Driving The Big Dog - (Korea) Day 225

Special K checking out his car after getting high centered while my sergeant is
looking at me wondering why I'm taking pictures...lol. By the way...that is The
Dragon Hill Lodge in the background...the hotel here on post.

Woke up and got ready for our "rain pt" this morning, but when we showed up Special K got a call from our sergeant saying that his ankle was sore. No pt this morning…lol. I headed back to my room and started getting ready for the day.

Work call this morning was at 0830, but before I headed back to work I got a call from Special K. Evidently he went to The Dragon Hill Lodge to go work out and when he left his windows in his car were pretty foggy. I'm not sure how he did it, but he ended up driving in the exit of the Popeye's drive through and then jumping the concrete divider between it and the parking lot. It ended up popping his front tire and his car was high centered on the divider. Holy Cow!

I ended up getting the office car and heading down to give him a hand. Our sergeant was already there and the rain was pouring down. There wasn't much we could do, so he had to call a tow truck. The tow truck came, hooked up a rope and drug his car off the divider. He then said "that will be $50". Special K had him put on the spare tire since he had all the equipment right there (that cost an extra $10). What a great way to start the day.

I headed back to the office and planned to do SkillPorts as usual, but instead I was asked to drive The Big Dog around. He had to run a bunch of errands and because of the rain, he didn't want to walk around post. I don't blame him, it was really coming down! I drove him all over the post until about lunch time. I went to lunch with Special K at the KATUSA snack bar. Let me recommend if you're ever at Yongsan to check out one of these for lunch. It's good and it's cheap…I love it!

When we got back, we setup for a meeting in the secret conference room. There was some minor last minute drama when we found out the new general will be attending as well. Special K and SPC Mick ran down to shuffle name tags around accordingly. I did my part and held the door open for when they came down.

I then did some more of the army SSDL1 training and made it about half way through the 3rd module. After that I did a couple SkillPorts, I think that is an all time low for me during a work day! By this time it was about time to go. We cleaned up and left the office.

I ate in my room and watched some TV shows. My class is now over, so I'll be taking a little break. I did however do a couple more SkillPorts instead of class. I think I may be coming a little obsessed.

If it wasn't bad enough, Special K had to hold the tow truck driver's umbrella for
him while he worked...lol

the wife

Your photos are had me cracking up!!! Special K really did a number on that one... and I wouldn't call it obsessed, just determined. Love you!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 11:36 PM

Brandon

Yeah the whole thing had me cracking up too! :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - 09:56 PM

The Big Dog - (Korea) Day 224

Work call this morning was at 0830. First thing in the morning I got called into our new colonel's office to meet him and help him get setup on his computer for the first time. He's quite a bit older than I was expecting. (I'll call him the big dog). Once he was setup I turned him loose and headed up to my office and did SkillPorts as usual. Since it's the first day of the work week I checked my status once again with my promotion points.

Military Education:

Max 260 Points

Army Correspondence Course Program (ACCP): 537 Hours - 107 Points

So I'm almost half way there. Once I finish this class I'm doing, I'll be taking a short break before my next class. I will not start my next class until after I come back from leave. During this period I plan on doing even more SkillPorts in my room during the time I'd normally use for schoolwork. I want to max this out, so I don't have to worry about it any more.

I check my email daily for word from my branch manager to see where my next assignment is. I have that same feeling of anticipation that I had back in AIT before I knew I was coming to Korea. I am excited and scared at the same time. I am hoping I'll get sent somewhere I'll like, but not knowing is stressful.

I got a call from my roommate once again today asking if I can come back early for lunch, he doesn't have his room key. The funny thing was that I asked him if he had it this morning, he said he did…but it turned out to be the wrong key! I may have to duct tape it to him or something pretty soon. I ate lunch and video chatted with my wife.

