Olbermann email (I hope he reads emails) Re: Michael Hatchell

[Suji to Seoul]

I watched Countdown tonight. Anyone interested in the "Dubai" thing, I did it! Both in Korea and now in China. Anyone looking to go abroad, I would be more than happy to assist and answer questions.

Dear Mr. Olbermann:

I would like to thank you for the #5 story on Countdown on 8/12/10 (my date may be a little off, I am emailing you from Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province in China). I am a devoted viewer of Countdown and wished to send you this email in response to your segment.

A little background first. I moved out of the United States from Arizona to Suji-Gu in Yongin City, located in Geoyunggi Province (40 KM south of Seoul) because I wanted something different as a teacher. After a year, I decided I wanted to move to China so I found myself a position as an Oral English teacher at a public high school in this city. I am currently a literature and English instructor as one of my city's local colleges. I also saw the handwriting on the wall with the American economy and I knew a teacher with a Master's Degree that enabled him to become a principal would be too over-priced to remain teaching in the States.

Last December, my mother (at the time 57 years old with 25 years of teaching experience, certification in two states and a Master's Degree in History) called me on Skype crying, saying she felt like she was going to "the glue factory." I instantly began demanding all her information and began looking for a position teaching here in China. After a three month search, I found her one, teaching at another of the high schools here in Shijiazhuang (#17 Middle School). My father, in order to join her, has sold his extremely successful tax preparation accounting business and will join us in China on August 22nd my time. I also found him a position in one of the local public high schools (#1 Middle School). They put their home in a trust for my younger brother, will give him the pensions they will make, as well as their social security when they are eligible to insure my 21 year old, recently married brother has income while he builds his car mechanic's business. They even imported their American Bulldog.

My parents are both successful professionals, highly trained and educated (Mom, as I said, has 25+ years teaching and a Master's Degree, my father has been a small businessman for 30+ years and an Enrolled Agent in the IRS, meaning he is licensed to represent taxpayers in front of the IRS on matters of taxation, as well as an author of a book on how people can deal with bill collectors that has been profiled in the New York Times and on national radio shows) and I have been a teacher since 2006.

Mr. Hatchell is correct in his belief and I wish him the best. It is reprehensible that sitting politicians would use what happened to him (and my parents) as showcasing the classic "welfare queen" hoax. Thank you for your story. What happened to Mr. Hatchell could have happened to my parents (if I did not act as quickly as I did).

If I stayed in South Korea, they would have gone to Korea with a job, housing, socialized medicine, state pension (that doubles in value every year) and a much lower cost of living. Instead, they joined me in China with a job, housing, health insurance and an extremely low cost of living (where they can live very comfortably on 20 RMB a day, which is approximately $3).

My parents are not people who "need to get more education" as the college dropout Rush Limbaugh has said. My parents are at the top of their field and almost fell into welfare simply because my father is getting older and cannot work at his business as hard as he could 10 years ago and my mother's age, experience and education would have denied her any job that would have given her any resemblance of benefits.

What happened to her still eats at her, and I have to console her at least once a week, reminding her she is not a burden on society and is not meant for "the glue factory."

I do not expect anything from this email, but I just wanted to dictate to you my family's story. If a highly educated, experienced and professional woman can experience what my mother has gone through, then anyone can.

Please do not stop doing what you do.

Sincerely,
(name redacted)
Educator/Historian/Writer
Shijiazhuang, HB People's Republic of China

PS: As I wrote this email and read it to her, she started crying again.