Posted in Events at 3:16 pm by Kevin Dang
Ah, I’m finally re-united with my family in Korea. Youngbin and Danae (and my mother-in-law) came to pick me up at the airport on Monday (6/16). Danae was so happy to see me; well, as was I to see them. 
This is my 5th trip to Seoul, South Korea so I’m no stranger to this place. Only thing is, this is the first time I’m here during it’s MONSOON SEASON! @_@ So I just found out that Monsoon season has officially started on Tuesday, the day after I arrived. And right on que, this morning, the rain came pouring. Awesome… -_-
We went to Costco yesterday. Like all Costco locations, the place is huge and packed with lots of people. Youngbin tells me on weekends, there are lines waiting to enter the store. Okay… remind me to avoid this area. Another area to avoid nowadays is the downtown (old town, civic center) area of Seoul. There are daily protests being held there… over “madcow-ridden” beef from USA, over gasoline prices, and whatever else issues the propagandists care for.
Fortunately, over here in the Kangnam area, there are no protests. I just hope it stays this way….
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Posted in Events at 5:27 pm by Kevin Dang
Youngbin and Danae went to Korea today… leaving me behind. This is Danae’s third trip to Korea; she has been going every year since she was only 6 months old (at 6 mos, at 1.5 yrs old, and this time at 2.5 yrs old). This is, however, the first time that she’s going to Korea without her Daddy. 
We have been preparing her for this trip… I have been telling her that she would be traveling alone with Mommy this time and that she I would come later. While Mommy was getting the boarding passes, Danae and I were standing away from the lanes. I, again, reminded her to be a good baby and to listen to Mommy at all times. She reassured me by saying, “No baby, Danae big girl!” I was happy to hear that.
Danae finally realized that I was not coming with them when they started to enter the security check area and the TSA employee asked me to get out of the lane. From there on, only ticketed passengers were allowed. Danae motioned to me to ‘Come Daddy’… but all I could do was wave goodbye. I could see her facial appearance tensed up and her eyes wet, but the sudden and quickness of the separation prevented her from crying. And within minutes, they were out of my sight.
It will be another 20 days before I go to Korea and meet up with Youngbin and Danae. So sad…
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Posted in Baby Stories at 10:29 am by Kevin Dang
Danae is almost 2.5 years old and yes, she sleeps in our bed with us at night. For some people, it seems that this is something outrageous. But really folks, it is no big deal!
Yes, it’s true that I sometimes complain about having to sleep on my side near the edge of the bed because Danae is pressing up against me. Yes, she rolls and rotates back and forth and kicks and jabs us. It is also true that Danae takes up 60% of the bed because she sleeps perpendicular to us. So why do we still let her sleep in our bed??
The answer is difficult to put into words and I imagine equally difficult for some to understand. Let me just tell you about an incident that happened this weekend which, to me, makes it all worth it.
Danae goes to sleep with us at around 11pm each night. It takes her about 10 minutes to settle down before dozing off. I take about 1 min…. Anyway, last Saturday night, I was at a poker game with my friends, so Danae had to go to sleep with mommy. Youngbin told me that Danae was sleepy, but wouldn’t sleep because she was waiting for daddy. She asked mommy if daddy was in the bathroom. ^_^; She finally fell asleep at around 1am. When I got back and snuck into bed, Danae woke up, but I did not move. Still in her sleepy state, she crawled over to me, looked at me and then gave me a kiss. Then she snuggled up against me and went back to sleep.
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Posted in Events at 3:23 pm by Kevin Dang
IBM and San Jose State University runs a cohort program that allows Silicon Valley IBM employees to earn a Masters degree in Software Engineering while working full time. It is a 2-year (6 semesters) program consisting 10-11 graduate courses. Courses are taught at IBM Silicon Valley Lab on Wednesday evenings by professors from SJSU. The admission requirements are pretty lax (good work record, have a CompSci-ish undergrad degree, and had a min GPA of 2.75) but the program accepts only 30 students.
At the information session I attended earlier this week, there were about 100 people in the room. I figure one third of those attended just came for the snacks since they dozed off less than 15 minutes into the session. Of those remaining, about 25% of them are not eligible to apply (or at least, they should be based on the silly questions they asked). So my chances of getting in are good.
Getting into the program is one thing (the easy part, perhaps), but getting IBM to pay for it is another. The program costs $2100 per course so 10-11 courses would cost about $23,000. Getting IBM to pay for it means applying for the Degree Work Study Plan and the qualifications for that program are out of my control. It boils down to whether or not my executive (3rd-line manager) thinks it is a good idea or not.
Anyway, I (with support from Youngbin) have decided to go ahead and apply for the cohort program. I have also started a conversation with my manager about it to get the ball rolling. So stay tuned!
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Posted in Rants at 10:02 am by Kevin Dang
“Mao offered U.S. 10 million women” — from CNN
“Amid a discussion of trade in 1973, Chinese leader Mao Zedong made what U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called a novel proposition: sending tens of thousands, even 10 million, Chinese women to the United States.” more
It’s interesting that this little anecdote is only now becoming public knowledge in America. For the Chinese, this story has been told (printed in Chinese newspapers, in America) for a long time. I first heard of it from my mom some years ago….
Kissinger went to China to do the historical trade talks since China had just begun to open its borders to foreigners. It’s true that China is “a very poor country” at that time, but I doubt a leader of a country would utter those very words. I don’t remember all the details, but for sure, in the Chinese version of this dialog Mao was very proud of his country and people. The version I heard of the Kissinger-Mao dialog did contain similar elements, but it went something like this:
Kissinger: China is a great country, but it is still very poor.
Mao: Yes, that may be true, but we have something you do not. We have an immense work force - human power to do any kind of manual labor.
Kissinger: Is that so? We certainly could use some of that…
Mao: How many do you want? I can send you tens of thousands. How about 10 million? Are you ready to open your doors for them?
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