Why are we here?

I haven't given much explanation to readers of this blog, or anyone for that matter, as to why we chose to come to South Korea. So in case you're interested, here it is.

Carmen and I have always had a desire to travel, but more than that we've wanted to experience another culture as more than just tourists. Our original plan was to live in England for a year and experience the UK and Europe, but our Visa troubles threw a wrench in that. I know a lot of people wondered why we spent so much time just waiting and didn't just decide to do something else right away. But the fact is we'd put a lot into moving abroad and simply brushing it all aside and starting fresh at home would have been even more difficult. As time went on we realized a move to England was getting less likely and, more importantly, we needed to move on with our lives and think about ourselves as a young, growing family. As we started to look at other options, Asia was an obvious one because it offered easy employment for Carmen and was very attractive financially. And while the UK would have been a new cultural experience in its own right, Asia offered a drastic change from the lifestyle we're used to. It wasn't an easy decision and took a lot of research, but we decided on South Korea for a few reasons, but primarily the financial benefits it offered compared to places like Japan, China or Taiwan.

Amidst all the planning and decision making, it was important that we kept Cate's interest the main factor when deciding. We wanted to be fair to her and not feel as though we were giving her less opportunities than she might have otherwise. But Carmen and I believe our children should have the opportunity to learn from different cultures and people, and experience ideals and ways of life that are unlike our own in the Western world. Cate's young and she may not remember much of this experience as she gets older, but our hope is that what we learn as a family, and as individuals, will have a positive effect on her life and the way she views people and the world around her.

Personally I think that with globalization comes a disregard for the traditions and history of others, as everything is brought to us in a familiar package. We don't really have a use for the ideals of other cultures, and the media doesn't exactly encourage it. It's only by seeking out alternative sources or by going out and experiencing it first-hand that we can learn from others. Essentially that's what this year is about for us.

So after all that here we are in Daegu, already nearly a month and a half into our stay. And that's my attempt at making a short story long and giving you more information on my life than I normally would, but I've been running low on material this week. Just for good measure I thought I'd throw in this little gem of Carmen - it's one of my favorites of her, ever.