Afraid

Between planning multiple wedding ceremonies in several countries, adjusting to marrage life, going back to school for higher education, and trying to make sure we have enough in finances, I have neglected this site and the amount of time it takes to update.

However there is one thing that I do want to mention and that is what makes me afraid. It is stories like this. A lot can be obtained from searching other blogs but the only official information aka news, is from one perspective. Believe what you want but the whole story is not and won't be told in the news (a good chunk is because the other side left the country the following week).

But then again where can someone be truly safe from fraud, lawsuits, or other issues? Every time I hear about some crazy story or event here, which can make me wonder why I should stay here and not return to my home country, I can pretty quickly think of something crazy that appears in multiple other countries. A large company gets hacked and scores of personal information is taken (as a bank here recently had). Well what about the 70 million paid users of PS3 who had their information hacked recently? I believe both happened in the same week.

There is no perfect place, there is no 100% safety, and as much as I could bash Korea right now there are plenty of examples in Western countries as well of ID theft and bogus lawsuits. I really need to hold my tongue and keep a wider view.

I guess it all goes back to the idea of 'pick your poison.' No place is perfect, no place is competely safe. And I don't mean this as a downer. I mean this in a positive since things always look better from outside. Stay in your hometown/country long enough and you will see things you dislike/hate/scare you. Suddenly overseas or another city is romanticised. And then move overseas or change cities and stay long enough and then your hometown is romanticised and you long to go back 'where things are right' or 'where things make sense.'

In some ways I feel life is better where I am living now. Othertimes I feel it was better in my hometown. And I bet the time will come in which I think life is better in the birthplace of my wife.

I've been stewing over this for a couple days but specifically the last few hours and I can honestly say that I feel I've worked through everything and I have peace.

A good friend told me recently "ignorance is bliss" and considering how much the news focuses on the negative (and let's be honest - so do certain expat blogs) it might make more sense to turn off the news and just focus on the world around us.

Cheers,
Rick/Richard