All quiet on the southern front

Mass transit bombings in Mumbai, India.  Fighting in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon.  Iran and possibly North Korea referred to the United Nations for possible sanctions.  A disputed presidential election in Mexico.  I feel safe here in the shadow of the world’s largest front line.  Taking your family for French toast sticks and playing on the playroom at Burger King this morning felt just a bit surreal.  I think I’ll go watch "Superman Returns" and see truth, justice, and the good guy prevail over the villian.  Thank you, Hollywood, for taking my mind off reality for a couple of hours.

Guest Blogger: Home, here we come!

Once again, my wife has written another excellent journal entry to post on World Adventurers.  Although a few weeks old, it captures some of best moments of our trip to the United States in May.  I will return again tomorrow.

We just returned from our vacation in the United States.  It was an absolutely wonderful trip and so nice to get away from our daily routine.  The clean air, green mountains, blue lakes of Northern Idaho, and the prairies dotted with horses and cows under the big sky in Montana were breathtaking.  We lived in the Pacific Northwest for over ten years, but we never appreciated it as much as we do now.  “That’s why the Congress mandates home leave every two years,” I thought to myself, “So you can appreciate how great a country U.S. is and represent our country proudly overseas.”

 

However, it was the gathering with long-time friends in Seattle that became the highlight of our trip.  Due to our time constraints, we were able to stay in Seattle just overnight with our best friends and then enjoy a breakfast (dim sum) with many others before we headed to the airport.  My friend has been very busy, being a mom of a five-year-old and a two-year-old while pursuing her Ph.D full-time and working part-time.  We did not really keep in touch regularly in the last two years.  But you know you are good friends when you can just pick everything up right where you left it.  And that’s exactly what we did into the early morning hours that day.  We talked about many things – life in Korea, life in the Foreign Service, her school, her family, how to juggle between kids and work, etc.  Our three-year-old son also played very well with her children.  I kept thinking that if we had stayed in this area, they could have become the best of friends.  Honestly speaking, with the convenience and modern life in Korea, I have not missed the U.S. very much.  Nevertheless, nothing here in Korea came close to replacing the friendship that we have built up over the years back home.  When it was time to leave, I hugged my friend and told her, “you know, I really missed you guys!”  I tried very hard to hold back the tears.

 

I am truly grateful that behind our life adventures that brought us to far-away places, we have a place where we had put down roots and can call “home.”

Weather puts a damper on the protests

We went home early today to avoid the onslaught of protesters in downtown Seoul who were protesting the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.  Round two of the FTA negotiations is currently underway in Seoul (round one was last month in Washington, D.C.).  I took a risk and drove to and from work today.  It took about an hour to come home today, 30 minutes later than expected due to heavy traffic.  That, and I had to be extremely aggressive to make headway in the standstill.  Once I left downtown the traffic was mild.  I received my first honk in Korea for apparently driving badly.  Well, that’s a first!  Usually I am the one cursing and white-knuckling the steering wheel from bad Seoul drivers.
 
It could have been worse.  Mother Nature dampened the protests today by dumping bucketloads of rain.  She either:  1) Felt sympathy for me; or 2) Supports the Free Trade Agreement; because she poured rain down on Seoul all day long.  The anticipated 50,000+ protesters never materialized because of bad weather.  When I left today, the protest consisted of about 7,000 souls willing to brave bad weather and a threefold number of riot police.  The U.S. and Korea are going to need help getting this FTA done, so having Mother Nature as a supporter is a good ally indeed. 
 
I really have to wonder sometimes about what goes through the minds of Koreans.  When their neighbor to the North, with which the South is technically at war, launches test missiles, about 20 protesters materialize to protest against the launches.  Is an FTA really that much more provocative than lobbing missiles that it can draw 7,000 people on an utterly terrible day?