So Long Korea - (Korea) Day 365

Woke up this morning at 0645. I got myself ready and then my wife and I headed to Starbucks on the base to get breakfast. Being from Seattle I gotta say that this Starbucks was a total disgrace to the name. The service was so excruciatingly slow we just had to laugh. If the Korean's working at this Starbucks tried to get a job in Seattle they would be laughed at and kicked to the curb.

After breakfast we said our good-byes and I headed to the little terminal while my wife headed back to the room. Unfortunately I am flying "The Patriot Express" from Osan and my wife is flying commercial from Incheon. I waited in the terminal for about 30 minutes reading a book on my iPad, then went through security. The security was the same here as any other airport, except instead of TSA agents they were all air force personnel. Once through security everyone waited in some big waiting rooms for another hour or two. I spent my time switching back and forth from watching TV and reading my book.

The moment finally arrived when we could board the plane and slowly, but surely I was able to get on and find my seat. My excitement about finally flying and saying good-bye to Korea was premature. We ended up sitting on the runway for over 3 hours! We watched a movie and were served a meal before we even left the runway. The pilot kept telling us that due to fog we had to wait. It seemed the fog hadn't changed, but we were finally given the green light to fly. We headed to Japan and had a two hour layover while the plane was refueled and prepared for the flight over the pacific ocean.

The flight back to Seattle was long and uncomfortable. I ended up with a major headache and couldn't wait to get off the darn thing. They played about 4 movies which I watched a couple to pass the time. Once we arrived my brother-in-law picked me up and we headed to eat lunch before he dropped me off at my in-laws. I had about an hour to unwind before I took our car and headed back to the airport to pickup my wife. We are finally back in the U.S. together! Looking forward to spending some quality time with my friends and family.

So Long Yongsan - (Korea) Day 364

I woke up at 0645 so I could get ready and leave to the staff duty desk at battalion. I arrived there and got signed out on leave. Once that was done I headed to 1RC to do my final out-processing, but found out instead of both windows opening at 0800, the finance portion opened at 0900 and I needed their stamp before the final installation out-processing at the adjoining window. I headed back to the room and had a small breakfast with my wife from the deli at the Dragon Hill Lodge. I then headed over to 1RC once again a little before 0900 to finish my out-processing which took only about 15 minutes.

I then headed to my office with my wife so I could show her all the places I've talked about via chat and through this blog. We headed to our conference room, my office, the control room, our office, our admin office etc. Once the tour was done and I said good-bye to everyone, we headed over to SPC Roy's office to say good-bye to him as well. We then headed to battalion once again and I dropped off copies of all my out-processing papers. While I was there I had them add the Overseas Service Ribbon to my ERB. I get this for serving in Korea and wanted to make sure I had it on my ERB before I left.

Once done we headed back to The Dragon Hill and checked out of our room. We ended up buying another suitcase in order to fit everything we had! We then met with SPC Roy and had lunch at Oasis, the Mexican restaurant in The Dragon Hill. I hesitate to call it a Mexican restaurant though because it is staffed with all Korean people and as I've mentioned before...they just don't quite get Mexican food right.

Once finished we said our good-byes yet again and then grabbed our luggage from the hotel and loaded it onto the special "patriot express" shuttle that runs to Osan twice a week from The Dragon Hill to Osan for folks that are taking the patriot express. The ride was a little over an hour and dropped everyone off at the Osan Air Force Base Patriot Express Terminal. This would have been fine except the plane does not leave until tomorrow and everyone needs to stay at the hotel here on base. So half of the folks walked and the other half (us included) took a taxi because we had so much crap to carry.

The hotel here at Osan is called the Turumi Lodge and is actually quite large. We walked around a bit, checked out the PX and then ate dinner at Chilis, a nice taste of American food for a change. We then walked to the terminal once again and I found out that I could actually do an early check in which allowed me to reserve my seat and check in my luggage ahead of time. This will allow me to beat the rush and come in a little later tomorrow. I headed back to the hotel and grabbed my luggage, then checked it all in. I'm ready to go!

We just relaxed the rest of the night in the hotel room planning out the first couple weeks of what we need to do once we get back in the states. 30 days seems like a long time, but I know it's going to go by too quick!

