This blog is about sharing and documenting a year in time. It is about sending strings of thought out over the ocean, in hopes that my friends and family back home will reach out and grasp the ends. It's about making sure I truly take this year to live, about reminding myself to observe and reflect, and remembering to record what I have seen and done. This blog is about the inevitable date in the future, when I've found myself far removed from daily doses of kimchi and rapid Hangul, that I wish to dive back into my adventure, sift through my memories, and weed out some revelation or series of thoughts that floated through my brain during my time away.
This blog is not about judgment, it is not about me wanting to hear the sound of my own voice, and it most certainly is not about politics. I like to think that, for the most part, my feet remain firmly planted on the ground, rather than climbing the soap box that unlimited access to the internet so often pushes people towards. But (again) at the end of the day this is my blog and I make the rules; so, just this once (I hope), onto the soap box I will climb.
Those of you who know me best, know I'm a huge cry baby. While I may spout off a seemingly endless flow of sarcasm, and can sometimes (often) let a less than impressed expression blossom from some wrinkled forehead eye squint combo action, it takes little more than a brief moment of vibrant happiness or grief in novel, television, and/or movie form to set me off. This character trait, inherited no doubt from my father, recently created some awkwardness on the subway. A few days ago, as I was crawling along Seoul Metro line 1, I found myself teary eyed and sniffling while reading
Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
This novel, following Greg Mortenson's inspiration, struggles, setbacks and successes, as he attempts to build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanastan, and detailing his belief that the true weapon against terrorism is education, is inspiring to the core. Passages describing the dedication of village leaders, and conservative Muslim mullah's, towards the moderate well-rounded education of their children (girls included) literally brought me to tears. I know I am a bit behind the times on this one, but Mortenson's story should be on the must read list for every American educator, politician, and citizen.
While it is relatively unsurprising that an inspirational account of one man, "providing the poorest students with a balanced education... making them much more difficult for the extremist madrassas to recruit.”
1 would touch a nerve with me, tonight I found myself, once again, wiping my eyes, but at a most unexpected time. I do not usually cry while watching "The Daily Show," at least not tears of grief and sadness. This evening, however, I took a break from both my endless winter camp plans and a half finished blog post reflecting on Logan's visit, and decided to catch up with my friend Jon Stewart. Stewart has been particularly critical of Senate Republicans over the last few days, after they refused to allow a vote on the 9/11 Zadroga Act, which would provide health care benefits to 9/11 first responders suffering from aliments as a direct result of their courage and dedication to their country and the work they carried out at ground zero, until the senate came to an agreement on taxes. Stewart's last episode of the year, brought tears of sadness, frustration and shame, as I listened to 4 first responders respond the the recent Senate activity.
And here I am, atop my soap box.
For Senate Republicans to prevent this legislation from even reaching a vote, while trying to force compromise on tax issues, is disgusting. The world as we know it changed on September 11th. It is one of, if not
the defining moment in my generations American, World, and political history. Those old enough to remember can certainly relay exactly where they were and what they were doing when t hey heard the first mention of the attacks. Incidentally, I was standing right next to the 6 fingered patriot, outside the big lecture rooms in the old building of SHS, about to head into 2nd hour student council study hall, in which I'm preeetyyy sure I sat next to Joey Bardos or Katie Balbirer.
9/11 sparked two wars that we are still fighting ten years later, and caused each and everyone one of us to question everything we thought we knew about our own safety, the safety of our nation, and the state of the world. There were a few people, however, who were not questioning their place in the world. While the rest of us sat in shock, glued to the television, trying to grasp the impossibility that something like this could even happen, the first responders were acting. They were responding because the had to, because it was their job, because all they knew how to do was help, because they were
proud to be helping. Some brave heros lost their lives in the early stages of falling rubble and chaos; but others survived the initial disaster. Others lived on to help, and to continue to help for weeks and months, until the those trapped were rescused, the victims were recovered, and the site was cleared. Others continued to help even though it meant returning to ground zero and reliving the horrors of 9/11 each and every day. Even though it meant, though they didn't know it at the time, that now, 10 years later, they would be dying, as much as a result of the 9/11 attacks as their peers who lost their lives on that day so many (or so few) years ago.
Congress, and the American people, owe it to the responders to help ease the burden of illness caused by their own heroism. We owe it to them to vote, to support them and recognize their service to the people of the United States. We owe it to them to for one second shove politics aside, and show that we remember the great service they paid, and that many continue to pay, to our country.
Perhaps, now that the Senate has come to an agreement on the precious tax cuts, we can finally see OUR representatives come together and support something that can only be seen as a tiny fraction of what we owe these American heros. Or maybe, it will get lost, once again, in the swamp of politics. We can only wait and see. However annoyed I maybe with many aspects of the American political circus, the last 48 hours have brought back a small spark of hope that the Senate may just do what's right by the end of the year. They've finally repealed Don't Ask Don't Tell, ending years of discrimination against another group of American heros so... Maybe. Maybe. We can dream right?
Alright.
I've said my piece. I am climbing down. I will go back to planning enthralling English camp lessons and editing what I promise is a far less preachy, more Korea centered post. For those of you who made it this far, thank you for listening to my rant. These are my opinions and my opinions alone. I don't ask you to agree with them, or adopt them as your own. I simply ask that, on occasion, you allow thos blog to be a place for me to let off some steam. We've all got to do it every now and then.
For those who like the show, and even those who don't, the full Dec 16. episode of "The Daily Show," can be viewed using the following link: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/368908/thu-december-16-2010-mike-huckabee
1 Ahmed Rashid, best-selling author of Taliban: Militant Islam and Oil in Central Asia and Descent Into Chaos.
