Korean Drum Festival, Drums of all sorts were played in an open air concert with the emphasis of course on Korean traditional drumming. A great show and one we'll try to repeat before we leave.

Nov, 2008
November started off on the wrong foot as I ended up needing a root canal due to an old filling calling it quits. This was a Korean experience I would have gladly missed although I'm sure it would have been just as bad an experience stateside.

We were visited for Thanksgiving week by our family friends Rich and Cheryl Odendahl. We hiked up Namsan Mountain with them the day of their arrival and then they rejoined us after a week of wandering about Korea on their own for Thanksgiving Dinner (catered to us by the USO kitchen at Yongsan Army Base again- we'll miss this when we leave). A very nice visit.

Dec, 2008
Everyone's favorite time of year started off with the usual Christmas concerns at the kids school. Both kids gave great performances of course. Next, Nancy and I joined many of our friends at Josh and Tammy Bogle's house for a "Bad Sweater Party" and I won an award for my Cliff Huxtable sweater (only pictures can do it justice).

We capped off the year with a trip to Thailand which managed to find enough peace between civil protests to let us in, out and about the country with no unpleasant incidents (and loads of pleasant incidents). We had a great vacation in Bangkok and the island of Koh Samui although we worried this trip might be our last in Asia as GM was now up to it's neck in red ink and congressional hearings. What a way to end the year.

Jan, 2009
After our return from Thailand in early January, the month settled down quickly for the most part. Josh had another birthday and turned 8 years old while we were in Bangkok and he got a remote control mini submarine for a gift - totally cool. Upon our return to Seoul, all of us made a visit to Bearstown ski area again for a tailgate birthday party for Josh's friend Tyrone. It was another beautiful day on the slopes - but then again there are never bad days on the slopes even with the man made Korean snow.

In spite of the ever increasing problems for GM in the market and financially, planning for the future continued. I was offered another opportunity to stay on in Korea - this time for much longer and in a new position. After discussing things with the family we all agreed we were up for it and I let the company know that we'll stay on until Oct, 2012. Everything seemed to be in line but then it was all put on hold until June. Sigh. GM needed time to wait and see how things shake out financially.

Feb, 2009
We finally visited Seoul's National Museum in February. I had driven past this very large site on my way to work everyday for over 2 years and never made it inside. As advertised, it turned out to be a very nice museum filled with Korean artifacts going back almost 3000 years. We also learned that it was the Korean's who invented the first moveable type, not Gutenberg (a fact debated by the Chinese who claim they invented it before both Gutenberg and the Koreans - welcome to Asia). In fact the Korean's invented moveable type almost 200 years before Gutenberg created his process - pretty impressive even though it doesn't catch on like Gutenberg's press because the metal and porcelain plates that make the lettering are to complex and heavy to be managed easily.

Unfortunately, we said good-bye this month also to our friends the La Forests as they had to repatriate to the states. This would be among the first of many such exits over the next several months as the global economy took it's toll on the expatriate community. Unfortunately it's also the life of an expat to experience many such goodbyes - we're all just transients here after all.

March, 2009
Our trip to the Seoul Philharmonic orchestra in March demonstrated to us yet again that Seoul is a small town that just happens to have 24 million people livining in it. When I called the English ticket line the phone rang and rang. When it was finally answered there is a nice gentlemen speaking excellent English on the other end of the line. He took my ticket order gladly and then began a nice conversation in which I learned that 1) the office was closed and he just happened to be walking by when the phone rang, 2) he's the conductor of the Philharmonic and lived in New York City for 15 years and 3) he'd love to meet us after the show. We had a nice conversation about how I learned about the concert which he says is rarely attended by expats and we discussed how he might change that (suggestions on expat news sources he can advertise with). About 30 minutes after the call he calls me back, unfortunately my credit card won't process properly and he can't correct the problem since that's not his usual job. "Don't worry though", he says "I bought you the tickets with for you and they'll be waiting at the 'will call' desk". He then stated that if we can pay him back within the next 2 weeks that'll be fine. I don't care where you live in the US, I sincerely doubt you'd get a perfect stranger to pony up $200 for concert tickets based on a 15 minute phone conversation and an IOU. Nor will you find the conductor of the top Philharmonic Orchestra in the country answering the ticket booth phone line (for service in the non-native language) on a Saturday afternoon. Amazing. Anyway, the concert was terrific (a tribute to movie music - Raiders of the Lost Ark, 007, Harry Potter, etc) and we did get to meet the conductor who was a real gentleman - obviously. And we paid him back of course. A great time and a great experience...and another great story.

