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In my previous article Part 1 I gave a little bit of background explaining why I was so open to living a life as an expatriate. Believe me, an expatriate lifestyle is not for everyone. While there are many attractions if you are of the right mindset as with most things in life there are considerable drawbacks as well. I’ll try to made you aware of some of the advantages and disadvantages as we move along.

The latest chapter in my expatriate life came about due to a medical crisis (not my own) and a few years later a financial crisis (altogether mine).

After living overseas for over ten years I returned to the States for a visit at my Mothers home. Not long afterwards my stepfather had a stroke and my mother needed some assistance. Thus a planned visit of a few weeks extended into two years.

I had retired from my forex trading position in Taipei and Hong Kong prior to returning to the States. While at the time I felt I was at the top of my games as a trader I was physically exhausted. In Asia I was trading the North American and European markets and this meant working all night and trying to sleep during the day. Several years of this and the pressure of constant market movement had taken their toll. Forex is tough for an old guy.

In a recent post commenting on the sad state of the lack of statesmen in todays world I asked “How can a reasonability educated public elect such morally bankrupt people to high office? That is a topic we shall discuss in future blogs. If you have any good ideas on this topic feel free to pass them along.”

The entire post is Pitiful Politicians and Their Culture of Fear.

Today in looking at the top searches on Technorati the answer to that question became all too painfully clear. Britney Spears with her “exposure” incident has managed to grab three of the top ten search spots.

In the US, and I expect in Great Britain and other countries as well, we live in a society that is celebrity and sports figure driven. The masses want entertainment, not substance. And they want easy. It’s so much easier to talk about the latest football games and celebrity deeds and misdeeds than anything that may have some originally to it or lasting importance.

It seems that only a small percentage of the population cares all that much about what the politicians are up to. Unless, of course their behavior is inappropriate and off the wall as well. Sex scandals seem to work well in garnering attention. Bill Clinton is an expert on that subject.

I became hooked and attracted to living in lands other than the United States as a very young man. My stepfather was in the US Air Force and stationed in Japan during the Korean War. In 1953 my mother bravely packed up three young kids and joined him in a country still very much under US military occupation.

I still vividly remember the foreign sights, sounds, crowds, and smells of a Japan that has long since vanished in it’s post war rush to modernization and industrialization. The family stayed in Japan for 18 months. I can still almost smell the cherry blossoms in the spring and the charcoal cooking and heating fires in winter.

I particularly remember the Japanese Winter. Snow frequently covered the Air Force base at Tachikawa and converted the drab military base into a winter wonderland. Japan was an exciting adventure for a ten year old. My attraction for the different experiences that one has living in a foreign land was born.

The family returned to the States in 1954 and to the flat expanses of the Air Force base at Warner Robins, Georgia. We were there for a year and then off to France.

France was wonderful for a teenager. While I was too young to drive a motor scooter, you had to be 16, I was a good athlete and large for my age so most of my close friends were older and had motor scooters. I was a happy passenger.