Weekend Wrap-Up (4-Day) - (Korea) Days 360-363

I'm finally together with my wife once again!!

Thursday: we woke up about 0800, but didn't get out of bed until 0830. Headed to get some coffee at Starbucks and then started getting ready for the day. It's so nice having my wife here with me. I'm loving every minute of it. We met up with SPC Mick, PV2 Charlie, and our new KATUSA. The army major in our office invited everyone over to his house on post for a nice Thanksgiving day meal. Our NCOIC showed up as well as the other officers in our office...and even our old KATUSA. It was an awesome meal and the generosity of of the army major was much appreciated. Everyone enjoyed themselves and everyone left extremely full.

We took the post shuttle back to The Dragon Hill and ended up just relaxing for the rest of the day in the room.

Friday: We woke up and headed downstairs and had the breakfast buffet. We then headed off to catch the bus for the "Black Friday" tour I signed us up for. We headed out to Osan for a day of shopping right outside of Osan Air Force Base. The shopping there is amazing with a number of small shops and businesses selling everything you can imagine. My wife had a great time looking through all the shops. We ate lunch at a Brazilian grill, which was just great. It was an all you can eat meat fest! The servers kept coming to our table with various barbecued meat and kept piling it on our plates. We left extremely full!

The tour was scheduled from 1000 to 1700, but we ended up getting back at around 1800. We ended up just relaxing in our room after that.

Saturday: We ate breakfast in the buffet at the hotel, then went to The Point and worked out. If that wasn't enough we then hiked up to Seoul Tower. Seoul Tower is a tourist attraction for lovers, so I came prepared with a padlock complete with our names and date written on it to lock on the fence at the top. The fence is loaded with a ton of "locks of love" which we attached ours to and then threw the keys over the edge to symbolize how we will always be in love. Kind of corny, but it was sweet and I think I scored some points with my wife :)

We hiked back down and met up with the young hawaiian for dinner at a local Korean restaurant he liked. The food was delicious and we sat for what seemed like hours just chatting about everything. I'm going to miss him and a lot of others here that have kept me sane during all this time away from my friends and family.

We took the stairs up to Seoul Tower...that's a lot of stairs!!

Sunday: We had the breakfast buffet once again in the hotel, then we walked to my barracks so I could show my wife where I used to live. We visited PV2 Charlie so she could see an actual room. Even though it was well after noon, we still woke him up when knocking on his door…lol. Ooops! We then took the subway to Myeong-dong which is yet another shopping area in Korea. I wanted to make sure my wife experienced riding on the subway in Korea. I also wanted her to experience Myeong-dong which is a little overwhelming. It's basically an outdoor mall with just a ton of stores and street vendors. There are characters dressed up walking around and the streets are full of people. The trip was a success and my wife also has a new wardrobe!

We then headed back to The Dragon Hill and headed to the hot tub. Our muscles were sore and we were tired from all the walking and hiking we've been doing. We've walked all over since first arriving on post, so the hot tub felt great! We then ate dinner at Bentley's which is a little pub in The Dragon Hill Lodge and always has some sort of special going on each night. Tonight's special was 3 pulled pork sliders (mini-sandwiches) for only 99 cents. You just can't beat that! I would recommend anyone that has to stay in Yongsan to check out the nightly specials there, I found out about them a little too late or else I think I would have been there every night for the last year!

Looking down at one of the intersections in Myeong-dong

Eating a big ice cream cone from a vendor in Myeong-dong

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Korea) Days 95 & 96

Bowling in uniform seemed a bit strange, but it got stranger when SPC Roy
grabbed the little kid's guide to try and pick up a spare.

Saturday: Work Call this morning was at 0730 so at least I got to sleep in a little compared to the last week. We didn't have to leave to CP Tango because all the meetings were in our building. We had to setup for a meeting in our conference room, but for some reason we couldn't get the projectors to work with the laptops that were brought in. In fact they wouldn't even work with our computers. We ended up using a straight video cable running from the projectors to the laptops and had to balance the laptops on some boxes so they could reach. It looked pretty redneck, but it worked. We'll have to troubleshoot the video routing at a later date, because right after that meeting we had to setup for another meeting in the secret conference room. The room was going to be packed for an AAR (After Action Review) of the exercise so far.

