Tag: America

What Americans Can Learn from Our Friends Down Under this Memorial Day

When I hear people say “Happy Memorial Day” I too find it a bit awkward considering the real meaning of this holiday:

Allison Jaslow heard it more than once as the long holiday weekend approached — a cheerful “Happy Memorial Day!” from oblivious well-wishers.

The former Army captain and Iraq War veteran had a ready reply, telling them, matter-of-factly, that she considered it a work weekend. Jaslow will be at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to take part in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. She’ll then visit Section 60, the final resting place of many service members who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“You can see it in people’s faces that they’re a little horrified that they forget this is what the day’s about,” said Jaslow, 34, who wears a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen comrade. “Culturally, we’ve kind of lost sight of what the day’s supposed to mean.”

While millions of Americans celebrate the long Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start of summer — think beaches and backyard barbecues, mattress sales and sporting events — some veterans and loved ones of fallen military members wish the holiday that honors more than 1 million people who died serving their country would command more respect.  [CBS 58]

In my opinion Memorial Day really should begin with a somber tone much like I have seen with ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand.  Communities across both nations meet for morning remembrance services every April 25th.  It is a very big deal and has a somber tone to them.  After the morning service the rest of the day depending on the community there could be parades and other events going on to honor servicemembers and all of them usually involve drinking beer.  So the whole day is not somber, but enough of it is so people don’t lose the real meaning of the day.

It seems if Memorial Day was on a fixed date like ANZAC Day then a tradition like this could be established in the United States as well.  However, as long as it remains at its current last Monday of May it will remain a holiday that represents the unofficial start of summer for most people.

Korea Is A “Fun Hell”, America Is A “Boring Heaven”?

I think there is some truth to the above Korean saying:

korea us flag image

More and more young men and women of Korea find life in their motherland so painfully tough that they literally call it hell, some even plotting to pick up and leave for another country.

But what happens when you really take off?

The Korea Times talked to 10 men and women from different walks of life who’ve immigrated to the U.S. within the past decade and here’s what they had to say about the reality of departing “Hell Joseon, a viral term that embodies young people’s sense of hopelessness in Korea.

“I’ll be honest,” said Kim Ga-young, 38, who left Korea for Atlanta two years ago after leaving her job in the customer service industry. “I don’t have to put up with nonsense brought on by all kinds of snobby people. But I’m facing a whole new set of problems here, too.”

Language and cultural barriers are the biggest trouble for her.

“I had never been overseas past Japan. The U.S. and the Western world is completely new to me, so it’s definitely going to take some time to find my place here,” says Kim, who works part-time at a Korean-owned beauty supply store.

Park Jung-hyun, 55, who made the big move almost 10 years ago, is happy to say that most of the language and cultural barriers are a thing of the past now.

“The first three years was difficult and sad,” she says, “but once I understood the true American life, I realized that I don’t have to be ashamed about not speaking the language and knowing the culture. In a way, many of us are foreigners here.”

Park, who owns and runs a coin laundry shop in Los Angeles with her husband, finds her new life satisfying, both financially and emotionally.

“My husband and I both worked long hours back in Korea,” she said, “and we still work long hours now, but interestingly, there’s a much better work-life balance here.”

Many Koreans who live in the U.S. generally have access to more family time throughout the week and during the weekend, but for some, family time isn’t the only thing they want.

“There’s a saying that Korea is a fun hell and the U.S. is a boring heaven,” says Kim, 41, a hairdresser in Dallas, who didn’t want to be fully named. “I miss being able to just walk out late at night, meeting up with old friends and getting a drink without the hassle of driving on the freeway for 30 minutes to get somewhere.” [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Is America Becoming A Third World Country?

That is the question that Foreign Policy magazine looks at due to a number of left wing publications are claiming it.  For people that have been to third world countries we know this claim is idiotic, but if there is an area that America is reaching third world status it would be in the American media.  The sensationalism and intentionally divisive media environment in the US which just asking this question is an example of is something that belongs in a third world country:

It’s a bombastic question, and usually it’s the domain of the nativist right or the anchorless left. Patrick Buchanan, for example, framed the question in terms of illegal immigration from Latin America:

Thousands of U.S. troops safeguard the border of South Korea. U.S. warships patrol the South China Sea to stand witness to the territorial claims of Asian allies against China. U.S. troops move in and out of the Baltic States to signal our willingness to defend the frontiers of these tiny NATO allies. Yet nothing that happens on these borders imperils America so much as what is happening on our own bleeding border with Mexico. Over three decades, that border has been a causeway into the USA for millions of illegal immigrants who are changing the face of America — to the delight of those who think the country we grew up in was ugly.

And a number of left-of-center publications — Rolling Stone and The Nation — for example, have argued that in terms of social services, infrastructure, and government services, the United States is slipping into third world territory.  [Foreign Policy]

You can read more at the link.