I spent the last year in South Korea. I shot 25mm cannons. Saw Seoul. Drank soju. Made friends. I left South Korea. I have entered the States. I visited Chicago. Played an accordian. Saw a Dave Matthews show. Ate pizza. Caught up with many friends (still more to see next time). Bought a car. Drove to Atlanta. Watched the pretty amazing Opening Ceremony of the Olympics on TV. I also flew in a small civilian prop plane. Tomorrow I am driving to Fort Hood Texas. Many more adventures to come…

Well, President Roh Moo-hyun of S. Korea has been impeached today. The impeachment is a result of him possibly violating election laws. He has also apologized for leading the country into a political crisis. I dont know what this will mean for us Americans here in S. Korea, but for right now, we are on slight restrictions on where we can travel to in this country. Read more here.

Snowboarding in S. Korea @ Bear Town Mtn.

The Rental Board:
The board was old… it had a layer of dust on the top of it. Who knows how much was on the bottom. There definatly wasnt any wax. Not since it came from the factory Im sure. The color was a weird texture/checkered pattern that from afar looked like a faded pink. length was good: 165cm. as apposed to my 152 back home (short). The bindings were some weird claspy tightening system that hardly worked. At least they were quick release for when I needed to pull out of the gay ass board quickly at the bottom of the run to avoid being seen on it by any one.

The Rental Boots:
The largest size boots this particular ski/snowboard resort carried was size 10 in mens US size. I wear at least size 12 boot… After two delieveries of boots, and some luck, I finally scored myself a pair of boots that were size 11 mens US. I first tried on a size 10, and my toes almost instantly went numb and didnt like me anymore from being crunched in such a confining binding pedo-prison. I feel bad for the few guys who had larger feet than I.

The Lifts:
Good, all 4 person lifts. The chairs that went up to the highest parts of the mtn. were quick. Each chair slowed down to a snails pace once at the top (not effecting the rest of the chairs) to allow even the most uncoordinated and unable to remove themself from the lift without falling…. well almost. Oh ya, almost forgot… the Koreans generally ride the lift with thier snowboards in hand rather than the trusty ‘skateboard’ technique. weird. but efficient.

The Runs:
Imagine a hill larger than a man-made landfill (see Wilmot or Alpine – Southern tip of Wisconson) add man-made snow and the usual idiot and annoying ski patrol blocking off cool looking runs… thats what it was. Add in about 1000 Koreans and a couple of Army Joes, all sitting on their rears, falling, hardly sliding down the hill out of control, or traversing side to side, utilizing the entire run for a turn at mach zero. It was a lesson in slaloming human flags that are not stationary.

The End:
fin.

Here, there are things in the shops for next thanksgiving… ha. Also, hardly any xmas lights here in S. Korea. The stores have mini santa clauses outside, and Korean xmas songs… weeee.

Korea #3

I get to Camp Garry Owen, and unload my bags. I start filling out more paper work (the Army is all about paper work, there does not seem to be any such thing as a central database of personal information, and if there is, no one uses it). A couple of the Seargents were making fun of the amount of baggage i brought. Im moving here for at least 12 months, how many bags would you pack? Plus, when I was at Camp Mobile, they issued me 3 new bags full of stuff. Stuff like everything you can imagine an Army guy wearing… utility belt (pistol belt), kevlar (helmet), pocketed vest (LBE = load bearing equipment), green coveralls for working on the Bradley, lots of different types of gloves, lots of cold weather gear… you get the picture.

I my self was carrying about 150 pounds of my stuff, and then there was still 3 other bags, giving me a total of 7 bags of stuff. Ouch. Oh well, I needed to bring all my CDs (350+) DVDs and my Playstation2. Oh ya, and a few clothes.

I finish my paper work, and take all my bags (with help) and I am put into the first floor of the barracks in the Pool room, right next to a pool table. I am told I can sleep on the couch, but its a weird wooden/cushion sectional couch. It looks more like a row of 3 chairs.

