The day after tomorrow, Jess and I fly to America.

We originally started this blog two years ago to keep everyone up to date on our experiences living abroad. Since we’re coming home now, and since I won’t have long afternoons in the office to opine about politics, the blog seems to have passed its prime of usefulness.

I’ll keep it up, but probably won’t be active on it for months to come. Facebook is perfect for keeping in touch. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a reason to return to blogging in the future.

Till then, g’bye. It’s been fun.

Nate

One more month in Korea.

Word has probably reached most of you by now that I’m enlisting in the army. This Wednesday I’ll be swearing in on the Yongsan base in Seoul. I’m signing up for a September boot camp and infantry training in Georgia.

It was surprising to find I’m part of a fast-growing number of EFL teachers joining the US Army while in Korea. But the main response I hear from friends is, “Why the heck would you do that?”

Reasons…

• It first came up when Jessica mentioned it as an option based on my personality, etc.– something I never, ever would have expected to hear from her. Since she was fine with it, I finally started thinking and praying about it.
• I had to agree with Jess: the infantry would match my deep-seated interests more closely than other jobs have.
• Also, both of us are in love with travelling, but I’m not really sold on the idea of doing it as a career English teacher.
• With my bachelor’s degree, I’ll be able to go to OCS and pursue an army officer’s career, which I’ve seen turn out very well for my grandpa and uncle.
• Army health insurance is ideal for Jessica’s needs, both now and in the case of future pregnancies, etc.
• Army housing allowance is an answer to our desire to keep life simple, and to avoid having to decide yet how to invest our Korea savings.
• While periodic desires for other careers always fade, my interest in and respect for the military has been constant for as long as I can remember.
• Why not try it while I’m still young and mobile enough? I spent two years teaching, which I’ve never really wanted as a career. If for some reason I don’t want the army after three years, then so be it.
• You may call it peer pressure or jealousy, but I call it family tradition: Grampa Crew was in the US Army before he was actually a US citizen, and his offspring ever since then seem stuck on the military. I grew up in an army family.
• Ok, I’ll admit it. When my brother Caleb got deployed to Afghanistan, I got a bit jealous. I’ve always been intrigued by the Middle East, and want to be where news and history are being made. Then another brother, Amos, joined the Marines. I hesitated no longer.
• After living in a feminine society, surrounded constantly by female coworkers, it’s time for a break from all the estrogen. Boot camp might be a good detox.
• Living and travelling abroad, I initially went through a phase testing the waters of liberalism. But as time goes on and my understanding of the world develops, I’ve actually become more appreciative of America, and more patriotic than I was before. I’m excited for this chance to serve.

After learning about cause and effect, one of my classes was answering this essay question:

“Imagine Mr. Crew got lost at Mt. Sorak. What could be effects? Finish the story.”

Here’s a sample answer, word-for-word.

Mr. Crew made a wood house. Mr. Crew dropped his cell phone in pond.

then an mountain god came there. he bring a haptic and asked him “Is this yours?”

and he said “no.”

soon, god bring rollypop phone. and god say to him, “Is this yours?”

than he said “No”

god bring Mr. Crew’s old phone an asked “Is this yours?”

then he says “Yes!”

than he got 3 phones because the god gave to him. than he sold haptic and rollypop phone, and he is be a very rich.

Another student even hooked me up with a date in his story.

He see a person. He say “hey! I rost. You have a map?”

Person is not say and go. He is angry. “Not good person!”

And one laddy ask to him. “I lost this mt. did you have a map?”

He say “Sorry. I don’t have a map. I rost too.”

At night they are hungry and cold. they find to cave and sleep there.

one grand father care they to his home. They get up, there is a tree house! laddy see a grand father. and they say “thanku!”

If you’ve seen world headlines today, you know this already. Europe is about to go conservative.

The notorious British National Party got its first two EU parliament seats. But as far-right as the BNP is, it won’t be lonely.

