The Adventures Continue

 Whew.. this week was crazy.. and the weekend was no different.. We are trying to take every chance we get to go and do the tourist thing.. We won't be doing any for 2 week since Ben is headed back to the states for some train the trainer training.. ugh.. anyway.. We packed as much as we could into the last few days.. Our plans got changed a few times either because of the weather or the demonstrations that were going on. But we made the most of it. We started the weekend by heading to another shopping district... Namdaemun.. Its a wide open market.. like an American flea market.. only 20 times bigger. It was an experience like none I have ever had. There were people EVERYWHERE!! People walking.. people on mopeds (which btw.. they use mopeds to transport things.. and whatever they are transporting is stacked up on the back of these mopeds.. sometimes twice as tall as the mopeds themselves) people in cars.. just people everywhere. We haggled which was fun. We ended up getting each of us a hand-crafted wooden stamp. I was in purse and shoe heaven. I have never seen so many hand bags and shoes in one place.. ever.. (of course i had to pick up one of those little cross the body coach bags) The kids were a little nervous there. They didn't understand people when they were speaking... they almost got run over quite a few times by those mopeds.. and for some reason.. everyone was infatuated with Kota's head.. People just kept touching or rubbing his head.. I thought it was cute but he was very annoyed.. lol.. But let me tell ya.. Clothes and handbags were not the only thing in the open. There was Korean food everywhere to. I definitely have to get used to the smells.. and I have to do that before I can attempt to eat any of it.. Live eel and squid just out in the open like that.. whoa.. that was a bit much for me.. Sunday we ventured to the Seoul Tower. If I wasn't convinced that Korea was going to be the place I lost weight before this trip.. I most definitely was after.. That hill just to get to the tower.. I had to stop twice walking up.. Its so steep.. and it seems to go on forever. (And while I am thinking about it.. someone please tell me why 90% of the women here wear heels?? all the time.. walking up and down this hill.. walking around shopping.. anywhere they walk.. they have heels on.. We all know I love my heels.. but really?? walking around in them like they do here.. no thank you!!) But once we got to the top.. we went inside the tower observatory. That was amazing. I can only compare it to the Empire State building observatory or the Space Needle observatory. Every where you go up there.. you can just see forever.. There were names of cities written on the glass in every direction along with the distance from the tower to that place... We also bought a memory block and put it on the wall inside the tower. That block.. which represents our family.. will always be a part of that place now.. which is kinda cool.. After w saw the tower.. we went and ate at this cool burger joint at the tower plaza.. Then we did my favorite part of the day.. The Teddy Bear Museum..

Now you know that Ben and the boys were not thrilled.. ok well the boys were not as bored as Ben was.. but they all suffered thru it for me.. I actually had fun. I took a zillion pictures and I wanted to bring each and every one of those bears home with me.. I probably could have stayed in there for hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Im pretty sure that is a trip I will be glad to take again (hint.. hint.. to any of my friends that come to visit).

We are definitely having fun while we are here. And it seems that we learn something new everyday. We are learning customs and bits of the language.. and eventually.. I am sure we will learn to love the food like Ben has.. Actually.. we have all eaten Yaki and its the one thing that we all like.. I am glad that we have come.. at least so far.. but... I miss you!!!
                            저는 당신이 그리워요 (jeoneun dangsin-i geuliwoyo)

It Can't All Be Great...

