The World at Your Feet

Read in the most recent Berkeley alumni newsletter that Chancellor Berdahl appointed John Lie, a Korean-American professor, to be the new dean of the Center for International & Area Studies (announcement here).  IAS holds fond memories.  While majoring in political science, I specialized in area studies and devoted most of my elective units to courses provided by IAS.  Northeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.  Specialized courses in Korea and China.  IAS allowed me to explore the world without leaving the steps of Sproul Hall.  A typical day could (and did) include speaking at length with an eminent German scholar about the political dynamics of the Tianamnen Square Massacre, having lunch with a visiting student from Tokyo and discussing their take on the formation of the European Union, and taking a coffee break with my Argentinean teaching assistant to learn about the Patagonias.  The outgoing dean of IAS, Professor David Leonard, actually taught my Sub-Saharan Africa course way back when I was an undergraduate.  There is a dated but amusing Q&A with incoming Dean John Lie on the sociology department's website (link here); after reading through it, you learn that his family immigrated to the States from Korea during the 1950's.  Wow.  Truman was still President and the Korean civil war had just ended in a truce.  From Lie's erudite responses, you also realize why he received both of his degrees from Harvard.

Neighborhood Chow

Earlier in the week, we had dinner with Staci at Joy Luck Place, a contemporary banquet hall-style Chinese restaurant, not far from what will be our new place on Crystal Springs Road.  Judging from its patrons, the place appears to be a magnet for Peninsula ABC's, almost more so than the Straits Cafe in Palo Alto or Fook Yuen in Millbrae.  And for good reason.  The food is pretty good.  Fresh, authentic, and not greasy at all.  Mushrooms wrapped in tofu skins were especially good, as was the mixed seafood soup.  Can't wait to try their dimsum service one of these weekends, especially given the short bike ride from our soon-to-be new home.  The San Francisco Chronicle ran a review of their only other locale in Cupertino (link here).  Now if I could just find a good Korean restaurant in the area.

Presidential Visit

The past few days, our group has noticed a large cluster of high-level security personnel at the Omni Hotel adjacent to our office building.  After asking around, it turns out the President is staying there this entire week.  No, not our President, who has his hands full in Washington with the 9/11 Commission Report due out today, but rather, President Bagabandi.  President Baga-who?  His Excellency Natsagiyn Bagabandi, the President of Mongolia, who is stopping in San Francisco to give a speech at the Asia Foundation's 50th Anniversary Gala (link here) on his way back home after an official state visit with Dubya at the White House.  Maybe he'll try the much-ballyhooed porterhouse steak at Bob's Grill inside the Omni.  Bob's may need to rename it "Mongolian Beef" for the occasion.

The Peninsula

With some much appreciated help, we devoted most of the weekend to moving T's furniture and other belongings from her long-time home in the East Bay to our temporary home on the Peninsula. We will be leasing a quaint townhome on the San Mateo-Hillsborough border just a few miles down from the Crystal Springs reservoir and hiking trail (link here). The house is located on bucolic Crystal Springs Road which meanders and winds through several miles of scenic hillside, lined with creeks and leafy oaks. And along the way, you can gawk at the multi-million dollar Hillsborough estates nestled high above the roadway. No surprise that the road is popular with cyclists (and real estate agents) which you see more frequently than cars. We are looking forward to regular picnics at the reservoir and the occasional bike ride down the lake trail to Menlo Park and Palo Alto. But the real beauty of the location is that it is also a short walk (the other direction) to downtown San Mateo and to my favorite gourmet market cum culinary school, Draegers (link here). Their celebrity chef demonstrations are a must. As for the move, T should be settled in fairly shortly; and I will be joining her from nearby Burlingame after our wedding in October. Our house-warming party should be in mid-November so be on the look out for another invite.