I’ve also been reading about the parties that have made gains in the Austrian, Danish and Dutch governments. They seem to have many key policies in common with each other. All three, like other right-wing European parties, especially want to restrict Muslim immigration and deny Turkey entrance into the EU.

In other words, “Keep Europe European!”

Denmark’s rising “People’s Party” even supports Israel, the US war on terror, and the maintenance of Denmark’s National Church. Their Netherlands counterpart is openly protective of “Judeo-Christian” culture.

Of course, many of Europe’s conservative parties are decidedly more Christian than their liberal counterparts. But that doesn’t make them all good news.

As American conservatives, let’s remember there are some crucial differences between Europe’s political right and North America’s.

Hungary and Slovakia, for instance, now have some governing officials from parties know for racism (antisemitic, anti-gypsy, etc.). Don’t forget, Europe’s memory of right-wing leaders isn’t filled with people like Ronald Reagan. Try Hitler or Mussolini.

That said, Hungary and Slovakia are relatively unimportant. I do think this general swing to the right could turn out to be a healthy thing for Europe overall.

In other news, I’ve figured out why I’ve become such a political blabbermouth while living in Korea. It’s because my job doesn’t keep my mind and body busy enough. And in the office, my default boredom activity is reading the news. So all the excess mental energy goes into analyzing and blabbering about politics.

Oh well. Hopefully that will be remedied once we get home and I start a real job.

Mount Sorak is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one, especially set in such a crowded, busy nation. Besides being my most challenging hike in Korea, it was that most beautiful place I’ve seen in this country. These photos don’t do it justice at all.

Click on any sample here to see the Facebook album.

Watch the video here on Facebook.

Public opinion is a beast in any society. But to me, Korean political emotions seem especially confusing and twisted. What’s more, these impulsive emotions seem to move in sync across the nation, as if on cue.

It’s almost like the mental roller coaster of an unstable teenage girl.

Bribery scandals surrounding liberal former president Roh were a huge disappointment to many Koreans. They let the world know by giving conservative Lee Myun Bak a landslide election last year. Now Lee is their new target of even stronger disapproval.

That hasn’t stopped indignation from still growing about how corrupt Roh had been. But the instant Roh jumped off the cliff behind his house, he ensured his place in Korean hearts as a beloved martyr.

It makes some sort of sense, I guess. But despite Koreans’ loathing of their new president, I’m baffled by just how extreme the ongoing displays of affection for Roh have been. In my neighborhood today, someone put up enormous banners honoring Roh. Right now, I’m watching dubious photos on TV that make it look like Lee’s evil cops are desecrating Roh’s funeral flowers.

The moment Roh jumped, he stopped being the weak old man who got crooked and let his nation down. He became everyone’s sweet, innocent grandfather. And of course, Lee is the murderer.

If that’s how effective suicide is in east Asia, I now see why it’s so popular here. Like I said, unstable teenager…

Anyway, I you never got a chance to read about the incident, here’s the story I read the morning it happened.

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s former President Roh Moo-hyun, hounded for weeks over his links while in office to a widening corruption scandal, appears to have jumped to his death in the mountains near his home on Saturday, a top aide said.

[Read it.]

I’ve been reading C.S. Lewis’ book The Weight of Glory. Today I ran across one of those quotes that’s quotable enough to add to my Facebook “Favorite Quotations.” It’s about the importance of knowing history.

A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age.

Here’s a huge example of the bizarre planning some of us see at work on a smaller scale every week.

If there was an award for the world’s quietest international airports, Yangyang in South Korea would be a strong contender.

One of its newest terminals, which cost almost US$400m to build, has not seen a single passenger in more than six months.

Campaigners have dubbed it a “ghost airport” and claim it is far from an isolated example.

The BBC’s John Sudworth went to visit it.

[Watch video]

 

Here’s a comparable map of North American religious belief by state/province. I say comparable, not parallel. Data from some areas is a couple years earlier than from others. Also, the question was slightly different: this shows people who identify with a religion as opposed to having “no religion.”