All of us had to wait for the AAR meeting to end before we could leave for the day and the meeting was scheduled from 0900 to 1200. Wondering what to do SPC Roy decided we should go bowling, and off we went. We were able to get in a game and a half before getting called back to pick up our sergeant who was at the auto shop and then back to clean up the conference room.

After work SPC Roy asked if I wanted to go to Osan with him. He had to pick up a stroller, so I said what the heck. I have to say that their GPS units they use here in Korea are pretty freakin' cool. Not only can it act as a GPS, but it as TV as well which I think I mentioned in an earlier post. What I didn't know is that they also show and warn you when you are getting close to a speeding camera or a bus lane camera. These cameras will catch you and automatically send you a ticket. I did think we may die though, SPC Roy drove like an insane mad man trying to get to the hospital for his kid's birth or something. He was honking and weaving in and out of traffic. If we were in the states someone definitely would have stopped and pulled a gun on us, but I guess it's kind of normal here.

When I got back I video chatted with my wife for a bit, then took a nap. I was dog tired. I ended up doing a little schoolwork before winding down my night with a couple TV shows.

Sunday: I finally got to sleep in…and sleep in I did. I slept until 1030 which was so nice. I then had to do my laundry and then video chat with my wife for a while. I worked out a bit and then decided to go watch a movie all alone. Everyone is out on the exercise still it seems. I watched "Hall Pass" which had me laughing quite a bit. Owen Wilson is in it and he seems to always be pretty funny. It's a show about a couple guys who's wives give them a "free pass" for a week to not be married. They can do whatever they want. They have plans on picking up chicks all week, but find out it's not so easy picking up chicks in real life as it seemed in their heads.

It was a nice lazy day finished off with grabbing some supplies from the shoppette and doing a little schoolwork and TV shows which seems to be my nightly ritual. I've been in Korea now for a quarter of a year. I'm trying to have fun while I'm here and take in all the culture, but I do get homesick quite a bit. I really miss not having any close friends or family here. I'm so glad I have video chat, I think I would lose my mind without that. I'm just taking it a day at a time...

the wife

One day over, one day closer...

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - 01:17 AM

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Korea) Days 59-61

A photo I took while inside "The Naked Bar". It was still very early in the
night, so not a lot of people there yet. It looked like a bar you would see
in a science fiction film, where the characters visit a bar on another planet...
except instead of aliens, there were only Koreans.

Friday: Work call this morning was 0900 for driver's training once again. When I arrived we all sat in the conference room with the instructor and talked about movies until lunch. We discussed our favorite movies, good movies, bad movies and just about everything you could think of. One of the guys next to me stated that "12 Angry Men" was one of the great movies he loved. Everyone looked at him with a questioning look as if they've never heard of that movie before. I quickly added "It's a gay porn". That had everyone laughing. We were then dismissed for lunch, which brings up something that came up in our class today. We have two girls that work in the DFAC on post. The one that has been sitting next to me said that she doesn't ever eat at the DFAC! That is interesting a person that works there, but will not eat there. I guess maybe it's a good thing that I don't eat there either.
After lunch we came back and we then took turns driving around post with the instructor. I was in the first group. We were told it was going to be a stick shift, but it turns out that it was in the shop. My guess it's getting repaired from the previous classes that couldn't drive a stick. The three of us took turns driving around post. We didn't do anything special, the instructor just wanted to make sure we could in fact drive. When we got back I headed up to the barracks and did some schoolwork. The class I'm taking now "Introduction to Programming" is not my cup of tea. I find myself struggling every step of the way. I've never cared too much for programming, and I'm not quite sure why I even have to take it for my degree. I just hope I can struggle through it and pass the class to move on to the next one. Usually I want to get an A, but I don't really care at all about this class…just as long as I pass.