That wasn't all we did in March either. We also found time to go to the Buddha's Birthday festival at Jeongno Temple and we learned how to make Lotus Lanterns. Finally, we closed out the month with short spring vacation visit to the indoor Lotte World amusement park here in Seoul and we made a visit by high speed rail to Busan and Haeundae Beach on the southeastern tip of Korea. A good time was had by all.

April, 2009
As the GM drama began to wind to a close with the announcement that GM would indeed go through bankruptcy proceedings, we quieted down our activities and waited to see what was to come for us. In April that meant staying close to home and looking for new opportunities for fun in Seoul. So we broke out our hiking shoes and hopped on the subway to go climb Mt. Bukak in southern Seoul. We had a beautiful day and the mountain turned out to be very pretty although we never did get to the top. Hopefully we'll make it back someday and fix that.

May, 2009
May was another quiet month for us as GM made final progress towards entering bankruptcy. Things started to look up for us though as it became apparent that a liquidation would not occur. We also received confirmation that the new job and 2012 extension were "go" and we began to make plans to stay (extending the lease on our apartment, enrolling the kids in schools for next year). I would start the new job in September. Things are looking up.

As I close out my old job as Asia Pacific Quality Assurance Manager I travel to Thailand and India. It is my last visit to Thailand for work but I'll be visiting India for sure in the future. I wish that situation were reversed.

June, 2009

GM filed for bankruptcy on June 1 and the world kept moving on. Also in June, the kids wrapped up school at Seoul Foreign School for the last time and made plans to start at Yongson International School (YISS) the following year. YISS is both closer to home and has better programs for Josh. Everyone also began to get set for our 3rd home leave. As the month came to a close, Nancy and the kids headed to the airport for their flight to Detroit and shortly there after I was off to Shanghai and Louzhou in China for audit activities there. It would be my last trip to Louzhou - I'll miss the people there and the scenery but I sure won't miss the hotels or the food. It took almost a week this time to get my stomach to settle down after my week there. As for Shanghai - as Arnold says...."I'll be back."

July, 2009
As usual, we had a great time visiting friends and family in the US while on home leave. Nancy and the kids visited with her folks and sister for several days and had a great time with them. The three of them also visited an expat reunion at our friends the La Forests who had left in December. I was very sorry to miss the reunion since most of the people we first met here have since returned to the states and this was a great chance to catch up with them again. Everyone really enjoyed the get together and I'm hoping to be there for next year's event.

I arrived in Michigan and caught up with my parents and my brother. We all went off to Manistee for a few days and had a relaxing time on the beach and in the shops there. While in Michigan, we also spent time building model boats and flying model rockets with Josh, My dad also gave us a big hand with the house in replacing some rotted boards that carpenter ants had invaded in our garage door header. While home leave is never very relaxing because of all that we have to do and the people we need to see (including doctors and those visiting stores for resupplying), we had a great time. A return to the US is always welcome.

August, 2009
We started August with the end of home leave and return to Korea. Unfortunately this was a bitter sweet return since our good friends and apartment-mates, the Hower family, had returned to the US to stay. Since the return for the Howers was a sudden decision we met up with them in Lansing at Clara's for dinner so our kids could say goodbye to each other. It was the last in a long string of expat goodbyes and very sad. Having lived in the same apartment building, our kids had spent a lot of time together over the last year and a half so it was good to end things on a happy note and it was a great night at Clara's. We hope to see them whenever we return to MI.