I still see older religious traditions standing out in dark color, although there’s not as noticeable a contrast. The US is extraordinarily religious in relation to Europe. Look at little North Dakota up there.

But Mexico and Quebec (with its neighboring provinces) represent Roman Catholic majorities, and they stand out as religious even compared to states in the US “Bible Belt.” Interesting.

I ran across this while browsing today. The results of a 2005 Eurobarometer poll were made into this map and posted on Wikipedia.

Romania and Greek Cyprus look darkest to me. Orthodox Christianity, like Greece. Looks like Poland and Portugal come in second strongest, both Catholic nations like Italy and Ireland.

The Protestant countries look like total slackers. Interesting. They’ve gone further and faster down the road of secularization than their neighbors, even though the Catholic and Orthodox churches have been around longer. I wonder why that is.

If Turkey finally gets into the EU, it’ll probably be the most religious country by far, even though very secular compared to other Islamic nations.

The German government says it plans to ban combat games such as paintball, in response to a recent school shooting.

[read more at the BBC]

I think this is completely ridiculous. As if further emasculating the German population will help remove all violent instincts?

Soon, every German man still possessing a weiner will also have to apply for a concealed weapon license, and be tagged as a national security threat.

I recently heard a brief summary of someone’s reason for choosing atheism. The logic is so undeniable, surely it can be applied to other things in life as well. Money, for example. Let’s replace the word “god” with “money.” Here’s the basic argument.

Talk science and philosophy all you want, I just can’t take the idea of money seriously. I mean, look at all the horrible things people have done for money. Look how many lives have been ruined or taken in the name of money. And yet so many still believe money exists. That kind of blind faith just makes no sense to me. I simply can’t believe in money. Also, even if it did exist, I wouldn’t see anything good about it.

Ok, so there’s really no comparison between money and deity (real or hypothetical). But I thought the parallel was fun, anyway.

If I tell you I have $100 and then punch you in the face, will my meanness make you disbelieve in my $100?

It’s careless logic, but I’ve seen it shaping too many people’s worldviews. The idea is that since religious belief seems to hurt humans it can’t be good, and thus even if God does exist, he shouldn’t.

Here’s my main issue with that: Despite knowing that we’re dust on a tiny speck called “earth” drifting in an infinity of which we know next to nothing, why do so many humans think anything that makes us feel good must be ultimately good, and what makes us suffer must be ultimately bad?

How is human wellbeing the indicator of ultimate truth and reality in this universe?

Humans have also harmed each other for the sake of land, ethnic pride, and political ideals. Does human ignorance and evil negate any truth or merit inherent in those things? Of course not. Humans are experts at taking what is good and pure, and making it vile. The same is true with religion.

As far as reasoning just from scientific knowledge, there’s probably as little reason to strongly believe in the supernatural as there is to strongly disbelieve. But how does human meanness or suffering become evidence against God’s existence? Someone explain that to me.

I may be a jerk, but the $100 is there nevertheless.

Just like scientific knowledge, human morality can be used to argue either way. Augustine reportedly said, “If there is no God, why is there so much good? If there is a God, why is there so much evil?”

Here’s a VERY thought-provoking article from an outsider’s viewpoint on America’s intensifying culture war of liberal vs. conservative ideologies. Whatever you think of the author’s bias, I think his picture of how polarized it gets over time is eye-opening.

“While I was Away”

Well, I guess this is one way to confront an Islamic threat.

I guess it’s also a creative strategy to motivate evangelism.

Somehow, though, I doubt it’s really the answer for either issue.

Crazy facts, though. I enjoyed it. Any comments?

As an American with an eye on world news and politics, I’ve found several events of this month a bit embarrassing.

Sure, embarrassment is a strong word. But it’s partly explained by remembering my own early optimism about the man who’s now recklessly apologizing to the entire world for almost all that America has stood for up until his own presidency.

Shaking off insults–like Chavez’ public gift of an anti-American book and Iran’s ridiculous “spy” trial–the president charges on in his quest to purge the American image of all bad feelings and disapproval from friends and foes alike. Along the way, foes gain fresh confidence and resolve. Already, even friends (like Sarkozy) are beginning to snicker at the pitiful spectacle.

