flying boxes and grown men crying

About the current events and the throwing, crying and general baby-acting of the S. Korean government at present. Did I mention the 100 or so police officers in full riot gear outside yesterday? Did I mention that half of them looked much younger than me? Now this is explained by the mandatory military service this country still requires. It wasn't even unnerving as one would think. It looked like a whole lot of kids playing dress-up as riot police. My last close encounter with riot cops were at the big anti-war protest in NYC over a year ago. Now, some of those were intimidating. You could feel the tension as they were pushing the swarms of people onto the sidewalks that were impossibly small. The mayor had denied a permit to march and the police were required to block off the center of all the streets. I left when tensions were running high, virtually immobilized against hundreds of other protesters of all shades and ages and my friend who I had drug out started to get a little scared.

Admittedly on saturday I was passively observing but there was never the same sense of impending violence as the people peaceably marched down the streets chanting slogans against the congress. Yes, the fiasco an Thursday, for all of you who caught it on CNN was embarrassing to say the least, but so were the actions the opposition used to impeach the president. On an extremely selfish note, I really don't want this country to destabilize because I'm being paid in Korean Won and owe USD to various institutions. We can all wait patiently to see how this unfolds. Personally I'm still weighing out sentiment. The current president is unique in that he was an outsider from politics and although a lawyer previously, did not have a college education. He appealed to a lot of the youth and ran a hugely successful internet campaign (last part sound familiar?). From what I can gather from the few people I've talked to is that many people have been dissatisfied with his policies and general performance (especially with his loose lips around other country's leaders) but in general most people respect the democratic process that put him in power. So, more than anything, I'm seeing resentment over the actions of the opposition controlled congress where the two opposition parties united to dethrone the current president. I'm not going to go too much more into this because I simply don't yet have the knowledge to comment intelligently, as soon as I talk to some more people I'll open this up a bit more. There is still a two month period where the Supreme Court has to decide the legality and guilt of the current situation. He has been removed from power, and the opposition Prime Minister has power so in some regards "mission temporarily accomplished".

I think a lot of people are sitting back in the States thinking this could never happen there and perhaps they're right. I don't really see Nancy Pelosi having the strength to hurl a ballot box at Tom Delay or Dennis Hastert (it would probably just bounce right off the latter's protruding gut anyway) but remember, I'm in a country that holds physical violence at an extreme low. It ruins one's honor and respectability to a degree that we could only wish for in America. Physical conflict is avoided at almost all costs. Two weeks ago we were watching the demise of a non-fight of some young kids who drank too much. But, instead of fists flying, there was a push followed with the assaulted dropping to his knees, turning the other cheek in a manner. For all our christian-value rhetoric I could never imagine seeing this in the States. And don't think the possibility of alcohol infused conflicts is rare, these people drink to get drunk. Most wouldn't even understand the concept of sipping a coctail. Inhaling is the norm and I've seen more than my fair share of people tossing their last drinks in dark corners or helping their desperately balanced challenged friend on the walk home. The shame of being involved in a fight simply outweighs any western conceptions of pride. Here, honor, especially among friends (and these two were likely friends based on the observations of the others trying to dissuade the conflict), is valued above all. The point is, if this type of choas can break out in this peaceful country's most venerated institutions, what makes us think that we are immune with a congress that is still debating the rights of owning automatic weapons and trying to repeal the Brady Bill? Who knows, maybe a bench will be hurled from the rail thin arms of Pelossi over a pro homosexual discrimination bill.



Music: The Reindeer Section