Expats and Patriotism

Never did the word "expat" have such a profound meaning for me as it did today when I mailed in my absentee ballot for the November 4th Presidential election. Throughout the day I've felt a wave of different emotions come over me.

As the trends of expats have shifted from the 19th century till now from artists, writers and musicians living in Europe, to the larger trend today of recruiting professionals globally, I believe the word "expatriate" has taken on new meaning.

When we began our journey this June, the word expat sounded so negative to me. We're expats? The word ex-something doesn't sound so flattering. I guess it's really Latin. Ex/out of and patria/country. But to me it sounded like I'm being ex-patriotic or doing something against my country. But nevertheless, in the beginning that too felt kind of good, like I was escaping our self-absorbed American lifestyles. I'm thinking, wow, we're really cool, look what we did and look at all these expats we're meeting and hanging out with (mind you - while we're gathering at Starbucks in Korea).

Then the more I've witnessed and lived life in Korea, my opinions started shifting a little to, wow - we are really really fortunate to live in the United States. We have so many luxuries at our fingertips and I thank the stars that I'm able to give my children all of the wonderful opportunities that they will benefit from being US citizens.

When I filled out my absentee ballot today, I was excited and nervous. It was so easy too. Everything was emailed to me from our local county's electoral board and I'm participating in this historic election from across the world.

I've recently become involved in the Deagu International Women's Association where expats and Korean nationals meet on a monthly basis to experience our different cultures and also participate in charitable events. It's such a nice feeling to be embraced by the Korean nationals. We want to learn so much from each other. I also recently began tutoring a neighbor's son in English. We had a lot of fun the other night looking at and reading the National Geographic magazines I brought to our tutoring session. There was an article about "green" living and I was able to explain to him what that means and the effect of our "carbon foot-print" and then he said, "look at the picture, that guy's driving a Hyundai car". And I thought, see how we've made a connection together.

Expat life is fun - but I know that there is a termination date. I get to go home. And that too is a really good feeling. Something I never would have experienced if I didn't get this opportunity to live abroad. We're really fortunate to have this experience. It's given us a lot of eye opening and "aha" moments so far. Even our dog Ajax has become an expatriate in Canada! I might be "out of country" but I don't feel like an "Ex". More like an Exponent.

Creepy Cupcakes, Costco Comforts

Well this weekend I'd hardly know I was in Korea. Our best friends here, the Hamiltons, Kris, Cliff and their three daughters MacKenzie, Madison and Kira came up from Busan and stayed with us. It was a fun American pastimes filled slumber party.

We ate on-post, took the kids bowling and decorated cupcakes in the spirit of Halloween.

Sunday morning Kris and I snuck out on a field trip to Costco!! But for the addition of Korean products, it's pretty indistinguishable from Costco back home; samples to taste, organized in the same layout. Getting there Sunday morning we avoided any large crowds. You can even buy hot dogs and pizza at the concession stand just like at home! My exciting purchase of the day was a large box of Rice Krispy Treats.

The weather here is still warm in the upper 70's. A neighbor delivered a large bag of crispy apples to us last night, just when I was missing our traditional apple picking this time of year. The leaves are beginning to change colors. Benjamin's school just wrapped up Homecoming festivities. Sometimes things don't seem so different, at least for instance this past weekend.

Our Trip to Seoul

From prostrations to repentance, we've really been on the run lately. Our most recent adventure was our trip to Seoul. We headed north (about 3 hours) in our car for Yom Kippur services, our first real Jewish experience in Korea. We spent two nights at the military's religious retreat center. The retreat ended with break the fast and we were even served bagels and lox! It's like the Jewish kimchi. The service was intimate, almost like Passover because the Rabbi called on almost everyone in attendance to participate, read or open the Ark.

After we left the retreat center we headed on post (military base) where we stayed at the Dragon Hill Lodge for an additional night. We took the kids to the Korean War Memorial and Museum. It was quite impressive as far as war memorials go. It made for a fantastic day. To top off our day, coincidentally, some new friends from Waegwan were also staying at the lodge with their two children so we met up for dinner at a Brazilian restaurant. It was a lot of fun and ALL of the kids gave us a special treat with their good behavior. It can't get any better than that!

Kwaneum Sa - Temple Stay Program

Last weekend Steve, Benjamin and I spent a night at a Buddhist Temple called Kwan Eum Sa, Sa meaning temple in Korean. This was yet another trip offered through the army's activity center. Despite my agony of a terrible sinus infection, this was a cool and divine experience for all of us. It was like camping at the temple and most of you know how much we enjoy camping under the stars. However, at the temple we did have a private room and bath.

Here are just some of the activities that were packed into a two day stay: walking meditation, tea drinking ceremony, threading 108 beads, practicing prostrations, formal monastic meal, chanting, meditating and making lotus lanterns. At the end of the trip we took a tour of the Korea Buddhist University in Daegu city.

Benjamin made friends with many monks. I think he has become "enlightened" now. The different ceremonies and rituals were alluring. It was a really fun family activity surrounded by a breathtaking and stunning scenery in the mountains.