Ok, Obama, we get the point: you’re not Bush, and your policies will be different. But isn’t there enough eagerness to paint big America as the bad guy without its own president heartily agreeing? Haven’t you done enough humble receiving of trash talk with a dumb grin and speeches full of warm fuzzy nothings?

I’m starting to worry that Obama’s quest to boost America’s global PR is already burning bridges that will not be easy to rebuild.

Is it just a high price for an equally high return in American prestige? Doesn’t look like it. Obama came out of London’s G-20 economy talks essentially empty-handed and overshadowed. And that was before it got as messy as it is now.

On a side note closer to where I live, the president has yet to make any strong statement about North Korea’s illegitimate capture and trial of two US journalists. Will he wait for them to be executed before scolding Pyongyang? Just how far will he go with this new White House meekness?

If Obama doesn’t get mean and hit back at his foes soon, he’ll doom American liberalism to being publicly identified with embarrassing weakness of will and American self-loathing. Then, the resulting swing back in the conservative direction could be too extreme to be healthy.

This all may take a while to happen, and the president’s approval ratings may even stay high in the meantime. But like a high school teacher showing lack of resolve the first day, that softness will come back to haunt the whole class. Those like Chavez and Iran who openly insult the new administration and get smiles in return will remember it. Right now, public opinion may be against them. But their day will come, and their numbers will grow. As world leaders realize there is no longer any alpha male in the pack, the chaos of natural selection will ensue. Who will survive as the fittest contender?

Kim Jong Il’s usual apocalyptic rhetoric surrounds the coming launch of his mysterious “satellite” rocket. But, accustomed to his childish melodramas, other leaders have become increasingly slow to even notice– let alone answer– the hermit dictator’s tantrums of militant trash talk.

From the BBC, here’s the vague US response to this latest serving of crisis from Pyongyang.

N Korea warned over rocket launch

Presidents Obama and Lee met on the sidelines of the G20 in London US President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart have agreed a “stern, united response” must follow any rocket launch by North Korea. Mr Obama and President Lee Myung-bak discussed the issue on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London. North Korea says the rocket will launch a satellite between 4-8 April, but critics suspect it is a missile test. North Korea has threatened Japan with immediate retaliation if it makes any effort to intercept the rocket. North Korea has also warned that any attempts to impose UN sanctions would be seen as a hostile act. ‘Thunderbolt of fire’ The US and South Korean leaders met before global talks on the economic crisis got under way. “They agreed on the need for a stern, united response from the international community if North Korea launches a long-range rocket, and to work together in the course of that,” the South Korean presidential office said in a statement. There was no immediate word on the launch from the White House, but President Obama told journalists that South Korea was one of “America’s closest allies and greatest friends”. Ahead of the G20, President Lee also met Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in London to discuss the issue. They affirmed their intention to refer Pyongyang to the UN Security Council for sanctions if a launch is carried out – a move backed by the US. North Korea’s missile programme Mr Lee stressed the need for a “united response” among world leaders to the threat from the North. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd have already expressed their support, and several other G20 partners are also said to back UN action. President Lee said they should also try to convince China and Russia, security council members with veto power, to “join in a strong response”. But the International Crisis Group, a leading think tank, said China and Russia could exercise their veto on Pyongyang’s behalf if a final resolution made “no mention of launches relating to peaceful outer space activities.” Japan also won backing from President Lee to shoot down the rocket if it misfires and endangers Japanese territory, said Japan’s deputy cabinet secretary for public relations, Osamu Sakashita. “Japan can rightly take any action to protect its territory,” he said, and the South Korean president “completely agreed with Mr Aso’s views.” The North has warned it would consider any interception “the start of Japan’s war of re-invasion”. Japan ruled the Korean peninsula as a colony between 1910 and 1945. North Korea’s military has threatened immediate retaliation if “even the slightest effort” is made to intercept its rocket. The military was quoted by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency as specifically mentioning Japan, the United States and South Korea in this respect. Japan was threatened with a “thunderbolt of fire” if it interfered with the launch.

