Visiting the World, as a Geek? 695
Han Onymous asks: "In nine months my contract as a research assistent at my Alma Mater will come to an end. It will not be renewed, I don't want it to be anyway. But outside the economy is too ill to welcome me. I am young. I am healthy. And I want to see the world before I've got the wife and the kids and the double mortgage. I have no money saved, and I don't plan to save some until then. What can a skillful geek (electrical, electronical and software engineer, speaks three languages fluently) like me do to see the world. Volunteer ? Working for a multinational with exchange programs? Something with no connection at all to the tech world? Please share your experience."
Peace Corps (Score:4, Insightful)
Like the knight said: "Choose Wisely..." (Score:5, Insightful)
All things being equal, you'll put more into -- and get more out of -- an experience where you're supporting something you really believe in, even if you're not using all of your technical skills. If you can scratch both your geek itch and your volunteer itch at the same time, great -- but if you're only going to scratch one, strike a blow for something you feel passionately about.
Armed Forces (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Peace Corps (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm probably being very cynical, but things are just bad right now, in quite a lot of places.
merchant marine (Score:5, Insightful)
It was super cheap and he got to spend a week or so in all sorts of different port towns. I have no idea whether it would interest you or not, but I contemplated doing it before I met my fiancee.
BTW, the guy who did this was 83!
So you don't necessarily have to do it while you are young;-)
Don't do tech (Score:2, Insightful)
There's plenty of time in life to work at a computer or do tech otherwise. Don't do it when you're young. It will get in the way.
Change your plans and save money! (Score:5, Insightful)
Teach English (Score:5, Insightful)
If you are looking for technical work which will further your career, things may be a little harder. I know that the big investment banks have operations around the world, and use lots of expensive IT, and lend people between countries at least occasionally. This is a bad time to be looking for that kind of job, though, and if you want to have a life, and see your surroundings, you don't want to work there.
[1] You don't have to BE a native English speaker, just look like one. If you look Chinese, you will have a hard time convincing the locals that you speak proper English, even if you grew up here and speak no Chinese!
[2]If you want to learn about the place, rather than simply see the sights and move on.
I can't believe this- (Score:5, Insightful)
I did the same thing, disappeared for a month. Hooked up with total strangers for a couple of days. Drifted apart. Took pictures
No one can make a trip but you- and if it doesn't work out you'll have only your geeky self to blame rather than that 'stupid slashdot crowd'. Figure out what you want out of life and do it, or do you have absolutely no iniative?
I can only speak in negatives... (Score:5, Insightful)
All in all, it's not unlike college: do it because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not the beginning of the rest of your life.
Yes, you are being cynical (Score:5, Insightful)
Upon returning home to the US after Peace Corps, I never felt more unsafe in my entire life. In Cameroon, my host country, my neighbors looked out for me. If something bad was going to happen it would most likely be someone pointing a gun at me and taking my money. If you did what was asked, then you were OK. They weren't doing it for kicks.
In the US, my chances of dying in a car crash were much higher compared to the chances of that happening in Cameroon. Or someone might break into my house and shoot me just for the hell of it... etc. etc. Have you been reading the papers lately???
These times *are* dangerous. But you shouldn't let fear prevent you from experiencing everything the world has to offer. A little common sense during travel goes A LONG LONG WAY in increasing your safety.
Go live and stop hiding in your house.
Commendable! (Score:5, Insightful)
I was going to say go for something unrelated, but there's plenty of volunteers working on normal average stuff that anyone can do. If you want to do good, volunteer in something that allows you to use your specialty.
For example, if I were a linux guy, I would find one of the groups that collects old hardware, reconditions it and deploys it with Linux at places (wherever) that cannot afford new computers and/or Windows. If you can do that and train a few locals too you will be making greater impact than volunteering for the Peace corps and handing out leaflets on birth control, vaccines, etc.
The reason I recommend you to pick something that allows you to use your experience is because you don't want to be left out of touch with your field for over a year (this would literally mean professional suicide for an IT person). If you are in IT and you spend a year making old and tired hardware work, you will hone your skills while you do something good, and it will even make good resume fodder later down the road.
