Happier Abroad Forum Community

Winston, I support you. I am in the military but I joined for economic reasons despite my personal beliefs. I am a very liberal minded person; a xenophile to the max. I feel very isolated in this artificial setting known as military life.

Just finished a deployment to A-stan and this has caused me despise the US government, US Armed Forces, and NATO even more. It's all a farse, one of the greatest lies fed to the West in the beginning of this century - the War on Terrorism. The world of 1984 is becoming a reality.

Right after deployment, I said screw you losers and took a flight to Korea, onwards to Mongolia and then Russia. It was one of the most eye opening and fulfilling experiences I had in my life during that month. I connected with so many people and the women (esp. in Russia) were so inviting and kind that I was suspicious at first. My first day in Red Square, I fell in love with a Kalmyk women whom I kissed passionately for the rest of that day.

The Russian people opened up to me and spoke to at great lengths of the collective Russian soul, their history and culture; our shared disdain of the US government. I communicate at a basic level in Russian and this helped me tremendously in connecting with the Russian people.

Even in Mongolia, the people were very welcoming although I could not understand much if any of the Mongolian language, but I now determined to learn it. The women were pleasant and the men very welcoming; I felt they were my brothers, as we drank vodka, arm wrestled, talked about family and watched traditional Mongol sports on the TV. The food was REAL; from the land and prepared with pride and soul.

Now that I am back in America, back into the Matrix, it's hard to cope. I have been back only 5 days now and have been self-medicating with booze because I have shitty coping mechanisms. There is no soul here, no true connection, and military life lives to stomp out the individual in you. I am greatly saddened to be back here. All I can do is put all of my strengths towards preparing for a long life abroad after the military. I will not support this country any more after this. I only pray that these NCO's and Officers don't push me to the edge before I have prepared myself.

Stay Blessed Winston

KimChee,
I experienced the same thing in Russia. The people were very authentic, passionate, and allowed me to be myself. There was no fake culture or fakeness that I had to conform to like in the US. I was free and liberated to be me. The biggest freedom is the "freedom to be yourself". That's what I experienced in Russia.

The women and culture were amazing too. They were friendlier than any I had ever met. So open and authentic. And so feminine too. They were not paranoid and antisocial like in America. There was real soul, culture and connection in Russia. You realize that America was not a free country after all, since you feel freer in Russia.

When I came back to America, I went into reverse culture shock and became depressed. It's because once you experience an authentic culture, you don't want to go back to a fake culture again. Your authentic self screams NO because it doesn't want to try to go back to being fake again. Fake cultures suppress you. That's why America does not feel like a free country.

You should join my forum and express your views and experiences.

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Thanks,
Winston

Ghost wrote:There are some hints there at why he was happier there. He could speak some Russian. He was ex-military, so probably in good shape and decently attractive. He had worldviews that were appealing to Russians. And he didn't go for women.

Makes me wonder, if he had gone for women, would this story have turned into another horror story?