The War Memorial of Korea - (Korea) Day 3

A look at some of the items outside the War Memorial of Korea

Today we had formation at 5:30 AM in civilian clothes. They took accountability and then we had an hour of "barracks maintenance". This barracks maintenance was unlike any I've ever done before. I swept the room with one other guy and that was about it. When it was inspected by the sergeant on desk he said "great job on the room guys". I have to say that if this room were inspected by our drill sergeants, or any sergeant in AIT we would have been ripped a new one. I have to say just by sweeping it that we made it better than when we got it. The blanket on my bed isn't even big enough to tuck in on both sides, so I have to just kind of lay it straight. I think by the time we leave this place, the room will probably be better off than it has been in years.

At 6:30 we formed up and waited…and waited…and waited. I think someone forgot to call the bus. The specialist on desk called a few times and eventually the bus arrived. Since it was late the sergeant told us we only had 20 minutes to eat when we pulled into the DFAC. We all got in line and after a few minutes of it not moving a number of us just turned around and got back on the bus…no breakfast for us this morning.

We arrived in the briefing room and had a number of briefs on Korean culture. There were some funny stories told of situations that people have gotten themselves into. We also watched some corny movie clips about life in Korea. A couple of Korean's taught us how to say a few simple phrases in Korean which was neat, but I'm not sure I'll be able to remember them all. I'll have to practice those. We were also shown all the great food that Korea has to offer, then after we were all significantly hungry we were released for lunch. I ended up having Subway…I'm looking forward to the time I can get off post and actually try some of the Korean food here.

After lunch we came back and we all walked to The War Memorial of Korea. We were told to be careful when crossing the street. "When the light turns green and you see the little green man showing that you can cross the street…wait. Let someone else go in front of you. The drivers here don't always stop and we have had a few people get hit in the past" The museum is huge! There are a number of planes, tanks, and other items outside to look at, climb on and such. Then they have a huge building full of everything from the beginning of the Korean culture to date. We were only given about two hours to walk around and check everything out. That really wasn't enough time at all, I could have spent another three more hours checking everything out. I felt like I was rushing through everything just so I could see it all.

After we all got back, we were given a safety brief since it is Friday. This safety brief was a little different than the ones we were given in AIT. Basically while in processing we are not allowed to leave the base and we are not allowed to drink alcohol. Those are the two biggies and those are also what the safety brief focused on. The sergeant told a few stories of people leaving and getting drunk, then getting caught. One guy didn't leave, but purchased alcohol on post and then ended up passing out in the barracks, at the urinal…with his pants down. Not good. These people had to stay an extra 45 days here for extra duty and were dropped in rank for breaking the rules. We were also told about the crazy drivers here (this was for the officers that had a weekend pass) and to be careful when leaving the base.

We are now free for the weekend! Now I just have to find out what there is to do on base. Right now my roommate is sharing his internet hot spot (via cell phone) with me so I can upload this. The only other WiFi I know of is in the food court. I'd like to try and make a Skype call to my wife this weekend, we'll see if that works out. The time difference really messes things up. I'm a day ahead of everyone back in the states and there is a 7 hour time difference.

Yes...we got to play on them as well!

....and play in them!!