Happy New Year

I lived for a couple of years in Korea. It's a beautiful country, one filled with ancient traditions as well as newly adopted technologies and ideas. The juxtaposition of these elements create an interesting atmosphere - a place where there is a 5000 year written history of a continuous homogeneous group of people sharing language, culture, and cuisine that now boasts the most Internet connections per capita. There are professional video game players in Korea. There are probably some here as well, now that I think about it. But the thought blows me away.

The thing to keep in mind about Korea is that 50 years ago it looked like this:

Today it looks like this:

Looking at the history of Korea, it's not really surprising. Located on the strategically important (and aptly named) Korean Peninsula between two of the most belligerent and bellicose nations (Japan and China), Korea has been overrun in turns by China, Japan, Mongolia, and more lately, western nations. In 1945, after 40 years of Japanese occupation, the retreating Japanese burned everything. Everything. It is hard to find a wooden structure or even tree that pre-dates the occupation. In 1951, a fratricidal war began on the peninsula, dividing not only the land but also families and a society that still feels the pains of the forced separation.

The truly amazing thing is that this country exists at all. And to think of the prosperity, the democracy, and the freedoms that exist there now is truly miraculous.

All of this must be attributed to the Korean people themselves. There is no more hard-working people in the world than the Koreans. They each have a fierce sense of national pride that is a wonder to experience. They call it "uri nara" - our country - and each person feels invested in making it succeed, from the smallest pre-school child to the eldest harabogi. It is important to each member of the society to do what they can to help it succeed. The trees all burned after the Japanese occupation? They have a national holiday to replace these trees - and everyone feels responsible to find a spot to go out and plant a tree (not just sit under one). This is just one example of the mentality best summarized by the Korean proverb chil chun pal gi -if you fall down seven times, get up eight. Never, never give up. It is that attitude that has made Korea what it is.

New Years is more than a "day after" event for Koreans. It is a time of reflection and introspection, a time for gratitude for ancestral intervention and for commitment to future generations. This is a true celebration of the past and its glories as well as an anticipation of the achievements yet to come.

I hope that this year will be one full of joy and fulfillment for each of you. I hope that we will all look for ways to make this happen for ourselves and for those around us. I hope we can all work a little harder, laugh a little more, care a little more deeply, and walk a little stronger and straighter.

Just an ordinary post

This morning I woke up to the sound of rain. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about living in southeast Texas is the amount of rain. Now, everyone down here seems to think that this is not a lot of rain, but let me tell you - a lot of rain is a lot of rain. And this is a lot of rain.

You need to understand that I am from Utah (motto: at least we get one more inch of rain than Nevada!) and in Utah you will get about 13 inches of rain per year. That's right PER YEAR! Here, I think we have had more than that in the three months since I arrived. In Utah, if it rains .01 of an inch everyone celebrates. Sometimes in Utah, you can see it raining but the rain doesn't reach the ground. It's pretty wild. And when the sun sets behind such rain it turns into an incredible vision that looks like it is raining fire.

But I digress. Actually, this whole post is a digression. I just wanted to say how lovely I find it here. My family and I are very grateful to be here.

All is well. All is well!

The Greatest Generation - (Great Communities - Part 5)

I spoke with my father this weekend. He lives in Yakima, Washington (Hi Dad) and googled his way onto this blog. (Can I just say, as an aside, that I hate the word blog?!? What an ugly word. Why can't we call it a web journal? Or web diary? BLOG - it just sounds like 3rd grade humor...) :-)

But I digress. In speaking with my father, he mentioned that perhaps I was speaking to the wrong audience in this blog. Perhaps (said he) the web-savvy folks in the world who are interested in this kind of medium are younger and bored with politics. I wonder about that.

The counter at the bottom of the page is a link to another site which tracks where you are, as well as other interesting facts about your visit, like where you were directed from (google search, montbelvieu.net, or whatever) and how long you were here (most of you only spend about a nano second before realizing that this isn't what you thought it would be and move on). It's interesting: there are hits from all over. Does that mean people are interested in planning? On what a City Planner does? Or interested in civic involvement? Who knows? Because I haven't heard back from many people, it is hard for me to gauge. The counter doesn't tell me who visited and why. I would be interested to know.

It is my hope, however, to attract people of all ages to the blog discussion, so that we can all be informed about thoughts that each other are concerned with. Perhaps we can get to know each other a little better. Perhaps we will be given a chance to vent something that otherwise would be too controversial or disconcerting. And perhaps we can learn from each other... (what a concept!)

And that's where I want to wrap this section up. Mont Belvieu is great because there are young families, families with older children, empty-nesters, people moving toward retirement, and those with great amounts of experience to share. One of the people I work with has been in Mont Belvieu since before WWII. The insights that this great citizen can provide are invaluable. How has the town changed? What can we do to help retain the distinctive nature of the City? What are the values and characteristics that must be held on to in order to perpetuate the goodness that's here? Without these people in our community, it would be difficult to answer these questions. With the influx of new development, there will also be an influx of new people and new ideas. Hopefully, we will continue to attract a good mixture of people to the area that will provide a solid base of ideas and values that will help inspire future generations.

The Democratic Process - (Great Communities - part 4)

Things are ramping up in the national political scene. As the presidential candidates spar over a few town hall meeting votes in New Hampshire, or over the undecided caucus goer's votes in Iowa, we are inundated by the information that is available. On the other hand, in the words of Robert Plant - lots of people talkin', few of them know... People seem to be saying a lot but nothing really ever gets said. Have you noticed this? It's one of the most frustrating things about the national election process. Candidates run the risk of offending some person by stating what they truly think, so they turn to offending each other and saying the vanilla statements - the 10 second sound bites - that they think we want to hear. How refreshing would it be to hear someone say what they really think!

Enter local politics. On this level, things are real. You want to know what our City is going to be like? Want to have a say? Want to affect how the developers are able to operate in our City? All of this is possible. Our City Council members are very accessible - many of you know them already - and are our neighbors. I have seen City Council meetings hinge on the comments of one interested citizen. You really do have the chance to make a difference in our community. That's what makes communities great - the level of interaction and participation. But I have written about this before...

The problem is when our well-intentioned City Council members don't hear from you. How can they know what you think if you don't tell them? Developers speak with City Council members on a regular basis, which is their right as players in the development of the City. But it is also vitally important that they hear from all of us, because we have the responsibility to share our thoughts as to where the City ought to be.

I love City Council and Planning and Zoning Meetings. They are principally the reason I decided to get into this vocation in the first place. The first meeting I went to was regarding a parcel that a developer wanted to access right behind some older homes in an established neighborhood. An elderly woman whose home would have been directly affected by the placement of many town homes and the attendant traffic stood and spoke against the developers plans. She did not prevail, and she now has the homes and traffic in her back yard. BUT SHE HAD THE CHANCE TO SAY IT - AND SHE DID! That's what makes America great. Not our president and not the federal government. Its these local scale decision making sessions where people can come and make a difference.

She made a difference in my life.