Since taking a U.S. Government class at the age of 15, I’ve been fascinated by politics and the democratic system that runs our country. I remember being 16 and watching the McCain-Obama race unfold, mesmerized by both the show and the policy alike. I did research, watched debates, and cast a ballot in my first general election at the age of 20. I watched the numbers roll in late through the night as Obama was voted into his second term. I’ve indulged in political documentaries, movies, books, and television series based in fictional political worlds that grab your attention and refuse to let go.
Though in the past politics has merely been an interest or a form of entertainment for me, this current election has quickly surpassed entertaining and moved into heart palpitations, literal nightmares, and loss of words. I’ve had a unique privilege of observing everything that’s happened from overseas. Thanks to modern technology I’ve been able to stay in the loop of the goings on in the U.S., while living on the other side of the world where one would think it would be possible to escape the insanity.
{A New Perspective}
Moving to Korea last August gave me a fresh appreciation for the country and city in which I was raised. I became so proud of the diversity that I naively grew up in without noticing the cultures surrounding me. While Korea is a beautiful country, but it’s not exactly swimming with a mixture of races and cultures. It has actually become surprising to see someone of another race outside of the 16 foreign teachers that I work with. We all commented that we now find ourselves staring at any other foreigner who passes by. And hearing a bit of English, forget it. My head may as well spin off.
For months I was almost upset at Korea for being so undiverse. I held a small grudge against the hundreds of Korean restaurants I would pass without having a single Mexican restaurant for miles. Now,in the country’s defense, Seoul is actually much more diverse than outlying cities, however, living in the country’s third largest city with over 2.5 million residents, one would hope for more culture.
It wasn’t until a day out searching for hummus that I had a realization. Most countries are exactly like Korea. Made up of generally one race. Eating their versions of comfort food with an ethnic restaurant here and there. I thought back about my recent trip to Italy, had I seen a single Chinese restaurant in the time we were there? No. Had I seen anyone who wasn’t Italian that seemed like a resident? No. Plenty of tourists sure, but nobody who had the confidence of living in the county full-time. It was this day that I became eternally grateful for growing up just outside the city limits of Chicago. I called the city home for five years and couldn’t walk a block without seeing someone of a different culture, hearing a different language, or smelling food from a foreign restaurant. It is probably the thing that I miss most about home.
{The Election Overseas}
Witnessing previous elections from the States, I hadn’t realized the international attention that our elections draw and the effect they could have. That said, this is an unprecedented election with unprecedented media coverage.
I believe my first recognition of this election’s impact overseas was in early June as it was becoming clearer that Trump could very realistically become the Republican nominee. Before June I had been having conversations between teachers at school all from the U.S. or Canada which didn’t seem like much of a political reach. It wasn’t until a night in June when we were out grabbing a drink after work at a local bar.
It was a crowded Friday night and some Koreans asked to join our table. We of course said yes and welcomed some new acquaintances and conversations. Though their English was limited and our Korean was nearly nonexistent, it took less than five minutes for the obligatory where are you from conversation to occur.
Upon hearing two of us were from the U.S. the next conversation was of course about Trump, his crazy ideas, his insults, and us trying to convince these people that not all Americans share his ideas. That we didn’t personally know anyone voting for him. At that time we could almost still laugh about it with a hope that it wouldn’t really happen.
And then it did.
Over six months later his actions, present and past, continue to make headlines both back home and overseas. After each debate I found myself at school the next day in conversations with Canadians feeling sorry about the representation our country was getting.
As I’ve traveled over the past few months Trump and his actions seem impossible to escape. A cab driver in Jeju Island, who spoke maybe 40 words of English, somehow couldn’t communicate the words beach or swimming with us, yet made the effort to communicate “Trump-crazy”.
In Vietnam this September, I overheard people at the table next to me discussing the election at breakfast. They seemed to be a mix of Canadians and native Vietnamese citizens expressing their concerns for the American’s who would be voting in the upcoming months.
Most recently, in Hong Kong, on our train ride from the airport into the city, the television was showing a news program reporting something in Chinese which had Trump’s name and face front and center.
Ironically, as I turn around in the café where I’m currently writing this post, the man next to me is reading an article on Trump right now. Trump’s words and ideas of foreign policy are making headlines and table conversation worldwide. Including the most eye-opening moment that happened in school a few weeks ago.
There is a class of students that I had the pleasure of teaching for a year. They are sweet, thoughtful, and brilliant. They are far smarter than I am, and they are just about to finish fifth grade.
After a friend of mine, their current teacher, ended her class with them, she reported to me that they spent the first 15 minutes discussing the presidential election happening half a world away in the United States. She told me that they were expressing their ideas on his foreign policy. That they didn’t want him to win because of his views on having American soldiers in South Korea or his welcoming comments this summer towards North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un.
Every day I taught these students someone said something that made me in awe, but this surprised me the most. The fact that they have opinions and chose to use free time in class to discuss them gave me so much perspective as to how much this election is going to affect not only our nation, but the entire world. It also gave an entirely new meaning to the phrase, “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?”