Me? If I was single and felt like doing so, I would find a Spanish-speaking country and volunteer to teach programming and "Nerd English" to junior high kids (those of you that, like me, are not native English speakers know what I am talking about). To me teaching is the most challenging and rewarding occupation I could think of when salary is not an issue.
Re:Well... (Score:3, Insightful)
Just Go (Score:2, Insightful)
I have a savings account that has been accruing both interest and principle for some time. It began in college, intended to fund a post-graduation European trip. But that summer, I had a research opportunity that I couldn't pass up
The savings then became ear-marked to help fund a trip around Asia, sort of a reward/incentive for completing my Ph.D. I ended up working on my dissertation 24/7 and finishing just before the deadline
I still have the savings account. I haven't touched a penny. But now it's earmarked for a down-payment on a house.
The lesson of my tale? Just go. Now.
Re:Teach English (Score:2, Insightful)
It's always bad somewhere (Score:4, Insightful)
Get out. See the world. Enjoy yourself. Have some stories to tell your kids. (and maybe a few you keep for yourself...)
Before you go (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Get some credit cards (Score:5, Insightful)
What you propose will either (a) not work, or (b) get you into deep legal trouble, at least in the US, Canada, and as far as I know, all of the UK.
If you have $20k in cash and $20k in debt, you have a net worth of $0, which won't get you approved for a mortgage on that apartment. Business or residential, you'll still need that mortgage, and the banks WILL find your debt.
Unless, of course, you're planning on hiding it from them. Then you'll be committing fraud, and you still won't get away with it.
Forget this advice. Just go travelling!
Hate to say it... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Peace Corps (Score:5, Insightful)
I went to Isreal during the first intifata and in '94 right after the Jewish settler shot up the mosque. I stayed in the far north of Isreal when Hezbollah was all fired up. It was safe. Honestly, even in the recent bombing frenzy in Israel it's still a 1 in 100,000 chance of being geeked.
If one has some common sense about traveling and where not to go, it's pretty safe to travel the world.
Don't go to Afghanistan, Iraq, rural southern Phillipines, rural former Eastern-Bloc nation, rural former Soviet Republic, don't get off I-90 between Spokane and Missoula at night, or if you don't look Aryan, don't go to rural Columbia, don't hook up with Shining Path leaders in Peru.
If one has some common sense, don't worry about it.
I stayed on the beach in Tel Aviv for 3 weeks, people told me not to do it, but if you take some precautions and avoid gettin' plastered, it's safe as anything.
Terror can happen anywhere on Earth. From Finland to Belfast to gas stations in the DC metro area to a night club in Bali, a 85% Hindu island.
The secret is to be careful out there.
How fucking depressing (Score:5, Insightful)
WHY? Why does everybody have this mindset that there's no choice after college except to get a boring job in a cubicle, get married, pop out kids, buy a big house, and hopefully, have enough time and money at the end to sit on your ass for a few years? That's so fucking depressing. You've only got one shot at life, and it may not be long. You never know. If you think that the rest of your life will be so bad that you won't get to do what you want to do (or at least, not for another 40 years), then you need to rethink things. Hell, just watch Fight Club a few times and *think* about it.
- From a person living a very unusual, fun, and rewarding life (ie: not a lemming)
Re:Peace Corpok but **Open Source** is better (Score:3, Insightful)
Not going to help (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're concerned about general less friendly reception rather than just your security, you might find that going in with a sense of humor, a bit of respect for the local way of doing things, and refrain from regularly proclaiming to anyone who asks and plenty who don't that the US is the greatest country on earth and we do things better at home (even if you think it's true) tends to help ameliorate that problem.
Re:Armed Forces (Score:1, Insightful)
I got the idea that he wanted to see the world, not destroy it. Oh, I know, the military doesn't really destroy the world. They just destroy the people that the corporations tell the leaders to destroy. My bad...
Re:How fucking depressing (Score:5, Insightful)
So many people get trapped into doing what they are "supposed" to do. Society pressures you into it. RESIST!