When I arrived back at the office, I went to our conference room to setup for another farewell ceremony for the general. Once that was finished, I worked on the army SSDL1 training. I was able to finish module 2, so I have 2 more to go. I'd like to finish that this week if possible. The sergeants came up (our sergeant and our NCOIC) and were checking off inventory. Our sergeant had signed a hand receipt for a lot of the equipment in the conference room and our NCOIC will be signing for it all before he leaves. As any wise person will do, they check all the equipment and serial numbers to make sure everything that is on the receipt is actually there. I helped them find a few things, with the limited descriptions it can be a bit tough, but we found everything they were looking for.

By this time it was getting pretty late. I updated the upcoming events calendar and we all took off. That was after our sergeant said we needed to do some good training tomorrow morning. This means we'll be going for another ruck march. Special K said that it will be raining and our sergeant said "if it ain't raining…it ain't training". He then called it "rain pt", so we'll be getting a little wet tomorrow it seems.

The rest of the night was full of the usual…schoolwork and then TV shows.

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Korea) Days 222-223

A view of Seoul from Walker Hill Resort Casino

Saturday: I slept in until about 0930 and then video chatted with my wife and son for a while. I then did a SkillPort. I'm trying to do at least one a day, and many more if I get the chance. I then headed off to the Dragon Hill Lodge here on post. I was going to reserve a hotel room for a ROK buddy of mine, but all the rooms were full. My ROK buddy works in our ROK sister office and is currently serving his two years of mandatory service. His fiancé came up to visit and we had lunch…a very nice and cute couple.

I headed back to my room and took a nap. I don't know what it is lately, but I've been needing naps on a daily basis! After waking up I met up with PFC Pickle and we went to the theatre on post to watch Transformers 3. Even though I had already seen it, he didn't want to go alone and I thought it was good enough to see twice. We then went to the food court to eat dinner and have desert. I ate so much ice cream I thought my stomach was about to burst. I waddled back to my room and did some schoolwork before ending the night with some TV shows.

Sunday: I video chatted with my wife and did my laundry. I then worked on schoolwork before heading to lunch with the young hawaiian. We ate at the food court and then met up with an officer he works with. We all headed off to Walker Hill Casino to play in the free poker tournament. My first bet was "all in", I was either going to double my money or be taken out…I was taken out unfortunately. I had an Ace/King, but a guy with a pair of tens beat me. The young hawaiian and his officer fared better placing 9th and 10th, but you have to be in the top five to win the $100 each. Oh well, we had fun and it didn't cost anything.

We then headed to a nearby mall to have some dinner. Because everything is in Korean we are used to seeing a picture and pointing at it to order. This particular restaurant didn't have pictures on the menu, the only pictures they had were outside of the restaurant (which is what drew us in). Our waitress followed us outside and we each pointed to a dish we wanted…lol. The food was great! I love the fact that there are so many places to eat in Korea that don't cost more than $10. This dinner was only $5.50 and it was both filling and tasted great. Another perk is that you do not "tip" in Korea. So when something costs $5.50, that is all you pay. I'm going to miss that.

We then headed back to post via the subway. Another great benefit of living in Seoul Korea, the subway can get you pretty much anywhere and it's very cheap! When I got back to my room I kicked back, relaxed and I'm sure you can guess…..watched some TV shows.

The young hawaiian playing in the poker tournament long after I was knocked out

This is a street vendor selling pirated DVDs. They sell 'em really cheap and have all

the current hits playing in the theatre. The quality isn't very great, but still watchable.

It's crazy how this is just normal here.

It Takes A Strong Finger - (Korea) Day 221

Another one of those signs that just don't sound right after being translated

Work call this morning was at 0730. We setup for a KUB in our conference room. After the KUB the same set of people continued for an all day meeting. SPC Mick and I were chosen to be the designated slide flippers for the day. SPC Mick took the first shift until lunch and I did SkillPorts on my computer. I left a bit early for lunch and video chatted with my wife for a bit before heading back to the office.

