It's been a momentous week for us here:

1. I got my F-5 visa.
2. We got a house (new apartment).
3. My son got pneumonia.

Your prayers are appreciated for the last two. (Friends and family are welcome to see pictures of our new place on our "New Year's Letter" site.)

Now that I have a permanent residence visa (F-5), my wife says I can do anything a Korean citizen can do. I heard the Blue house will be taking applications for the next presidential election. If Noh Mu-Hyun can be president, why can't I? We have at least one thing in common: we waste time writing for our blogs when we should be working. (see his blog at Naver, one at Daum, and one at Paran.) Maybe Korea can get a visible minority into the presidency before the US does. That'll be the day . . .

No, I'm not cut out to be president, but it might be nice to open a nice street food stand. I have all sorts of ideas for them, but the main problem is that if you do very well, there will be half a dozen others who will copy your idea, and then everyone goes bankrupt. Case in point: there used to be one stall selling 1,000 won mini pizzas in town. Now there are at least 5, three within sight of each other, and they are simply splitting the business. Some have had to diversify into other items to make ends meet, and others have hiked the price to 1,500 to counter falling sales volume. The end result is that at any of these places now, business is slow, and the pizzas are most likely to be cold from sitting out too long. It's a real shame--I liked those mini-pizzas.