There's nothing wrong with marrige, children and home ownership, if that's what *you* want.
Think for yourself.
Hell, I'm married, and I'm in escrow on my first house right now. No kids, though, and we probably won't have any. No patience for 'em.
I spent almost 10 years trying to be a rock star before I got tired of being poor and got a real job. If I'd never tried I would have regretted it for the rest of my boring ass life.
Travel the world, dude. Travel for as long as you like. There will always be a job for a man of your skills when your ready (if your ready) to settle down. Jesus, 3 languages and how many tech skills? Write your own ticket.
Do what you want. But make sure it's what *you* want, and not what you're *supposed* to want. That's all I'm saying.
Latin America (Score:3, Insightful)
I recommend Guatemala or Ecuador to start. They're really easy to travel in and have much to recommend them.
Re:Peace Corps (Score:4, Insightful)
In that situation, what mattered the economy? What mattered what Bill Gates was worth? Fear prevents correct action if we let it seep too deep into who we have become.
My $0.02.
- Peace
Re:Teaching ESL in Taiwan (Score:2, Insightful)
Teaching English is a great way to travel to Asia. With JET, little experience is needed (as long as you can grammatical sentencing) and the benefits (cultural experience, salary, paid vacations) are plush.
IMHO Japan is one of the safest places to be in the world, if safety concerns you. The money you earn is worth something in the country you come from. And personally, Japanese society has been a great foil for understanding western society. JET, being state sponsored, does a great job of looking after its 6400 foreign employees (i.e. guaranteed pay, guaranteed housing, guaranteed job), so not only are you safe, but also secure.
That said, every experience is different. There are plenty of ESL (English as a Second Language) on the web, so do your research before you go. As for JET, the job is usually what you make of it. The first six months were difficult, with motivating myself being my major problem. Now that I have gotten involved in the school and community, I find the job much more rewarding.
Teaching English doesn't easily lend itself to nerding out. If you are more interested in engineering than traveling, then teaching English might cramp your style. But if you view teaching English in Asia as a means to a greater end, then it can open up all sorts of doors for you after a year or two with the language and cultural knowledge you will have gained.
Re:How fucking depressing (Score:5, Insightful)
Well said, sir!
To Han Onymous (and everyone else):
Socrates said "The unexamined life is not worth living." I don't think he meant us to just examine it once and decide. You have to examine every day and ask if this is the path you want to be on. You have to always be open to new ideas. If you're not growing, you're decaying.
Try: (Score:4, Insightful)
http://www.ewb-isf.org/
Here's an internship for a hardware/software project leader in Uganda:
http://www.ewb-isf.org/content/internships/f02/
Re:Peace Corp (Score:5, Insightful)
But there's one big, nasty assumption you're making when you say Which story would you rather tell your grand children: '... and our database design was better than everyone elses' or '... and there I was in my fox hole with bombs exploding all around me ...'?
The assumption you're making is that you'll live to have grandchildren if you have bombs going off around you. I would say that now might NOT be the time to join the military, unless you honestly want to see action. Most geeks I know don't "take orders" very well, and aren't very keen on shooting at others, unless they're driving a remote-control joystick-driven bomb with cool graphics and lots of 'splosions.
Rock on (Score:4, Insightful)
Even in high school I see these kids who spend all their fucking time playing an instrument, joining the debate team, being in the school play, playing three varsity sports, etc ad infinitum et ad nauseam... There's no way in hell they can actually *ENJOY* doing all that stuff and having no free time whatsoever, but they want to have a big shitload to put down on their college apps, becuase their worth as a person and future happiness in the world is decided by whether or not they get into one of the Ivies.
If I ever worked for a college admissions office, I'd take all these applicants who are defined as a person by their impressive list of Extracurricular Activities, and shitlist them.
Do stuff you *ENJOY* with your life. Fuck all else.
Tim
Re:Peace Corp (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a common excuse for people reticent about joining the military. The obvious response is 1) You take orders regardless of whether they come from a sergeant or your shift manager at the Taco Bell. Live with it. 2) Someone has got to be giving the orders, so if you think you can do better, get yourself some stripes or a commision and try it yourself tough guy. Seriously, the military is only as good as its personnel. It needs smart kids (geeks even) as much as it needs stereotypical grunts. The majority of manpower aren't people shooting, but supporting those who shoot.
