(Korea) - Conclusion

GPS Coordinates of all the places I took photos during my tour in Korea

A zoomed in view of the photos I took while in Seoul

My time in Korea has been a very interesting, enjoyable, and yet depressing one. It was my first actual duty station out of AIT, but the entire time I was told it wasn't "the real army". The environment was very laid back, which I enjoyed after being in the TRADOC environment for so long. I was able to work on my degree and I maxed out my military education promotion points. I learned quite a bit about the Korean culture and enjoyed every tour I was able to attend. The toughest part was being separated from my friends and family, although I did make some good friendships that I think will last...at least via Facebook.

My suggestions if you find yourself in Korea:

Get internet in your barracks: I used this quite a bit and even though it wasn't the fastest, it was my lifeline to my family and my entertainment needs.

Go to school: Korea is a bit more laid back than the rest of the army (from what I hear), so take the time to go to school. I knew so many people that planned to attend school, but kept putting it off. They ended up putting it off too long and before they knew it, the year was up.

Get out and see the land: You're in a foreign country, take advantage of it! The Korean culture is rich and full of history. There are a number of tours offered through the MWR, the USO and other special offices. Keep your eyes open and attend any of them you can. It's a great way to get away from the post and see the country.

Max out your promotion points: take the extra time you have to work on correspondence courses and max out your promotion points. It can be done.

Watch out for juicy girls: these chicks hang out at the bars and their job is to get you to buy them drinks from the bar. They charge you extra and their drinks are not even alcoholic. A lot of poor fools buy them drinks thinking they are going to hook up with them or something, but that will never happen…they are just there to help the bar make extra money.

Be careful driving in Korea: The driving laws in Korea seem to be just suggestions. They are aggressive drivers and there are too many cars for too little road.

Seems like all Koreans smoke: The no-smoking laws are lagging a bit in Korea. They seem to smoke everywhere!

Soju kills brain cells

Look out for yourself: This is true anywhere you are in the army. Don't expect anything to be handed to you. If you want something do the research yourself and get it done. You may have to get on your NCOIC, your company, or your battalion…but if you don't it will not get done.

Things I'll miss in Korea:

The KATUSA snack bars on post: These are great little places to eat and they are cheap!

The Pizza School restaurants: cheap pizza!!

Korean BBQ: There are so many great places to eat, but some of my favorite are the "beef and leaf" Korean BBQs.

Little massages after haircuts: Must be some sort of Korean tradition, but I love the little massage they give you after getting your haircut.

No Tips: Tipping is not a Korean tradition…you don't have to worry about it while dining in Korea!

mom

seems like most of the stuff you will miss is food, hmmmmmm
So glad to have you home, even if it is only for a short time

Friday, December 2, 2011 - 11:44 AM

daveesl

Hello and thank you for your wonderful blog and your service.  My daughter is a 35f, presently in Korea.  While she has only been there for a couple of months she really likes it and the Army.  It has only been 9 months since she joined and will be in Korea for 2 yrs.  Her goal is to do both Korea and Germany, so when I saw your blog I was wondering how you were able to do them both in such a short period.  Thank you again and I'm sure you will enjoy your time in Europe.

Friday, December 30, 2011 - 09:54 AM

Brandon

I think I'm one of the lucky ones as far as getting consecutive overseas assignments (COT). When I had about six months left on my tour in Korea I was able to get a list of jobs that were open for my position at the time I would be leaving Korea. My NCOIC's husband worked in HR and was able to provide me with the list. I then emailed my branch manager and was able to request a couple specific jobs from the list that were in Germany. I followed up with a phone call a week later and when I finally got through to him, he set me up.

Friday, December 30, 2011 - 10:10 AM

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

In The Dragon - (Korea) Day 359

Woke up today at 0640 to give myself time to get ready and to gather everything together that I needed to ship. My roommate was supposed to have PT and be up, but because of the rain it was cancelled, so I worked via my desktop lamp. I was able to take everything I wanted to ship and place it on my bed. Once that was done I started to clean up a little until the movers arrived at 0800. When they arrived I turned on the lights and they came in, waking up my roommate LOL. Once I told them what to pack the three of them brought in a box and within minutes had everything packed and had me signing some documents, then they were gone. I was surprised how efficient they were.

Now with my stuff packed and gone I started cleaning my room in earnest. I also started to pack my luggage and realized rather quickly that I should have shipped more stuff! I didn't realize how much stuff I had until I started laying it all out to pack. I also put aside quite a bit of stuff to give to PV2 Charlie in order to lighten my load and of course help him out. Once I had my luggage packed I continued to thoroughly clean my room.

I headed to the office and donated my remaining coffee and splenda as well as my DVD-Rs to the staff. I grabbed the office car and returned to my room, then loaded the car with all my luggage. I then continued to clean before my final room inspection at 1400. I ate a quick lunch and then of course kept cleaning. The inspector came and checked every little thing which I was prepared for, but it kind of surprised me because I know he didn't check anything when my old roommate cleared (he didn't even clean any of the common areas such as the bathroom, refrigerator, or microwave). No worries though because I passed and he signed off my room after collecting my key.

I headed to the housing office and was able to out-process from them which was my last item on the installation checklist. I then drove to The Dragon Hill Lodge and checked in and took all my luggage up to my room. I still need to slim down a bit because I couldn't fit everything in my current luggage. Next stop was battalion S1 where I out-processed. I returned the car to the office and picked up some wine my ROK co-workers gave each of us for Thanksgiving. I walked to The Dragon Hill Lodge and relaxed in my room until SPC Roy was off of work. He picked me up and we headed to the airport to pick up my wife.