When I got back I made sure everything was ready to go for the second half of the day's meeting. I flipped slides which is a fairly boring process. You can't really have the TV on because you have to listen for the presenter to say "next slide", at this point I had to click the down arrow on the computer. This was my job for the rest of the day. My finger got quite the workout!

The meeting ended a little before 1700 and we cleaned up the conference room and shut everything down. After that we headed down and cleaned up the office. We gathered for our weekend safety briefing. Our sergeant at one point asked SPC Mick what his job was. When SPC Mick replied that he was an "Operations Specialist" our sergeant told him to get down and start doing some push-ups. I guess our sergeant was asking what his MOS was (42A Human Resources). Everyone in the office is a 42A except me. Our sergeant then asked Special K if he had enrolled in school yet, as soon as he started saying an excuse our sergeant told him to get down and "beat your face" (push-ups). I got off easy this time.

We left and I took a nap as soon as I got to my room. I don't know what it is, but I have no energy lately after work. After the nap, I did my schoolwork and then relaxed and watched some TV shows. A pretty laid back Friday night.

Just Say No to Bath Salts - (Korea) Day 220

The group shot of our SCJS offices from the farewell meeting yesterday

Work call this morning was at 0730. We had to setup for another farewell ceremony for the general to say goodbye to another office. Once we were all setup I got a call from my roommate. He locked himself out of our room yet again. Luckily I could leave and let him back in, but when I arrived at our room he was nowhere to be found. What to do? I did the only thing I could think of, walk to the food court and grab some coffee from Starbucks. I headed back to the room for one last check and he was there this time. Evidently he didn't think I would be as fast as I was. I let him in and then headed back to the office and started on some SkillPorts.

After a bit I had to head out and be a traffic controller for a change of command ceremony for a marine general. It seems everyone is leaving around this time of year! My job was to make sure no cars came and tried to enter through the exit, while SPC Mick stood guard on the entrance side and made sure nobody except a general drove through the entrance (we can't really stop them).

After the ceremony I headed back to do some more SkillPorts, but was informed that me, SPC Mick and Special K had to attend some "Spice Training". It was scheduled at noon, so we had to hurry up and eat and then take off to the training. We ate at the food court and then drove to the "training center" on post. (The training center is actually the movie theatre, but it's day job is the training center).

It turns out it was not exactly "Spice Training", but substance abuse training. We got to hear all kinds of actual stories that have happened to soldiers here in Korea while under the influence of some sort of drug or alcohol. The interesting thing is that the instructor gave examples from people across all ranks from full bird colonels to privates. Everything from death to rape has happened. We also went over all the different things that people are doing to get high these days. It amazes me the stuff people try to get high. The latest is bath salts. I guess they grind them up and then snort it. I wonder who are the first people to think up something like that? Just sitting around the house bored, then you see some bath salt and decide to grind it up and snort it….WTF? Crazy people out there.

We headed back to the office and I worked on my SSDL1 training that I started last week. I have finished module 1 and am now working on module 2. There are 4 total and when I finish I should get 80 hours training credit as well as a certificate. It states that soldiers are now required to do this before heading to WLC (warrior leader course), so I'll be ahead of the curve.

We cleaned up and were ready to go, but had to wait for Special K to finish framing a joint unit meritorious award. I guess our unit received one for the period of 2008-2010. Part of the job of our office is framing all the awards that come through and this is something that Special K and our KATUSA do, so you can say we even do arts and crafts in the army. I checked into it and it looks like I might be able to get an extra ribbon because of this unit award because I arrived at the last part of 2010. I'll be checking into this a little more to find out for sure.

I headed back to my room and did schoolwork before settling down and watching TV shows. I finally finished watching Spartacus. What an awesome TV show, now I want the next season to start…and soon!!