Re:How fucking depressing (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, YMMV. I was lucky enough to have a generally positive family, who actually gets together on the holidays and vacations together once a year at grandpa's expense. I can understand how those who had crappy families would want to stay as far away from that experience as possible by immersion in pleasure-seeking.
Re:How fucking depressing (Score:3, Insightful)
If you find the right mate, you can have more fun than alone. It's called pooled resources.
Also, I don't know what you mean by "double mortgage". I have a mortgage. It's about $2400/month. I own a nice chunk of dirt, and it's fairly close to work.
What's the second secret? Simple. Live beneath your means.
Let me repeat: Live beneath your means.
This mean, instead of St. Tropez, maybe Montevideo [pmi.org].
And oh by the way. Kids shouldn't be a problem. If you travel places a little more frugal, you'll find readily available help baby-sitting, etc.
Take my advice. Don't shun marriage and kids. Sure, take your time. But definitely aim for working on a family by the time you reach early 30s. It's only fair to your children. You need to be young and healthy to take care of them.
Get a job and start earning money as soon as possible. Take long vacations. When your employer protests, make him fire you. If you do go work, he won't fire you, just protest. If he does protest. Take your severence, find a job, then travel.
Take your girlfriend, take you kid. If it's multiple partners sex you want, well that went out along time ago. We're no longer just living in the age of cuties, We gots the AIDS man! But if you must f everything that moves, you'll get even more by finding a girlfriend/wife that's open to the idea that you're young and need to work up a lot more batches than normal.
Re:Hate to say it... (Score:2, Insightful)
But then it depends upon the abroad..
yeah.... (Score:0, Insightful)
Yeah, it comes at the cost of civilians lives in [columbia | iraq | serbia | afghanistan | nicaragua | palestine | chile].
Re:Peace Corp (Score:1, Insightful)
I mean, where else can you prove the superiority of the US of A's military capabilities as well as the ability to rape native womenfolk just because you are American... and might as well grab some natural resources at that.
Which other job can get you to experiment with new ways to kill? Lab rats??? Hell, no... we kill people here in the Army! And most of them are civillians at that.
Yes man... the Army is the way to go!
Re:Peace Corp (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, I believe I am responsible for what I do, regardless of who tells me to do it. When you volunteer yourself into a coercive situation, you have handed your soul over to another's judgement. Maybe you think the people you take orders from are going to be good caretakers of your will and your soul, but that's one hell of a risk. Do you really know them that well? Do you even know who the hell they are? It's a long chain of command, and in any situation it's hard to know where it ends... do they even tell you where the command comes from? Do they ever tell you why? Are you willing to live blind?
When you spend your time playing games and doing busywork this doesn't much matter. I wouldn't bet on irrelevence anymore, though.
Re:Peace Corp (Score:4, Insightful)
Nah, you're entitled to your opinion - but I think that's completely "apples to oranges". The Peace Corps. seems to thrive on individuals who like to teach or train others. There's a lot of education going on there. The Army, on the other hand, tends to attract those who lack direction in their lives. Perhaps someone who just "needs a change" and hate the routine they're stuck in. But if you want to teach people, the Army isn't the place to be. You're there to pretty much "shut up and learn" and then "do, based on what we told you".
Freedom sure isn't free, but it's also a fact that if you end up dead, you absolutely lost all of your own freedom.
Also, I know this is just a generalization - but an awful lot of people I knew who joined the military came out as sort of "empty shells" of the people they once were. True, they might have been washed clean of their bad habits they used to have -- but they also seemed like their brains got re-loaded with a bunch of indoctrination about the way to be a "real man" in the U.S.A.
There's something eerily "zombie-like" about some of these guys. They're suddenly almost "too polite" and dress a little "too sharp" at any semi-formal occasion. Many times, they suddenly get a strong urge to get married, have kids, and become a cookie-cutter image of the "family man". I know you can't really fault any of this. On the surface, it looks like the guys really "cleaned up their act" -- but it's a little unnatural. I don't think they came to these lifestyle conclusions and changes purely on their own.....
