Dude, where's my Asia?

Back in the day when, at least in the California public school system, we all believed that hunkering down under a 600 lb. solid steel desk would protect a person from nuclear annihilation, the lore of Columbus Day was pretty much cut and dried.  Christopher Columbus was a great visionary who, in the name of scientific exploration, set out to discover the New World and became a navigational hero in the process.  I could swear I cross checked and validated this view, as I usually did when I was in elementary school, with an episode of Schoolhouse Rock but I cannot find any SR reference to Columbus Day on line.  Does anyone else smell a conspiracy here?

After doing a bit of reading this morning in preparation for a fitting Columbus Day tribute blog post, I realize that Christopher Columbus was no more or less a flawed bumbler just like the rest of us on this round or flat(whichever you choose to go with) earth.  Curiously that gives me pause and confidence all at the same time.
He thought he discovered China and Japan, even though it was Haiti and Cuba.  Sr. Columbus collected specimens of men, gold, herbs, and animals to bring back to the King and Queen to claim in the name of Spain to expand it's wealth and influence.  Oh, and they wanted to convert everyone encountered in the exploration to Christianity by whatever means necessary.  I don't remember that being part of the deal that I learned in Mrs. LaRue's class...

Anyhoo, the guy had the balls to set off in a new direction from Spain, explore uncharted waters (literally), lead 3 ships worth of sailors that were getting a bit cranky by the time they found anything, and believe that his way of life was the way all people in all lands should live.  Oh, were I to have that kind of confidence.  Of course, Christopher Columbus was totally wrong about where he was, and America was already "discovered" by the Vikings, but who is going to argue those points when a day off school is at stake?

I give Christopher Columbus props for trying.  For getting out there and giving it a go.  Too many of us just let life and opportunity go by without taking it by the tail and shaking it for all it's worth, or getting dragged behind it for a distance.  Either way, you can't say you didn't try.  And if you call Cuba Japan, or Haiti China, in the process it's a small price to pay for living life to the fullest and not letting it live you.