Back in Korea, the kids were right back to school. The new school has been great since it's only about a kilometer (1/2 mile) from the house. Josh and Sarah both have taken to it with relish and have made loads of new friends there. Josh has also started guitar lessons there. He's hoping to challenge Uncle Jason soon as the family musician and is off to a great start.

Sept, 2009

The new job started up right away in September as planned and I am now officially the Global T300 Program Quality Manager (that translates to the quality manager for the future Aveo for those not up on GM lingo). To start I'll be pretty much staying in Korea but as the program matures and we start building at various factories around the world I'll be visiting all of those sites and will probably end up on every continent except Australia. As I mentioned before, this new assignment should keep me living in Korea through at least Mid-2012 although I am still waiting to hear the official end date. I'm looking forward to the new challenges.

Other than this, the other excitement has been that Nancy is now taking Indian cooking classes. So far the trials have been excellent so on our next return be sure to ask her to whip you up some Nan and Chicken Tika Marsalla. Yum.

Oct, 2009
October officially marked the completion of 3 years on assignment to Korea and would have been the planned end of our time here. To celebrate we finally went to the one place that was on the top of our list of places to visit in Asia - Beijing and the Great Wall. While it was only a 6 day visit, my brave brother Jason flew over from San Fran and joined in on the adventure. The Wall was everything we imagined and then some, and the other sites were just icing on the cake. Needless to say it was a fabulous time but I'll save all that detail for the travel section story on the visit.

What's next?
So we are now standing at the mid-point of what looks to now be a 6 year stay in Korea.  Needless to say, we don't expect the future to be very dull.

Short term we a planning to stay in Korea for Christmas and ski some of the "big" resorts here but starting with next years spring break we have hopes for renewing our travel to more exotic locals (have to let our coffers refill a bit). Somewhere in the next 3 years we hope to fit in...
  • Angkor Wat - Cambodia
  • Saipan
  • Taiwan
  • Japan - Tokyo, Tokyo Disney, Kyoto and Mt. Fiji
  • Fiji
  • Australia/New Zealand
  • China - Xian (Terra Cotta Warriors) and a return to the Wall
  • Malaysia
  • Philippines
  • Bali
  • Singapore
  • Southern Vietnam
Obviously, it's going to be a bit of a reach to get all of that in but with a bit of planning and some good luck (and a lot of frequent flier miles), who knows? I certainly never planned to spend 6 years living in Korea but now that we're here we'll be making the most of it.

Hope to see you around the world!

Larry Dickinson
Jacob Hower, Joshua, and Nicholas Hower at the Hillside Halloween Party - Oct 2008
Fall color on our mountain - Oct 2008
Dinner with our Friends Jean and Christy Maquinaw after seeing "Raise The Red Lantern" with them. Restaurant is a duck Galbi (BBQ) place and some chair are swings
The kids with our family freinds, the Odendahls (Rich and Cheryl)  - Nov 2008
Korean Santas (Santa Halibogee "Grandfather" in Korean) seeing us off at Seoul's Incheon Airport on the way to Thailand
Nancy and Sarah launch a lantern on New Years Eve at midnight on the beach at Koh Samui, Thailand
Josh and a Korean Warrior at the National Museum of History - Just before I got yelled at for having my flash on (oops).
Sarah and Josh at the National Museum of History pond.
Josh making his Buddha's birthday lotus lantern at Jeongno Temple in Seoul. He won an award for best lantern for an 8 year old.
All of us with the Seoul Philharmonic Conductor. A great time and a super nice man.
Josh on the upper deck of the tour boat around the sights at Hyundai Beach in Busan, South Korea
The whole crew plus brother Jason on the Great Wall in China - October 2009