OK so.. I guess after a week.. its time to vent.. It can't be great all the time.. and yes everything I am about to vent about is common stress for a PCS.. but I will feel better after I let off some steam.. and if I can shed some light on some things for some of my friends that are about to PCS too.. even better. So where do I start?? Oh ya.. the weather.. lol.. let me just say, I thought that Washington State was the rainiest place I have ever been. I was wrong. It has rained here every day since we arrived.. We don't let that stop us though.. We are out and about as often as we can be. Ben has finished in processing.. and he starts in processing with his unit tomorrow. We are still at the lodge. This place is huge. It has everything in it. Restaurants, a casino, a shoppette, some little shops, a pool, a spa.. I could go on, but you get the idea. Its a really nice lodge, but its getting expensive.. Since we don't have a house yet.. we eat here.. every meal.. which on average is about $20/per person.. yep.. do the math then pick your jaw up off the floor.. We went to look at housing today. Guess what?!? No housing available until NOVEMBER!!! I do plan on continuing as an FCC provider while we are here. Good news.. there is a house available just for FCC providers. We are hoping we can get all the paperwork done soon so we can get that house.. And last but definitely not least.. lets talk about how every time we PCS.. finances get screwed up!! Yep.. we get DLA/TLA and we get per diem but.. here.. TLA covers the service member and one command sponsored dependent. Umm.. there are 4 of us.. that means we had to pay out of pocket.. and we now have to wait to be reimbursed.. oh ya.. we have to do this every 10 days.. and when do we get reimbursed?? on the 1st and the 15th.. because they only process that paperwork twice a month. ugh!! Guess its a good thing that Ben is working for Finance.. He is hand walking all our paperwork over when it needs to be done.. Ok end of rant/vent.. I know it happens.. I expect all of these things to happen with every PCS.. I know that we are not alone in this mess.. I just needed to vent about it. I feel better now. On a positive note, Ben only works Monday-Friday. That means they weekends are free time. (well thats how its supposed to be anyway.. lol) This weekend.. we are looking at a night cruise and then looking to head to another shopping district. I have no idea how to spell it.. lol.. but I will be sure to post pics.. From what I have been told.. this place is better than Itaewon. Its like a giant flea market =D

We shall see. We are going to take every advantage while we are here to see all there is to see and experience all there is to experience. We are positive this will be a great experience.. even if i have to throw in a vent blog now and then.. So..

until next time... 다음 시간까지(da-eum sigan kkaji)

Out Exploring...

 

The weekend is quickly coming to an end. It went by very quickly, but we used the time to our advantage. We went out and explored. We chose to see the things around that are in walking distance, so we spent all day Saturday on one side of Itaewon at the Korean War Memorial, and then on Sunday we went to the other side of Itaewon, in the shopping district. Both were experiences that I am glad I was able to share with the family.. especially the boys. That is definitely a benefit that they get being army brats. They get to see things and experience things that not a lot of people can say that they have seen or have experienced. I am not a history buff, unlike Ben and AJ, but the Korean War Memorial was very interesting. We were there all day, and we still didn't see everything. I learned a lot, and so did the boys. Ben was right in his element.. sharing all his history buff knowledge with all of us.. lol ..  

          

                

I think one of the most touching things that I saw at the Memorial was the Drop. It is over 1300 dog tags formed together in the shape of a tear drop to symbolize the people that died during the Korean war. It is hard to explain what I felt when I saw it, but.. to me.. it was just very touching. 

Although it was an educational experience for all of us, the kids did have fun to. They couldn't decide which airplane or tank etc to focus on first. I was happy to see them so happy and I am glad they can have fun while they learn things here too.

                Sunday we spent the day in the shopping district. That was an experience in itself. 

안녕하 세요 (annyeonghaseyo) and 감사합 니다  (gamsahabnida).. which mean hello and thank you, respectively, are two words that I have learned very quickly. Everyone here is very friendly and they say hello constantly. I did not want to be rude and just bow and smile, so there didnt seem to be a better time to learn some of the language. Saying thank you was something I needed to learn while we were out too. lol. I am now the owner of a very pretty jade bracelet that, honestly, I didn't want to buy.. The vendors in the shopping district are very friendly but they are very aggressive. I didn't know how to say no thank you, and it didn't appear as if she would have taken that for an answer.  We purposely only took a small amount of won with. I am sure that the longer we live here, and the more we venture out, the more my wallet will be screaming at me. I am definitely a shopper.. and I was just amazed. I think more than anything I was in purse heaven. There was not a corner we turned that we didn't see a zillion purses.. Purses and shoes.. Both are equally my weakness and my addiction.. I may have to start planning now to buy a foot locker or two just to send all that stuff home with me when we leave Korea.. haha..