Seeing my wife after all this time was just awesome. I'm so excited to have her here for a little vacation and to spend Thanksgiving with me. She was hungry so SPC Roy picked a little hole in the wall Korean restaurant near post to eat and we all had some great food for a late dinner. Kind of nice for my wife to experience Korean food right away.

We then headed back to the room and did things grown ups do. So great to have my wife back!!!!

rickclark3

Congrats again on making it through this year.  Have a happy thanksgiving!  I look forward to more reading after your leave.

Saturday, November 26, 2011 - 12:55 AM

Pre-Inspected - (Korea) Day 358

What's left of my NCOIC's iMac after I salvaged parts from it yesterday

I woke up around 0700 this morning. I had no set schedule today, I just wanted to be able to video chat with my wife for a bit before I start the day. After the chat I cleaned up my room, but only a little bit. I have a pre-clearing room inspection at 1000 and I want there to be a big difference between the pre-inspection and the final inspection.

Right on time the guy from housing arrived for the pre-inspection. He checked out all the furniture to make sure it was still there and undamaged. He then showed me all the areas I need to clean before the final inspection. It's pretty funny because the place was a total dump when I moved in, I don't think anything had been cleaned in some time. I'll definitely be leaving this room much better than I found it.

I headed to the office to check my email and also to check in with my NCOIC. While I was there I installed iDVD on my NCOIC's laptop. I can't believe the new MacBooks do not come with that pre-installed. I know Apple wants to go all digital, but I think Apple's moving a little too quick with that one. I then headed to the travel office to pick up our tickets to Germany woohoo!

Back in my room I ate lunch and video chatted with my wife once again. I then started to clean up a bit and pack a bit as well. The movers will be here tomorrow to pick up the stuff I'm shipping from here to Germany which isn't much. I'm sending all my gear of course, my plaque, and some clothes...that's about it. I took a break and watched some college basketball, first time I've seen a whole game in quite some time. I really miss that! In fact it got me motivated to head to the gym and I arrived before the rush.

After the gym and showering, I headed to the barber shop and got my haircut so I'll be nice and bald when my wife comes tomorrow night. I then put together everything I will not be taking with me or shipping and took it to PV2 Charlie's room. I figured he could make some use of it (plastic-ware, paper plates and bowls, noodles, rice, etc). I'm going to give him a couple more things tomorrow as well.

The rest of the night was the usual…watched some TV shows and then called it a night.

Mac Tech - (Korea) Day 357

This morning I headed to work about 0900. I'm still out-processing so I don't have a set schedule, I just need to check in with my NCOIC at some point in the morning and before the end of the work day. The only thing I had planned today was checking on the status of my leave form, and if that was processed go to a finance brief. I checked my email and then headed to the company to check on my leave form. They said it was signed and is now at battalion, so it will be ready before I'm ready to go.

I then headed to the PX to pick up an external hard drive case. My NCOIC picked up the wrong size and needed the bigger 3.5 inch one so I could take apart her iMac and salvage her hard drive. I then proceeded to recover all her data to her laptop. I felt like a Mac tech once again.

I headed to lunch and video chatted with my wife. I then headed back to the office to wrap up the Mac work on my NCOIC's computers. Once that was done I headed to 1RC to attend the finance briefing. I learned about all the money that I would stop getting (hazardous duty pay, separation pay & the cost of living expense for living in Korea). We also went over different advancements we can get because we're moving, but that is something I didn't even want to look into. Yes it would be nice to have extra money to help with any moving expense, but it all gets paid back at some point. I turned in my paperwork with my orders and signed off that I was there. One more thing off my list of "to do" items before I can leave.

Once back at the office I checked with my NCOIC about the PCS award she told me I would be getting. I am starting to wonder because there is not much time left for me here. She said it's taking longer because it's actually a joint award and is harder to get. She also said it will probably get approved after I leave, so they will have to mail it to me. That kind of sucks, because I know once I'm gone and out of sight I will not really be a priority and I wonder if I will ever see the award. I was just hoping to have it on my ERB before I arrived in Germany so it wouldn't be so bare. Well…I guess it's the thought that counts anyways.

We cleaned up the office and left. I headed to my room for a bit, then headed to the gym. After that I watched the newer Conan The Barbarian finally. I would say it has that old Conan feel, but more in the 2nd cousin kind of way…not a direct descendant of the Conan series from back in the day.

Looking forward to having my wife fly in Wednesday night. I can’t wait to see her and show her all the places I’ve been talking to her about. It will be so nice to be with her in real life instead of just “virtually” via web chat like we have been for most of this last year.

Steve

It's been a pleasure reading your blog.  I am going tomorrow bright and early to MEPS and begin my career in the Army.  I am 31 and your blog has given me great insight on what to expect for someone whom is a little older than the norm going in.  Look foward to reading future posts and best of luck at your new duty sataion.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 11:49 AM

Brandon

Congratulations Steve. MEPS seemed like so long ago for me :). Basic training will be an interesting time for you especially being an older guy. There are some crazy things that go on and also some very funny things that just don't happen anywhere else. You'll bond with your fellow soldiers and you'll find yourself doing things you never thought you'd do before. I wish you luck in your future career serving in the US Army!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 03:12 PM