Me receiving my coin from the general during the farewell meeting yesterday

Change of command ceremony for the marine general

A volunteer trying to pass a sobriety test with special "drunk" goggles on.
She fell over at one point...lol

4-Star Farewell - (Korea) Day 219

The front and back of the 4-Star General's coin I received during the farewell ceremony

Work call this morning was at 0830. We setup for our normal Wednesday meeting in the secret conference room, but we didn't actually have to run it or attend. We had our own meeting we had to setup and prepare for. The commander of USFK, the four star general had a meeting scheduled to say farewell to our office. It was quick and short, he gave out some coins first and at the last second I found out I was going to get one. Very cool! Now I have a four star general's coin. Our KATUSA also got one which was well deserved, he works his butt off. The General then said a few words and we all took our picture with him. A short and sweet meeting.

We then cleaned up both our conference room and then later on the secret conference room. I received a list of openings for my job position from my NCOIC. I then sent an email to my branch manager requesting some of the cooler locations. I should be finding out pretty soon where I'll be heading. I would think that if I request a place that has an opening at the time I'm leaving Korea, that it would be a no brainer. I'm actually making the branch manager's job easier right? LOL…I guess we'll see where they think I belong "based on the needs of the army".

I then did SkillPorts until lunch time. I figured I would give a status update on my progress each week. Since this is the first day of the work week, it will be a Wednesday this time. Here is what my promotion point worksheet shows for Military Education:

Max 260 Points:

Army Correspondence Course Program (ACCP): 472 Hours = 94 Points

Slowly getting closer. I got a call at 1130 from my roommate, he locked himself out of our room and asked if I could take lunch early and let him in…no problem. I headed out and had lunch in my room while video chatting with my wife. When I headed back to the office I did the army SSD  Level 1 computer based training. This is the other training I found last week that I'm checking out. I finished the first module today. When I finish all the modules it's supposed to be worth 80 hours. I think I also get a certificate as well. We'll see.

I helped out Seaman bring in all the mail. Because of the holiday weekend he had the entire car filled with boxes! We had to make a few trips back and forth to get them all in with help from our KATUSA and SPC Mick. We then cleaned up and left at 1700 today.

Back in my room I ate dinner and watched TV shows. I then heard from my roommate that he broke up with his American girlfriend. It's probably for the better based on what I've heard so far with their relationship, but he's still pretty bummed. So bummed in fact that he had a few friends over to console him for quite a while. Even our KATUSA heard about it and came over "to feel bad for him".

Another day over…another day closer to going home. Now I'm going to sleep. I bought a fan that I placed next to my bed for the noise at night. Last night I slept with that on and my "white noise" from my iPhone playing. It worked out great…I didn't hear anything and slept like a rock.

Weekend Wrap-Up (4-Day) - (Korea) Days 215-218

The Doosan Bears vs LG Twins baseball game in Seoul

Saturday: Woke up at 0830 to video chat with my wife for a bit before playing basketball with the ROK soldiers again. SPC Roy joined us and we ended up playing 3 on 3. A good workout, and even though we didn't keep score I think we won! I then headed back to my room to video chat some more with my wife.

I then spent a large part of the day doing schoolwork as Saturday is when I have the most time to do so. I then met up with PFC Pickle and we headed to the hotel on post (The Dragon Hill Lodge). We met up with the air force master sergeant from my office as well as my NCOIC to catch a bus to a Korean professional baseball game here in Seoul. It was the Doosan Bears vs the LG Twins. The game was a little unique in the fact that I believe both teams share the stadium. The fans were divided with the Twins fans on one side of the stadium and the Bears fans on the other. Chants and songs would go back and forth throughout the game. Even though I'm not a huge baseball fan, this was a great experience, I was impressed with how crazy all the fans were! Lots of fun was had by all.

We took the bus back and ended up eating dinner at The Dragon Hill Lodge. We walked out just in time to see the fireworks show the post was putting on for the independence day celebration. After the show we headed back to our rooms and called it a night.

