Exercise! Exercise!

     No, I'm not talking about getting some. I'm just documenting the most recent Emergency Exercises being conducted in South Korea (ROK).  Every few months our installation puts the military folks through their paces, bedecked in full head-to-toe combat gear, with weapons at the ready. And while every installation has readiness exercises, those in this country do things differently. Why? Well, having an aggressive communist-led nation just 60 miles away probably has something to do with the local modus operandi.

     The day began at 5am, when we heard the air raid sirens on the base (2 miles away), accompanied by the big voice slowly enunciating: "Exercise! Exercise!" Went back to sleep, only to hear the call to action again at 5:45am and 6:30am. We took that in stride, and I made it to class by 8am. During the morning, my students clearly heard machines guns being fired on base. That got our attention -- didn't hear machine guns last time around. More sirens and machine guns throughout the day kept us on alert. At 2pm, the Republic of Korea (ROK) held their own readiness alert, with sirens in every community. Fifteen minutes later, everyone went back to business as usual.
     The Korean people are so resilient - they take in stride these efforts that keep them safe. The exercises set one on alert, without setting them on edge. They endure the bullying from North Korea with stoicism. They put up with a tremendous U.S. presence in their communities and neighborhoods. We in the USA tend to be much less tolerant of the foreigners who "invade" our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods.  The next time you hear someone complaining about immigrants taking jobs, dropping our standardized test scores, and making too much noise at night, remind them (or yourself) that there are hundreds of thousands of Americans living abroad in much the same way. And most of us don't make the effort to learn the language of the people we're living around.
     I am grateful to be in Korea, where it's nearly impossible to take for granted the security and well-being that our troops provide. I'm happy to be serving those who serve!