Comments:
My apologies for writing such a long note; I didn’t have time to write a short one!
After High School I moved to Seattle and attended the University of Washington. I received by BA w/ Honors in Political Science in 1984, but in the end I was studying mostly economics and language. I spent six months in Beijing in 1983. I did a year of graduate work in economics before deciding I was tired of school.
Looking around Seattle in 1985 I didn’t see a lot of opportunity. Some guys were setting up a computer company out beyond Bellevue, but that was always going to be a niche market. Another guy downtown was opening a chain of coffee shops, but really, how many coffee shops can the market support?
I decided to move back out to Asia for a year to practice my Chinese and see a little more of the world. After a year in Taiwan I took a job leading tours in China; that was fun and I really felt I had found my calling schlepping bags for little old ladies. Between tours I found a regular job in Hong Kong’s financial markets. I stayed in Hong Kong for four years, working as a trader, broker, analyst, and economist. I met Shirley, my future wife, lost her, got her back, married her and moved her to Korea as their markets opened to international investments. We lived in Seoul for 3 ½ years. Our first son, young Morgan, was born there in 1992.
We left Korea for Shirley’s native Singapore and I changed careers to focus on telecommunications. Andrew was born in Singapore in 1994. After ten years in Asia I decided to move back to the States to raise our sons. I overreacted to a decade of urban life and we moved back to Yakima for a couple years before pushing on to Seattle in 1998. We’re still in the house we bought that year.
I went back to the UW’s night school and received my MBA in Finance in 2002. Since then I have spent some time in commercial banking, mortgage modeling, and private equity before finding my current position with Boeing. I’ve been here just over two years.
Shirley has adjusted well to being in America. She’s been working for King County for six years and has a circle of good friends that keep her from missing home too much. She took the boys to Singapore and Hong Kong for a two week tour a couple years ago. They were so sick of eating dim sum when they got back that it was months before we could get them out for Chinese food again!
Morgan and Andrew are 16 and 14 now. They’re in the Seattle School District’s highly capable student curriculum. Their program is in the most urban of our middle and high schools, so they also get exposure to the great diversity of the city.
They’re both much better athletes than I ever was. I’ve coached Morgan’s soccer team since the players were eight years old, and it’s been great to watch the neighborhood kids grow up and to know so many of their parents. At this point soccer is almost a year-round sport for us, with the winter indoor league, spring league, and summer tournaments before the main fall season. I have one more year coaching before the team graduates high school themselves, and I don’t know what I’ll do with my time then. I’m sure Shirley will think of some chores to keep me busy!
Andrew is playing select soccer for Emerald City this year. He’s always practiced with his brother’s team so he’s developed a mature game playing against the older boys.
Both boys are great skiers. I got them started five years ago and, when it was clear that they liked it enough, took up the sport myself the next year. We manage to get up 40-50 times a year for the last four seasons, which is a lot, but there are three great hills within 90 miles of our house and many more within a days’ drive. This year both boys are working as ski instructors at Snoqualmie Pass and are taking a freeride clinic on Sundays at Crystal Mountain. Andrew got pretty scraped up there this past weekend – something about high speeds, crusty snow, a steep hill, and the trees at the bottom. Morgan tells me Andrew is very lucky he wasn’t badly hurt. This weekend we’re going to Stevens Pass, where they’re holding a youth freeride competition. It should be fun, especially if they don’t get hurt. Or damage their gear $. I’m taking them to Montana for a guys’ week during winter break – steak and eggs every day!
High School sure seems like a long time ago. I’m very lucky to be in touch with a few friends from those days. I see John DePrey most often. I’ve become a better skier by watching him, which is easy to do because he’s always in front of me. But I think he’s becoming better at climbing hills on his mountain bike for the same reason. My downhill mountain biking would improve more, though, if I could stay close enough to see how he does it.
I’m also in touch with John and Jim DeGrasse (Eisenhower ‘78 and ’81), and I see a little of Steve Fish and John Roucek, but not nearly as often as I’d like.
