December 2007 Letter to Friends

Dear Friends,

We wish you and your loved ones are in good health and spirits on this holiday season.

On behalf of the Hans, we are so pleased to report to you that the year 2007 has gone by with a lot of happy events with our children and also with their fast growing children.

As you know, I retired from SDSM&T in December last year after 26 year happy days in Rapid City. We came back to Korea after spending 42 years overseas and found ourselves feeling strange, uneasy and sometimes bewildered because everything is new to us and much even unexpected. One thing that hasn’t changed however, is the kindness and grace that people have shown to us. It is a small country in area but huge in heart and humility. We have been touched by welcoming efforts given by our old friends. At the same time, we have made many new friends who are equally kind and considerate. We have found the foods tp be very spicy but tasty with plentiful selections. Some are very expensive while others are very inexpensive but all are delicious.

I started working at SeoKyeong University on January 15 and one year has gone by so fast. I always feels happy when I have a roomy office, a computer and friendly colleagues nearby to whom I can ask questions about a lot of new and unfamiliar things. I taught a freshmen course, entitled “Fundamentals of Engingeering and Applications” and learned a lot from teaching this course over two semesters. I was asked to teach this class in English but found soon that it was almost impractical and counter productive to teach a course in English, especially to a freshmen class. Next year, I will teach Technical Communication to graduate students, which can be a fun course if students will cooperate in keeping the pace needed for the course to be effective.

As many of you know, Helen had a surgery in September and was able to join me in Seoul in October, but she feels fine these days. We enjoy daily hiking along the foothills of Buk-han Mountain early in the morning. We visited China and many places in Korea this year. We had great fun visiting many places chasing fall colors. We really enjoy seeing a good balance of many colors, red, yellow, green, and brown, and we are not disappointed in seeing of wealth of colors throughout Korea. We look forward to going back home during the winter break to see our children and grandchildren.

Iris, our first daughter works diligently helping all kinds of kids not only in her capacity as a doctor but as a kind and warm human being. She and John have two darling children, Lia and Alex. Lia, only three years old is talking and thinking like an adult.

Vincent, our son is an inventor and entrepreneur, and engaged in many exciting projects. Michael, his oldest son is now a proud teenager. He and Hyeonju have two other proud sons, Chris and James, and a charming daughter, Kara. We are so proud that they are growing in a healthy and well-behaving manner.

We had great fun together with Alison, our youngest daughter who visited us in April and May. We went on a trip to China together, and she liked the Asian countries so much that she went on touring Vietnam and Cambodia. Her consulting job keeps her very busy and she feels it is rewarding.

I feel that coming back to Korea at least for a few years and serving our motherland in a very humble way was a good decision and I am sure that my Father and Mother would have liked this decision. We will enjoy our rest of stay in Korea until we return to our family in the US.

Sincerely,


Helen and Kenneth
December 18, 2007
Spending our first year in Korea