Jspelts

Look into WInlink. You have to have an amateur radio license, and you'll have to choose between different software (ie: radio modem), and you'll need an HF transceiver. Once licensed you can create a Winlink account (via radio, no web signups!), which gives you access to smtp through their gateways (which are actually owned by other hobbyists). Different towers/repeaters have different specs/protocols (PACTOR, Packet, I use VARA) but all of them allow you to send email to any domain or recipient, just like regular email. Hardest part is configuring your laptop (or even phone) to control your transceiver to send the signals out. The email you'd have is your_callsign@winlink.org and with HF frequencies you can hit just about any gateway listed here https://winlink.org/content/gateway_locations

안녕하세요! I taught English in China, one of my students was Korean (I worked at an international school), his mom and I talk regularly. Perhaps it's not as different as I have come to understand, but from what she's told me the transition is difficult for them and they have a hard time fitting in. Which I can relate to, having moved to China for 10 years (I was in Incheon for a little while later) and then back to the USA. Coming back here (US) from China was actually hard for me after 10 years so I can imagine (a little) about what they go through. But she had told me it is difficult for them to be "successful" in the South, even if the housing is much better and there's far more in the way of food, necessities, and entertainment.

Home made salsa is the best!!!

I do ham radio. Probably the coolest thing I've "made" is a setup where I can send email without the need for an internet connection on my end. I use a small laptop connected to a transceiver to send out high-frequency sounds (VARA) on very low power (5-10 watts) to towers around the world that will decode the signals, convert it to a regular email, and send it to the recipient (bob@overthere.com). Then reverse the process when I check for a reply. The whole setup fits in a small backpack and I can use a piece of speaker wire for the antenna. It's about as fast as dial-up used to be, but it works!

Yeah it's really hard to say "this life was better than that life". What you measure and how you measure just doesn't "measure up". Some would say Elon Musk has the best life, he's the richest guy on the planet, they'd like to be him, etc. Other's think he's the Anitichrist.

Sorry to hear about your brother. The older I get, the more I don't think there's ever any "seeds of self-destruction". I've seen a lot of people go down the drug road. Some you'd never guess would ever even touch a drug. But once that dopamine and endorphins hit the reward center of their brain, that's usually it. Human beings effectively become lab rats at that point. The behavior is identical. I (like most people) experimented in my 20's, but it was never conducive to the life I wanted to live (seeing the world). I like to sleep, I like to keep my wits about me, so anything stronger than beer was just never a good time. I have also lost friends and loved ones to the stuff, it just leaves you wondering "why"? I think for some, the feeling or high is truly overpowering and it only takes one curious moment to expose yourself to that kind of risk.

But all of that is just one of a billion different paths to go in life. Some people go to MIT and end up working at the CERN. Others go into art or music. Some become contractors, some go into politics, some fly into space. Some have kids, others don't, some even adopt. I'm always fascinated by the "how" in it all. What lead them to choose the things they chose? What surprises came along the way that they didn't see coming? I find out more and more, most people didn't "decide" to be where they are. They just ended up there, in part from life choices but equally in part circumstances. The mom of three really only planned to be a mom of one. The contractor had originally planned to be a musician. Thank you for your message!

I lived in Asia for over a decade. The Korean spoken in the North is very different than the South. And as the South is a developed nation, there are contexts that simply do not exist in the North. And considering they've been divided for so long without much in the way of any kind of interaction, the languages have had over 80 years to evolve.

Do you speak the same English that was spoken 80 years ago? Now double that effect to simulate the difference between two languages evolving away from each other.

They die from lack of food and nutrition, smart guy...

Ha! They do have wheat and cattle. It all depends on which part of Kansas you're talking about.

My favorite part of Kansas is seeing it in my rear-view mirror when I see "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" through my windshield....