In its own indecisive way, Seoul is finally getting warmer. Greenery is popping out. The air is less parched. We bought a football. Several friends and I will probably be playing ball fairly regularly now Saturday afternoons, after guys’ Bible study.

Summer will be moist and nasty again, but Jess and I can’t wait. We plan to make this one especially memorable. Two things remain on our to-do list before leaving Korea: a visit to Beijing, and a visit to Osaka. We hope to do both during the coming summer months.

In other news, this semester is shaping up as an enormous improvement over my last 1 1/2 years of teaching. I finally have a classroom and a Korean co-teacher (an excellent one). Instead of trying to teach nearly 1,000 kids of all ages each week, I now co-teach only 5th and 6th graders. I see them twice a week, and my co-teacher Moon-Jung will help remember names, organize evaluation, and make sure they understand what’s going on. Now, they can actually ask questions and make progress. We’re also using a textbook and its materials. Overall, I’m immensely relieved. Even the simple fact that Moon-Jung can hold an intelligent conversation with me is unbelievably refreshing. It somehow makes work in Korea seem not so rough after all.

As far as long-term plans, we’re not sure what will happen come September. As discouraging as the U.S. job market and current exchange rate are, I’ve been thinking more about buying a home in Tennessee, even if it may mean joining the military to pay our bills. But of course, there’s always the tempting option of taking another year or two teaching abroad. If not in southeast Asia, we’d probably do it either in the Middle East or Europe. I assume Latin America may be an option as well, but we haven’t really discussed that possibility.

Anyway, we have one more Korean spring and summer to decide. Feel free to toss us any arguments pro or con. Anybody know of jobs opening up in the Jackson area?

This is from news feed site www.reuters.com.

Obama, Geithner get low grades from economists: WSJ survey

(Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner received failing grades for their efforts to revive the world’s largest economy, according to participants in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.

A majority of the 49 economists polled said they were dissatisfied with the administration’s economic policies, according to the paper, a stark contrast to Obama’s popularity ratings with the general public.

Keep reading….

Having gotten a great taste of Indonesia last winter, Jess and I now finally have a wider appreciation of southeast Asia. Our two weeks in Cambodia and Vietnam were amazing.

Vietnam had its own little quirks and cool experiences, but we spent most of the week there sprawled on the beach. Just as well, since we didn’t find the same cultural appeal as in Cambodia. That first week in Cambodia will stay with us forever.

You travellers know that “country of contrasts” is a guidebook cliche describing almost any nation on earth. But if any country fits the phrase, it’s Cambodia. Three things about it mix in odd ways to make the place what it is.

First, there’s the people. Many Khmer people seem to live entirely for the moment, embracing a sense of humor that keeps them relaxed and unconcerned even in the midst of gruelling work or poverty. Surrounded by signs of their past both magnificent and horrifying, they carry on a simple culture, secure in who they are and what is happening today.

Second, there’s the distant past. The glories of Angkor centuries ago give every Cambodian a sense of pride and identity. Its influences are still seen everywhere. In the broken nation Cambodia has become, the symbolism of Angkor Wat is still, as someone put it, “Cambodia’s finger to the world.”

Third, there’s the recent past. The Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror is one of modern history’s strongest lessons in the ugliness and power of sheer human evil. Not some outside enemy, but 1/4 of Cambodia’s own men, women and children were senselessly (yet carefully) tortured and murdered. The international trials finally began in Phnom Penh the same day we had seen the cheif monuments of Khmer Rouge terror. Hopefully, the Khmer people will finally get some answers, and some closure.

Because of those contrasts and other variables, Cambodia left a unique impression on us. Despite little nuisances (like the dishonesty,  price haggling, etc. that come with any third-world country), the Khmer people have, in one week and without really trying, endeared themselves to us. We hope to visit again someday, hopefully for more than tourism.