At the baseball game: My NCOIC, Me, & PFC Pickle

They know how to serve beer at the baseball game here in Korea. Strap a
keg on the back of a vendor and turn 'em loose

Sunday: I woke up at 0830 and headed to PFC Pickle's room with a pit-stop at Starbucks before hand. We watched the UFC event in his room. It was a great card with a lot of good fights! The rain was non-stop on the way to his room. Even though I had an umbrella I still ended up getting pretty wet. I had to borrow his umbrella again for the walk back to my room. I'm getting a little tired of this rain. People think I should be used to it coming from the Seattle area, but at least there I had a car to protect me from the rain. Here I walk pretty much everywhere I go.

When I got back to my room I video chatted with my wife for a bit before watching some TV shows and then doing some schoolwork. I headed over to the PX and got my haircut. It was a slow day at the salon and my barber started attacking every hair in sight. Not only did she shave my head, she cut the hair coming out of my ears, trimmed my eyebrows, my neck hairs, and even my nose hairs. This lady was dedicated!

I finished off the night with some more TV shows and some SkillPorts.

Monday: I woke up at about 0700. I video chatted for a bit with my wife before being picked up by SPC Roy. We headed to the iPark Mall and met up with the army major and his wife from my office as well as the air force master sergeant and my NCOIC. The army major had purchased tickets in advanced with reserved seating for Transformers 3 in 4-D. Watching a movie in 4-D brings a movie to a whole new level. The seats move, you smell different scents, you feel wind blowing and also get the occasional spray in the face during a wet scene. It was a lot of fun and the movie was great…much better than Transformers 2.

After the movie SPC Roy and I took off and headed back to the post to catch a taxi. SPC Roy's sister-in-law bought him a Thai massage and he wanted me to go with him. So we went once again to have a "couple's massage" (really…we're not gay!) I've never had a Thai massage before, I was just expecting something similar to the normal massages I've had before. I was in for a bit of a surprise. We both slipped into the provided shorts and t-shirt and headed to a room where we both laid on the floor. Two older women came in and started stretching our legs in all different directions. We were massaged, stretched, and walked on for two hours. You could hear both of us at times groaning as some parts were a bit painful. Both of us had to stop the old ladies at times to tell them to stop cause it was too much pain to bear. Afterwards we both felt like jello. The massage wasn't a relaxing massage, but I can say that I felt pretty good afterwards.

We then headed to have dinner which ended up being some boiled pork and kimchi. Since SPC Roy bought dinner, I told him I'd get us dessert. He chose Cold Stone, so we headed to Itaewon and enjoyed some ice cream. It's been a long time since I had Cold Stone…I savored every bite. He then dropped me off at my room where I passed out. I took a two hour nap before getting up and doing some schoolwork, then watching some TV shows. I also did a SkillPort or two between shows just to get in a few for the day.

Tuesday: Today I finally got a chance to sleep in as long as I wanted to, and I took advantage of it. I slept in until 1000! I then video chatted with my wife for a while before meeting up with SPC Roy once again. His wife heard how good the movie was yesterday and wanted to go, so SPC Roy was left watching his kid alone and wanted company. We hung out and waited for her to finish, then ate lunch together at the food court. After that I headed back to my room and took a nap. I think my body was still pretty relaxed from the crazy massage yesterday. After the nap I met up with SPC Roy once again to run an errand with him. We dropped off a laptop at his uncle's company and then went to a Costco. Unfortunately we took the subway there because SPC Roy was afraid of all the traffic, so I didn't buy anything.

We ended up eating at one of his favorite restaurants nearby having "beef and leaf". A very popular dish that I just love here in Korea. You cook the meat at the table and wrap it up in a lettuce wrap along with some spices and eat it. Of course we had to have some soju with dinner. I found just how well cider chases down soju! After dinner we took a taxi back to post and I headed back to my room. I did my schoolwork and only one SkillPort.

It was a pretty good weekend!