The Seargents leave me on my own, in the pool room, and tell me to wait there until someone comes by to get me. An hour and a half later, another Sgt. comes by and hands me off to a lower ranking guy (private) and he then proceedes to show me around. He shows me the DEFAC (dining facility) the PX (post exchange = shoppette = small store that sells everything) and a place called Ms. Kims Shop right outside our front gates. At Ms. Kims Shop you can buy some mink blankets, silk sheets, phone cards, and cell phones. I bought myself a $65 cell phone, and a $10 phone card that gives me 300 minutes of talk time to the US.

Its kind of sad that I had a phone and phone number, 4 days before I even got a mailing address… but thats how things work here in South Korea I guess…

More to come in Korea #4

Korea #2

I land in the Incheon International Airport in Seoul Korea. I head down to the baggage claim area and await the one bag that didnt get lost. (Im glad this bag wasnt lost since it contained my PS2 and all my CDs, DVDs, and PS2 games) As I am waiting for my bag to circle around, a little old man came over and asked if I was coming in for the Army (the shaved head and confused look must have given me away). I told him yes, and he said to head over to the counter on the far wall to find him once I am ready.

Before I go and find the little old man, I first want to check the status on my duffle bag. When in LA, the airline said that they would send it to Korea for me and make sure it got to the Baggage Office there in Seoul. Once I got through the line (it seems that Koreans dont belive in lines, you just cut in when you see a chance) I found out that the people at the airport didnt have a clue about my bag, or anything regarding my bag. I filled out some paper work stating that I had lost some luggage and they said they would keep their eye out for it. So I left once again not knowing if I would ever get that military duffle bag again.

The little old man who told me to find him, was no where to be found. I wandered out of the gate and found the main part of the terminal. I saw some other military guys (can see the big green duffle bag and shaved head a mile away) and followed them out to the bus.

The lady at the bus asked me if I had signed in yet at the USO. I didnt, so she took me in to sign in. As I was signing the sheet, the bus driver came in and said that he had to leave so we better hurry. Once again I am almost late/ barely getting to where I need to be on this Korean adventure. I load my bags and get on the bus. The bus ride lasts about an hour and we see some of the South Korean landscape. Lush hills, little huts, muddy rivers, little trucks mostly all made by Kia, some Kia SUVs, and some little moped bikes.

The bus pulls into the Hamilton Hotel downtown Seoul. We exit the bus, get a free room (with a room mate) and are left on our own. No warnings about the night life, or the water, or even how to use the phones. A few guys and I head down to Pizza Hut (wow, pizza is my 1st meal in a foreign country, can you believe it?) and get dinner. No one there really spoke english, but they had a half english menu. The pizzas there are about the same price as they would be in the states. They also taste the exact same. I paid the bill in US dollars, and got change in Korean Won. One dollar equals about 1220 Won.

The television had WWF wrestling overdubbed in Korean. ha. I went to sleep after spending about 30 minutes trying to get a phone card, and then getting the phone to work. Sleeping.

I got up early, showered and met everyone downstairs to head to Camp Mobile to start inprocessing into our units (and to figure out where exactly in South Korea we all were going). The inprocessing started, and I found out that I was heading to Camp Garry Owen. The closest deployed camp to the DMZ (North and South Korea border). Still no word on my luggage.

We spend the next 2 days doing inprocessing stuff such as, getting more issued gear, getting new ID cards, and other random in-efficient paperwork. Finally on Wed. Aug 6th, my luggage shows up at Camp Mobile (where I am doing my inprocessing). Nice.

The next day, on Thursday August 7th, I am picked up and taken to Camp Garry Owen. It is a bumpy 1.5 hour drive in the back of a HMWWV sitting on little wooden slats. The Army isnt about personal comfort. hehe. Some of the Korean country side smells like a very dirty river, almost like a water sewage treatment plant. I think it is because they fertilize their crops with human and animal waste. yummy.

I arrive at Camp Garry Owen, furthest deployed unit other than the guys over in the Middle East doing actual fighting.

More to come in Korea #3.

glad to see you are all good. hope to chat with you soon.
javalin weapon system. I used one of these and fired a simulator in my training. Warrior Blogs: South Korea Army Blog. Armed Forces Network Korea.