Weekend Wrap-Up - (Korea) Days 334 & 335

All the performers for the taekwondo exhibition during 
the Itaewon Global Village Festival

Saturday: Woke up about 0930 and did laundry and video chatted with my wife as usual. I then headed to Itaewon to check out the Itaewon Global Village Festival. They shut down the normally busy street and open it up for various performances and vendors. I got there in time to see a  taekwondo demonstration. These guys were pretty impressive jumping all over the place breaking boards and kicking apples into chunks all over. I walked around checked out some of the vendors, but decided on eating Cold Stone ice cream since I don't happen by there too often.

When I got back I made a trip to the commissary with PV2 Charlie. Before we left I setup my laptop in his room to do some downloading. Unfortunately I went over my limit for internet usage today. I got a call from my roommate telling me we were over. If I were to redo my internet usage I would have kept with the unlimited plan I first had instead of trying to save money with my roommate's version. Yes it's been cheaper, but it's also slower and there is a limit. I shouldn't be here too much longer, so I'll make do for now.

I headed to the gym and had a pretty good workout. It was pretty funny because I was one of the few US soldiers there on a Saturday night. There were a few ROK soldiers, but they are not allowed to leave the post. I did run into CPT Hooah! and we chatted a bit before I left. I just don't have the desire to go out unless I'm heading out with a friend or if there is a specific reason to do so.

Because of my internet situation, when I got back from the gym I went to PV2 Charlie's room to do my schoolwork. He then let me borrow the latest movie from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I watched that and was surprised that it was actually better than the previous ones out there. I then watched an episode of The Ultimate Fighter before turning in for the night.

A flying kick to break some boards during the Itaewon Global Village Festival

Some Korean clown vendors giving away some sort of candy
during the Itaewon Global Village Festival

Dancers started dancing right in the middle of the street
during the Itaewon Global Village Festival

A little video I put together from the event

Sunday: Woke up around 0900 and headed to Starbucks to get some coffee and a bagel. I then headed to PV2 Charlie's room to watch the UFC event. The young hawaiian has his parents visiting and PFC Pickle moved into Hannam Village. His family finally arrived and this is where all the family housing is. Worked out fine because PV2 Charlie is just right down the hall from me in the barracks.

When the fights were over I headed to my room for lunch and then went and got my haircut. When I got back I went back to PV2 Charlie's room to do my schoolwork for a while. All the time he was playing XBox with a friend of his over the internet. It sounded like he was talking to himself the whole time…lol.

I headed back to my room and watched an episode of Flashpoint before heading over to visit PFC Pickle and his family. I was invited over for dinner, so I grabbed a taxi and took off. The ride was interesting to say the least. I had an old man, who because of the festival in Itaewon took a number of backroads…some of which only one car could fit through at a time. There were a few times when we found our selves face to face with another car…both would sit there for a while and then finally one would back up and find a way to move to the side and let the other pass. I didn't think I was ever going to make it.

Once there I met up with PFC Pickle and to my surprise he had another family of three over as well. It was fine and the food was good, but I really felt like the odd man out. The two wives were talking and hanging out, the two kids were full of energy and playing non stop, and the two dads were trying to control their kids the entire time. Finally about 2030 I said I needed to head back and PFC Pickle took me to the taxi stand, but there were no taxis there. I called the number and then received a text not too long afterwards saying that they would not be coming to pick me up. I ended up going out to the street and catching a cab on the outside. I was able to finally get him to understand where I needed to go and he was able to drop me off at the gate. Needless to say I will not be going to visit PFC Pickle anymore. Too much of a hassle to get there and get back.