Later on I met up with the young hawaiian and we went out to Itaewon to find a place to eat. We checked out a number of restaurants. There are so many it makes it hard to choose. We were also on somewhat of a budget, so we ended up choosing a place called "The Naked Bar & Grill". Tonight's special was rib eye steak for 13,000 Won (about $13). It was an interesting place and the food was really good. We headed back to post after that and watched "No Strings Attached"at the theatre. This may be the first time I've watched a chick flick with another dude. I'm secure in my masculinity though :). It was a romantic comedy and wasn't too bad. It had it's funny parts. Instead of the usual romantic comedy where the guy loses the girl and then gets her back, it was the girl who lost her guy and had to get him back.

Saturday: I was told my sergeant was coming this morning, so I woke up at 0800 and made sure my room was clean. I mopped the floor and wiped everything down. He came looked around really quick and then asked if I was doing OK and if I had any questions. It turned out to be somewhat of a wellness check I guess. I heard there was a suicide on post and this is in response to that. They want to check and make sure everything's going well with the soldiers.

I lost internet today as well. I had just cancelled my service which cost me $60 a month in favor of sharing my roommate's service which will cost me $20 a month. Little did I know we hit our 30 GB limit and he was gone for the weekend. Grrrrr. I've grown to rely on the internet for a lot of my entertainment, communication, and school needs. It's kind of impractical not to have it in our room now. I talked to my roommate and he's going to see if he can up the limit and we'll try to monitor our usage a little better. I won't know if he can or not until this Monday. If he can't I'll have to go back to my more expensive, but reliable internet. So until Monday I will be back to using the food court internet. Ugghhh

I've been watching a ton of TV shows lately (perhaps part of the cause of going over our internet limit). I've been trying to catch up on everything that I've fallen behind on since going to basic. I love being able to watch one episode after another without having to wait a week for a new one to come out.

Sunday: Woke up at 0800 and got ready. I then went over to the young hawaiian's room and we waited for his sergeant to come pick us up. His sergeant (I'll call him SGT Chamorro) asked if we wanted to go shopping with him in Osan. He said there is some good shops up there. I figured I would go just to get out and do something different. We drove to Osan which is about an hour away, it's the air force base we flew into Korea when we first arrived here.

SGT Chamorro wasn't kidding when he said there was good shopping there. Right outside of the base are a ton of shops lined up block after block selling everything you can think of. I'm not much for shopping, I'm your typical male. I usually know what I want and go in to get it and get out. It's a little different here in Korea, there is just so much stuff it can be neat to just window shop. I just wish it was a little warmer out (more on that in a bit). I also would like to roam free next time. I just followed the guys I was with into each shop, but there are so many more that I'd like to check out just to see what kind of stuff they have in there.

I was able to get my wife what I think is a pretty cool present, but I can't actually say what it is cause she'll read this before she gets it. I had her present in a bag. It was actually wrapped in a plastic bag, which was placed in another designer bag, then placed in a plastic shopping bag. I am very glad this was the case. Each of the shops we went into usually had some sort of space heater in them. I guess central air, or any type of heat isn't an option in these shops. Well it was so cold I would usually migrate next to the space heater. I was doing this while the other guys were looking at some sort of questionable video game device (some sort of usb stick that you could plug into a Wii and play a number of video games…didn't sound very legit). All of a sudden the owner says "you're on fire". I wasn't actually on fire, but my bag had started to melt to the space heater. I guess I couldn't feel it because I was still too cold. I also couldn't smell it because my nose was running too much. After inspecting my bag I found that it had melted through everything all the way to the gift I bought, but there was no damage to the gift. I was literally seconds away from ruining the valentines day present I just bought my wife! That would have sucked!!! The shop worker had to wipe off his space heater because there was melted plastic still all over it…lol

We then ate at a place called ThaiLand which was very good. I had some spicy noodle dish, then we headed back on base and checked out their PX before heading back. On the way back I fell asleep, but woke up when our car decided to die right in the middle of the hwy. SGT Chamorro was trying to get it started back up as people were driving by honking at us. One guy even had a loudspeaker and I think he was cussing us out as he drove by. The car finally started and we made it back without further incident.

I had to go to the food court so I could use their internet to do some school work and video chat with my wife. I need internet back in the barracks…that sucks!