Re:Peace Corp (Score:2, Insightful)
I helped plan and build an irrigation system for African farmers or I shot some people I didn't know in Iraq or wherever GeeDubyah goes hunting next?
But if it's murder you're looking for 'go army'!
Travel to beatiful locales and blow them up!
Freedom is not free, make friends by being friendly not killing people.
What are you doing on slashdot dan_lamb? 'forget your tech skills'? ummm why?
Re:Peace Corp (OT: ARMY) (Score:2, Insightful)
as for the 'prestige' of being in a war... look at vietnam. did we really 'anty up' for freedom? these things always look good on tv, and we can always justify our actions in the movies that follow but the reality is that we don't fight for our fundamental freedoms anymore -- we fight for free trade.
all i'm saying is that being on slashdot, you probably have your own ideas and opinions on situations throughout the world. by joining the military you loose the opportunity to act on your own ideas and instead submit yourself to the wishes of those in power. which brings me to my last question: how well do your ideas and goals match those who are in control, politicians between the ages of 40 and 70 with a net worth of at least 4 million?
i know i don't agree with them so i won't be ordered by them.
Re:Peace Corp (Score:1, Insightful)
Just as you would quit if forced into an unethical situation by the shift manager, military ethics require one to observe that which is moral. There are other things you can do before 'quitting', but the ultimate step is to disobey what you see as an unlawful order.
Personally, I believe I am responsible for what I do, regardless of who tells me to do it.
I agree and so does the military. Those caught doing unethical or downright criminal acts are held accountable. Think Mi Lai or Nuremburg.
When you volunteer yourself into a coercive situation, you have handed your soul over to another's judgement.
That's a contradiction. If you've volunteered, you've made that choice yourself hopefully having given the decision due forethought.
Offspring desire is not a foregone conclusion (Score:2, Insightful)
Circular argument. The regret would only be felt if there was some desire to have children in the first place. If that desire never existed (and it doesn't for many people), then there's no regret at not having had children.
You are very, very wrong. (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, don't get me wrong, I spent my fair share of time in front of the computer too, but if oyu'er not doing sports, or part of student council, or on the debate team - what are you doing with your free time? Drinking?
Frankly, I had a lot more fun in high school than my friends who spent most of their time high.
Oh, and there's one other very good reason to get into college:
I got to go to Europe for a YEAR because I got into college and knew some German.
Re:Peace Corp (Score:5, Insightful)
What bothers me about the military is there is no accountability when it comes to its past. What happened to the people who ordered LSD testing on soldiers? What happened to the people who used chemical warfare in Vietnam (Agent Orange)? What about the person who wrote the manual to teach the Latin American soldiers to torture? What does it mean that someone who tried to cover up My Lai has become Secretary of State? I don't know what has become of all the past military criminals, but it doesn't seem like much -- and anyone who joins the military now doesn't really know what they are going to be asked to do, or what the ultimate intentions of the leaders are. But past performance gives a pretty damn good idea.
And what you do in the military isn't about stupid shit like illegal monopolies. You can do wrong on a scale not normally possible in our everyday lives. Let's be honest: you can do evil. And you might not even realize it... when you flip the switch that drops the bomb, do you know if your cause is really just? Do you know who you are killing? Are you ready to kill a child? Are you ready to kill a mother? Because the military is killing a lot of children and mothers these days, and if the bombs start falling on Baghdad, the number of innocent dead is going to skyrocket, no one can deny it. Are you ready to be part of that killing machine?
It's one thing to bet your own life on a cause, but the military gave up that a while ago -- American soldiers die in accidents, not battle. Now they're betting other people's lives on it. The moral weight of killing is far heavier than the moral weight of dying. I'm not a Christian man, but I have great respect for the teachings of Jesus -- I think we all know on which side of the bomb he'd be on when it falls from the plane, and I think we'd all know which person would receive his blessings.
