December 2006

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I started writing this letter in sunny, warm Orlando, Florida with fake snow decorations all over the place and finished up in freezing Big Sky, Montana surrounded by real snow and skiers. I am thoroughly taking in this wintry winter here in Montana, which is so like the one I knew growing up in Seoul, Korea. It’s a truly great place to reflect and reminisce about the past 12 months and to wish you all the best in 2007. In this 12th annual letter I offer my sincere gratitude for your continued confidence in my work and for your invaluable support, friendship, and love. Here’s my partial answer to everyone’s most frequently asked question, “Where have you been, Jacki?”

In 2006, I worked as a simultaneous interpreter in Central America (Guatemala), North America (Canada and the US), Asia (Hong Kong and Korea), and Europe (Copenhagen, Denmark). Yes, I spent lots of time in the air and hotel rooms (often not remembering which floor button to press in elevators and not having the faintest idea as to where my bathroom was when woken up in the middle of the night) in different time zones. Jet lag became a luxury. In various places I interpreted for a multitude of topics including the following: baseball, military strategies, cotton, salmon, computer software, human resources, retail, sales, nutrition, railway, financial planning, pharmaceuticals, politics, intellectual property rights, cosmetics, film making, to name just a few. Some of the great individuals I thoroughly enjoyed interpreting for were the Korean baseball team’s head coach Kim In-Sik, baseball legend Sadaharu Oh (during the inaugural World Baseball Classic), and Colin Powell – no doubt one of the best communicators for whom I have ever interpreted.

I had quite a few voice-over recording sessions that were a lot of fun. These sessions gave me the opportunity to “be” a tour guide, a techie talking about the latest cool tech products, and a friendly operator providing important information to the general public, among other roles.

Some of the projects I worked on as a translator and editor were: ad copies, newspaper articles, company brochures, websites, recording and subtitling scripts, contracts, health education, correspondence, surveys and more surveys.

I also shared what to do and what not to do as an editor of projects during my presentation titled “Questions are an Editor’s Best Friend” at the American Translators Association’s (ATA) annual conference in New Orleans. You can find an article about this presentation in the January 2007 edition of the ATA Chronicle. I continue to serve on the board of ATA and am very pleased to announce that the long awaited Korean Language Division was successfully established during that annual conference.

When I was in town, I took full advantage of living in the San Francisco Bay Area by attending various lectures with titles such as “How European abstract words took root in the Korean language,” “Law in a Multicultural World: The Right to Culture as a Human Right,” “The Nightmare Riding Korean Literature,” and “Women’s Struggle for Gender Equality in Korea.” I also had the precious opportunities to hear literary luminaries such as Amy Tan and Isabel Allende. Their wit and sense of humor captivated me just like their words continue to do so in their wonderful books. These are certainly some of the great perks of living in this area as I simply walked or drove a short distance to attend these events.

Being the film buff that I am, I saw 38 movies in theatres, including two during the 11th Annual Pusan International Film Festival in Korea and many more on airplanes. Little Miss Sunshine, with its superb acting is definitely my favorite movie of the year. I found the South African film Tsotsi to be thought-provoking. The other two I found excellent and entertaining were Match Point and Inside Man. My favorite books this year were “Saving Fish from Drowning” by Amy Tan and “Our Happy Time” by Korean writer Gong Ji-Young. The funniest book among those I read was “Dave Berry Does Japan” by Dave Berry. Please don’t forget to share with me your favorite books and movies.

In March and June respectively I decided to enter writing contests sponsored by Korean newspapers for pieces I wrote in Korean. To my complete surprise I won second place for both contests. It was wonderful to share my stories and to talk to a few readers who found them interesting as well as to hear from old friends who saw my picture in the papers.

This year I was able to squeeze in two mini vacations – one weekend in Seattle hiking Mount Rainer in knee-deep snow in the month of July and one week at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy (“World’s Toughest Playground”) in Florida. In spite of an insatiable appetite and my body being exhausted, I was ecstatic about being on a tennis court for 6.5 to 7 hours each day. No vacation with Robert this year. I will have to wait till next year to get away with him as he had an even busier year than I did.

That’s It Folks! Thanks for reading. HERE’S WISHING YOU VERY HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

With warm regards,

Jacki NH TransKorean Services 555 Pierce St., #845F, Albany, CA 94706-1008 USA

Tel (510) 527-6300 Fax (510) 527-6700