The Flight - (Korea) Day 1

A picture from my window seat after we landed in Korea.

It kind of looks like a prison...hmmm

We boarded a big Boeing 747 plane and I was glad that there was a blanket and pillow on the seat…it turned out to get pretty cold in the middle of the flight. I'm also glad I brought a little U-shaped blow up pillow. That thing turned out to be awesome and after you take all the air out of it, I was able to store it in my pocket. I was very lucky to get seated in an exit row. This row had more leg room than I've ever had on a plane. I swear I could have laid down on the floor and took a nap there was so much room. Speaking of naps, I ended up sleeping quite a bit on the flight. I was drifting in and out of consciousness the whole flight. Each time I opened my eyes there was a different movie or TV show playing. One of the times I woke up just in time to get served food. Imagine that…getting free food on an airplane. I haven't had that happen in a long time. Chicken with some pasta in a white sauce…not too bad. Ironman 2 was playing, but I have already seen that movie. After that Toy Story 3 came on which is a movie I want to see, but I wanted to see it uninterrupted so I just listened to my music and fell asleep again. I'll be able to enjoy that movie at a later date.

We landed in Japan at Yakota air base. Everyone had to get off the plane at this point. Those who were staying in Japan went to one room and the rest of us went into another. We waited for a couple of hours I guess for the crew to clean the plane and unload some of the luggage. After that we were loaded back into it. The flight to Korea was almost two hours. This was enough time for them to show Alice in Wonderland, I did the same thing I always did and just fell asleep.

We arrived at Osan Air Base in Korea where we all unloaded and then had a customs brief. We had to fill out some forms stating that we were not bringing anything illegal into the country such as swords. Just in case you had a sword or other contraband such as drugs, guns or porno, there was a box where you could drop it all off before going through customs. Once through we boarded three buses that took us to Yongson base. The ride was an hour or so. For most of the trip I just stared out the window looking at the landscape, the architecture, and all the signs that had crazy writing on them that I couldn't read. Holy cow I'm in Korea!

Once we arrived on base we were all given a brief and had to fill out a few forms. We were then given a room in a hotel on base. This was nice, I was able to take a shower and then grab a bite to eat. My first meal in Korea…a personal pizza from the Pizza Hut in the hotel! I plan on experiencing the food and everything that Korea has to offer, but just not today. I am tired and I just wanted to grab a quick bite and get back to my room to crash. I have to be up tomorrow at 6:30 AM for breakfast, then it's a day of in-processing. The strange thing is that the uniform tomorrow is civilian clothes…interesting…but I'm not complaining.

We had a great view of Mt. Fuji while flying over Japan

robbijaq@comcast.net

I wish you the best of luck as well as the best of everything else.  I have been tracking your progress since the beginning and have been extremely grateful for all that you've shared.  My 18-year old son started basic at Ft. Benning around the time you were leaving there and your writings have been very insightful to me, and I can't tell you how much I appreciated them.  You assisted me in my quest to become a knowlegeable and good soldier's Mom.  I shall keep you, your wife and children and all your families (yours, your wife's and your Army family) in my daily prayers as you begin this new journey as a well-trained brave American soldier.  "Thank you" are two very small words but filled with an overflow of gratitude for you and all soldiers in all branches of the military.  Do take care.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 05:54 AM

Rick Clark

Thanks so much for the updates, I'm a 36 year old contemplating joining the Army and these journal entries have been awesome.  Thank you and good luck in Korea!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 07:45 AM

Brandon

Thank you both for the comments. I started the journal because I myself was trying to find information about what it's like going through basic and just being in the regular army. I thought it may be a good resource for others and it gives my friends and family timely updates on what I've been doing. I think it also is a great way for me to vent sometimes to relieve some stress :) The updates may be a little sporadic at times until I get into some permanent party barracks here and get internet in my room.

Your thanks are very much appreciated. I never realized all the sacrifices our military personnel made until I joined myself.

robbijaq* I wish your son the best of luck and thank him for his service to our country.

Rick - It's been quite a ride so far. I'm glad I've been able to give you some insight as to what it's like. Let me know if you do decide to go in :)

Thursday, December 2, 2010 - 11:48 PM