South African Embassy Friends – Over here we live like kings! …
We were based among the rolling lush green hills and mountains of South Korea. My friend from church was from South Africa and taught at a local village Hogwon English school while I was teaching at the local university in a nearby city. She said, “Well let’s get on with it … how about skip down with us to Seoul for a visit. We can stay at my friend’s house from the South African Embassy. So my wife and I said sure and off we went. Seoul is a large metropolis of 10 or so million folks. It is an ultra modern city covered with towering glassy apartments that are quite expensive. But our embassy friend, one of zillions we would meet overseas, lived in a sprawling small mansion with a zillion rooms to spare. It was a fun visit. And she said to us, “Over here we live like kings, but back home we live just like everyone else!” I marvelled at the remark, but it pretty much sums up my life over here overseas.
A CPO Diplomat’s life for me?  Life as a diplomat ….?
Yo ho, ho  – and a bottle of orange juice?  …. Oops I mean, a CPO Diplomat’s life for me? Hmmm maybe or maybe not? But there are different options… but before we go exploring plan B options let’s also look at how difficult it is to get into the diplomatic core.
I remember my first awakening to this world. We were at a university bible study meeting for the Navigators and a fellow named Scott started chatting with me … I come from a fairly small town along the beaches of the Great Lakes … which I mentioned to him and he said,  “Oh I will be swimming in the Indian Ocean for Christmas.” I said what? In confusion … looking out at the snow ( … and dreaming of tropical beaches far away) … seeing my small town mind had never come against such a being …. India???? I said??? Ocean??? I said. And he said, “Yes my parents work for the embassy as diplomats and we have lived all over the world” … He said matter of factly, “We were in Russia on our last posting!”  Well it was a world I didn’t even know existed except distantly as the background of some adventure movie.
(What if I said you could get a ticket to virtually ANY OF THE 195 COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD by becoming a CPO … – … And it  is relatively easy … ??? Well that is what this website endeavors to help you to do.)
I remember it well …. getting off the plane in a run-down airport, masses of bicycles swarming the streets, meandering dark ally-ed village like ancient streets and housing, maze like labyrinths of convoluted byways with wafting smells and odours from refuse, cooking or outhouses, coal burning heaters and cookers with smokey haze rising … scenting and coating everything with coal dust … strange foods that surprised with delight and street food with food poisoning … it was a different world for me …
By CPO – From the the Far Side of the Planet – Live the Dream, Live the Adventure – Live and Work Internationally – Retire Early, Become Financially Independent and/or Buy an International Holiday House – Be a Light All Over the World