The namja goes back to the army.

I don't know what to say. Today was pretty much just shit. Work is shit. One of the first graders is a real little shit. Several coworkers are shit. But whatever. I think my attitude is also a bit shit at the moment. I will feel better tomorrow.

The real point is, the S.O. went to do is his army reserves training today and, much to my shock, has come back out saying what seem to me to be completely insane things about North Korea. He's not a violent or angry person, and to even try to imagine him angry kind of does my head in -- it's that much of a stretch. But the amount of exclamation points that were involved..... I dunno. It was worrying. I did my best to respond respectfully. I mean, what the fuck do I know? But I made it clear that it's my opinion that citizens of a dictatorship do not deserve to be violently punished because of their leader's actions. The regime is one thing -- the people are another.

I mean, I get it. I'm not a complete idiot. If something comes to serious blows with North Korea, the South cannot have their army faltering out of ideological hesitation. I know what armies are for. And I'm not.... well. I'm not completely anti-military. My brother's in the military, and so were my grandfathers on both sides. I know that people condescend about the military too easily and too often. And I know that this is not a world where we can all lay down our arms and fucking hug.

But "hate" is a fucking strong ass word, is all I'm saying. And I will forever see a separation between a government and the citizens of that government, particularly when there is no democracy involved. I think I've just had a slanted amount of interactions with South Koreans who consider North Koreans to be family, from whom they've been separated. That is to say, I've had a lot more interaction with South Korean women. Who never went to the army and never underwent nearly two years of ideological training on the subject.

Anyway, in the end the subject was peaceably dropped without the need to see eye-to-eye. I don't know. I just had flashes of the S.O. telling me about the time he was Mormon for a few months, because he's too easily swayed by other people's opinions. And, at the end of the day, I don't want to be just another person swaying him. So I'll say my piece and then let it go. After all he is Korean and I am not. It's easy enough for me to have my opinions. It means something entirely different to him, and, if his ideas do need correcting, then I can leave that up to the other Koreans in his life who are far better equipped to address the issue than I am.