{Ready to Vote}
The countdown to the election can now be measured in hours. Millions of people have cast their ballots early and votes are currently being counted. As the numbers are tallied I find myself growing more worried each day as the margins shrink. I’ve done my part voting from overseas, and now I simply have to hold my breath and wait. Hoping that the country I left will remain the welcoming and diverse country I return to next year.
I’ve discussed, I’ve prayed, and most importantly, I’ve voted. I’ve filled in a ballot, coloring in a bubble for a woman whom I believe cares for people of all races, nationalities, religions, and genders. For a woman whom I believe will lead the country the continue to be respected by nations overseas. For a woman whom I believe will maintain our country’s greatness as a land where all are welcome. For a woman whom I hope will continue her legacy and forever be remembered as the first female president of the United States of America. And I could not be prouder to have done so.
I’m with her.
As a young girl being raised in the suburbs of Chicago there are a lot of teams you cheer for throughout your life. In my family baseball was our sport and the Cubs were our team. I grew up going to baseball games be it my brother’s games, minor league games, or Cubs games. Baseball was a comfort sport. I knew the rules, I knew what team I cheered for, and I knew to order a Chicago dog and beer at Wrigley field.
One of my favorite aspects of living in Korea is the access I now have to other parts of Asia. While I have to say that Japan was never on my bucket list of places to venture off to it turned out to be one of the most fun traveling experiences I’ve had abroad thus far.
Fall in Korea is beyond gorgeous. Even being from a place with a nice fall season, I was mesmerized by the colors on the trees in this country. Everything becomes painted with shades of orange, red, and yellow and seems to stay that way for months. Set against the backdrop of mountains and blue skies it makes for a dreamy walk to work each day. That said, with all of its beauty Korea unfortunately lacks in the customary autumn festivities. There isn’t any apple picking or hot apple cider. Starbucks doesn’t serve pumpkin spice lattes. Halloween is not celebrated. There is no pumpkin carving or scary movie marathons on TV. While the weather is beautiful the traditional feeling of fall can be hard to come by.
We made it to the festival expecting to see stands selling apple cinnamon baked goods, apple cider, apple wine, and of course miles of red spotted orchards to go apple picking. What we discovered is that even in its best efforts, Korea’s idea of an apple festival is unfortunately quite lacking in the standard festivities we are used to from the United States. Ironically, the festival was less about apple themed festivities and more about apples themselves. SO MANY APPLES.
various types of tea, and even a little apple juice. It turned out there weren’t any apple orchards for picking bundles of apples, or at least not that we could find, but at that point we were happy just to be taking home our apple pies.
On our last day in Thailand we wanted to check out a market. After doing some research we found one that was supposed to be relatively obscure so we could get more of an authentic feel for the city. We packed our day bags and made our way to the bus depot to try to catch a shuttle to the Amphawa floating market.
I have to say my favorite part of the day was this cruise. Not because of the sunset or the fireflies, but because the boat took us down a part of the water that backed up to people’s homes. It was beyond fascinating to see what local people were doing in this tiny little Thai town on a Saturday night. We saw families having dinner outside, a man working on his river boat, people watching tv, women cleaning, men sitting on their docks with a beer. It was so interesting, and I’ll admit a bit creepy, to have a glimpse in on what these people who live here were doing, and to see the similarities and also stark differences to life in the U.S.
We ended our night with one last run to the “food aisle” of the market to grab some snacks for the hotel and then made our way to catch the last bus and head back Bangkok. I love a market, and with our flight leaving early the next morning, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience to close out our incredible trip.
We closed out the evening with one last cocktail on a beachside bar, a crape from a charming little street lady, and a scooter taxi back to the hotel.
A string of national holidays in October leads to a number of long weekends in the beginning of fall and a lot of opportunities to explore the country. One of these holidays is National Foundation Day which is a celebration of the founding of Korean as a nation. While this year I’ll be doing some adventuring outside of the country, last year I used the the extra day off work to explore Nami Island {one of over 30 islands in Korea} with a friend.
Towards the end of the day we went off the beaten path a bit and discovered a quiet area on the edge of the island by some water to watch the sunset. As we started making our way back to catch the ferry home we realized that those “balloons” from the tree lined path were in fact little white lanterns that magically lit up the trail as we waited in line for the ferry. A perfectly charming ending to a long and exciting day.
Day four in Thailand was mostly a travel day with the morning spent in Ao Nang and a long ferry ride over to Ko Phi Phi. We made it to the island for sunset, a bit of beach time, a late dinner and some island exploring. Getting off of the ferry, Ko Phi Phi was already very different than the main land of Krabi had been. It felt more touristy, yet still like we were in a different world. There are no cars on the island, and it’s made up of twisty and turny brick roads filled with people, shops, and carts. It took nearly our entire stay there just to feel like we knew our way around. While it didn’t feel quite as authentic as our stay in Ao Nang had, it was a cute island none the less and certainly had its own highlights. Small yellow flag garlands welcomed us above all of the main streets, the beaches were out of this world, and the tree house bars were really exciting.
bbm travels 