Re:Peace Corp (Score:2, Insightful)
I'll be the first to admit that the military and the government as a whole as done a whole lot of fucked up shit. Hell, if you haven't already read them, I would recommend reading A People's History of the United States [amazon.com] or Deterring Democracy [amazon.com] among many fine books on the subject.
The dilemma for the thinking individual is how to deal with all this history. I would recommend engagement. In that I reiterate what I said earlier, if you can do a better, more ethical job, I would encourage you to do so. The military is not made up of heartless monsters, but by people like you making sometimes very difficult decisions.
Are you ready to be part of that killing machine?
I have been a part of 'that killing machine' and with a clean conscience. I did the best I could in my small role in the service. I obeyed my ethics as best as I was able. Perhaps if those responsible for those horrible things had done the same, they never would have happened. Perhaps if persons with your moral integrity were making decisions, our nation as a whole would have the same clean collective conscience as I. I mean that seriously. The military needs people just like you.
Re:How fucking depressing (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd say someone like Einstein, Newton, or Plato is far more 'immortal' than my parents will be just because of my existence. Being remembered for doing something difficult is a hell of a lot more rewarding (not like it matters, as you're dead anyway) than simply doing what 95% of the population can do. Breeding isn't exactly hard (my apologies to the infertile folks out there).
If passing on your genes is that vital, you can do it a lot more efficiently, and volumnously, by donating to a sperm bank.
Re:Peace Corp[s] (Score:4, Insightful)
If you simply want to travel and do good in a tangibly fruitful way, join the US Peace Corps. My cousin did this and actually speaks well of it *after* getting so sick she had to leave early. You get a really solid lifeline in case you suddenly require medical attention or quick evacuation. Almost everyone will respect what you did, regardless of their national, political, and/or philosophical background. And the experience lasts a lifetime, usually in a positive way.
If you want to do good and (also) find out lots about who/what you are, join the US Army. I guarantee this experience too will last a lifetime; but it might not be so sweet. You'll find out things about yourself, and about people in general, that don't surface during the medi[c]ated experience most of us accept as everyday life.
Now that I've exposed some of my own biases, let's explore a bit of reasoned counterpoint to some of Ian Bicking's writings:
----------------
Surprising this assertion is. I've reviewed a fair number of the primary documents without coming across anything to support this observation. I'm aware of at least two US Navy fliers who got courtmartialed for not following orders whilst in the aeroplane; but their crime was deviation from course and an unauthorized weapons release, not a mission refusal. Can you recall which historian made this claim/when/where/to whom/citing what? The question of what makes a target 'military' is the subject of numerous thick books. A restrictive definition would have precluded, for instance, turning out the lights in Ho Chi Minh City. But Operation LINEBACKER doing that, and things like that, brought the North to the negotiating table at a time when they were already correctly confident that they would win the war. Whether or not you accept that US intervention was morally right, it's hard to argue that bloodshed is presumptively preferable to negotiation. (The same argument applies, more recently, to Kosovo/Belgrade/Yugoslavia.) Orange was used *as* a defoliant. There were technicians who knew how toxic it was, but it's not clear that the decisionmakers in Vietnam did. MAC-V also dropped Orange on its own troops -- difficult to reconcile with a desire for victory, if the release authority meant to employ it as a chemical weapon. Really? Where? Are you referring to the human shields whom Saddam voluntold they'd go stand next to the air defence systems that were about to start shooting at US and British pilots? US soldiers do die in battle. The US Army has had some success in reducing the numbers, but a dispassionate review of US military history over the last, say, twenty years reveals that US soldiers died in battle in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan. The US Army's deployment to Albania in 'support' of the Kosovo Air Campaign killed US soldiers only in accidents. It also killed zero persons of any other nation, since it never executed a combat mission. No, they're betting *their* lives on their Army's ability to protect them. And they know an uncomfortable lot about how finite that ability is. Soldiers in battle generally do not fight for causes. They fight for survival, frequently for the survival of their buddies, occasionally for a charismatic leader. Citizens who enlist might do so for a specific cause, but more often than not they do so for a complex combination of reasons. Patriotism is usually one of these. Yeah. True. If you aren't comfortable with the fact that you'll remember the nameless people you killed for the rest of your life, stay away from the US Army. There are nations that win wars, but no soldier ever won a war. All the soldiers in a war lose something. But until a universal substitute for war comes along, the US will need something that can fight one and win. Leave that job to those who have reflected on their willingness to do that specific thing. If you want to die for a cause, just write a lucid note and cut your throat. The US Army is a lot harder and more effective than suicide. Oh yeah, the guy who beat the temple moneychangers with a stick hard enough to drive them all away? Yeah, that was definitely a guy who would shrink from employing force in a righteous cause. The teachings of Christ emphasize personal responsibility and explicitly de-emphasize the manner of one's death. Do you really mean to claim that an 'ethnic cleanser' killed whilst shelling civilians would be preferentially blessed by Christ *because* he died from a US munition? Although Christ's blessings are denied to no repentant sinner, there's no basis in scripture for such an exceptional claim.----------
Please take to heart bugnuts' advice to get IN WRITING the recruiter's promise about where you'll be assigned and what you'll do.
Finally, regarding kasparov's comment in this thread:
He's right. The entire US DoD reflexively punishes defiance. Paradoxically, those US citizens who pledge themselves to defend the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution are less free than those they defend.Orders are fundamentally about trust. The soldier issuing them believes they'll get done. The soldier receiving them believes they're right. When this breaks down, so does the US Army. If trust is at issue, then *before* it breaks down, the issuer and the receiver owe a frank discussion to each other and to the Constitution they pledged they'd defend. If you're not ready to have that discussion, face to face, with a guy who can put you in jail, don't join the US Army. Sometimes it really *can* feel like an Army of One.
There are easy answers in the US Army, just as there are in 'everyday' US life. You can keep your head down, learn exactly what is required, do it as well as you can, and ignore/forget the inconvenient remainder. But if you are a geek, your predilections will force you along a harder, more rigorous, and ultimately more illuminating path. This is no more a fact of the US Army than of US 'everyday' life; but in the US Army both the situations and the outcomes will matter more to you. The answers you find might not be comfortable, or even unambiguous; but they will be true.
Also you'll have lots less bandwidth :-)
Re:Just remember... (Score:2, Insightful)
What he meant was, "I am one _among many_ Berliners".
Re:Peace Corp (Score:1, Insightful)
Given the choice now, I would volunteer to do work in 3rd world countries or something like that. It's hard, but it's also peaceful and loving. You'll learn more about life than in a strict institution where everybody have to conform.
However, some people fancy money, armies, war, agressiveness and domination. If you do, then I say, go for it. I hope you'll enjoy it. It's not for me though. I'm sure I'm not alone.
Re:Peace Corp (Score:2, Insightful)
> rigid values.
I believe the phenomenon you're referring to is LGAT -- Large Group Awareness Therapy, something the Armed Forces used to build the Army.
You can watch the same sort of phenomenon with groups such as Landmark Education
Continental firms offer SIX weeks of vacation (Score:1, Insightful)
Living and working in Europe, you'll get started building your technical career, and have plenty of time off to travel. Based in Europe, unique and historical places will be just a short train ride away (London, Paris, Prague, Budapest, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens, Florence, Berlin...). Flights are much cheaper from Europe to everywhere except the Americas: you could zip down to Greece or Turkey for less than $200 on a charter flight, check out Thailand for $250. From Germany, you could drive down to Venice for a long weekend. And so on.
Works for me, living in Munich.
Advice from one who has seen the world (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't think those things are required elements in life. They're not. Be your own individual. Do what's best for you. After all, it's your life. If a wife and kids and a house with a white picket fence is what you really want, then by all means go for it. But don't do it just because one society (or even all societies) expect you to.
This world is very big with all kinds of people, places and ideas. Don't lock yourself into one way of doing things or one place of doing things. See the world, talk to people, take the knowledge and understanding from their experiences and add it to your own. Then make up your own mind. Otherwise, you're doomed to live someone else's life.