                      Our adventures are done for the time being. Tomorrow starts a busy week. Ben will still be in-processing, but the boys and I will be out doing things too. We have to go get their registrations for school completed, and then we have to get their pics taken for their school ids and we have to get their bus passes. We also have to do some running to get ourselves "in-processed" as well. I am a little nervous. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not the greatest with directions. This post is huge.. but I am not going to let that scare me.. hahaha.. ya right.. But I know if I get lost.. all I have to do is take a taxi back =D

                     Keep your fingers crossed that we get housing soon.... I will keep you all posted. 

              안녕히 주무세요    (annyeonghi jumuseyo)... Good Night!!!

The First Few Days

As we all know, this PCS has been anything but easy. But I guess that is something that we just expect.. or get used to.. Things have been easier on this side of the world, although far from perfect.. lol.. When we arrived at the airport, after a very loooong flight, Ben's sponsor was there to pick us up. Great guys.. very friendly.. very helpful.. But as Murphy's Law goes.. before we even left the airport.. we had a flat tire.. haha.. go figure.. But they got it fixed quickly and then we were off.. Now.. being born in NY and then being stationed in Germany.. I thought I had seen some crazy driving.. Whoa!!! This was a whole new experience. Crazy is not the word for it. I know beyond any shadow of a doubt.. I will not be driving here!!! Even Ben said if he can avoid it.. he will. Although he was told that any soldier E6 or higher is mandated to get a drivers license here.. So now we are at the lodge. This place is huge. There are restaurants, spas, game rooms, a shoppette, bars.. you name it.. its here.. I am not sure how long we will be here but its looking like at least a week.. keep your fingers crossed for someting positive from the housing office next week. We are still adjusting, especially me. I have been up at 4am every morning since we got here. Buts its not so bad. We were up early enough this morning to have some breakfast and then we headed out to do some exploring. We haven't left post yet. We will be venturing out later today. We did however explore the post.. which I must say is HUGE!!! I am pretty sure that by the time we return stateside.. I will be super skinny again.. because I will be walking everywhere =D (not that I will complain about that.) I am not sure what adventures we will find today.. but I am sure today will be just the beginning..

It begins... as it continues

Well here we are. Another chapter in our lives has begun. We arrived in Korea last night. I figured that the best way for me to keep everyone up to date with what is going on is to start a blog.. But before I start blogging about where we are, I need to talk about where I came from.

This is not our first PCS, it isn't even our first overseas PCS. Emotionally, I knew what was involved. Its been weighing on my mind a lot lately, so why not put it into words right? I have 2 families, the one I was born into, and the one that was given to me by Uncle Sam. Bloodlines are a story for a different time, but for now, lets talk about my military family. I am who I am today in part because of them and our experiences. My journey began in Tacoma, Washington. It has since taken me from there to Vilseck, Germany, Fort Gordon, Georgia and now to Seoul, Korea. Many people have come and gone from my life during that time. Some only pass through and some will remain forever. The ones that will remain forever, I am lucky enough to call my family. These are some of the best people that I have ever known. We have shared things that most people will never be able to understand. It doesn't matter if we have been friends for a week or a decade.. these are the friendships that I will treasure all my life. I have learned from each of these relationships and I will take some part of each of them with me no mater where I go.

Tacoma brought me the friendship of three of my favorite people. Even though they are not technically "military".. had it not been for the military, I don't believe that I would have met any of them. Vilseck brought me my girls.. and my sister.. Fort Gordon brought me a few more branches to my family tree and what Seoul will bring me.. we shall see.. 

Each place that we have been to has had its goods and its bads.. and because I am an Army wife.. each place has had its share of drama. But I am at a place in my life where I can embrace that drama. With the help of my family, I have become such a strong person. I use every experience as a learning experience. I now try to find a silver lining to every cloud.  So without getting all sappy, you each know who you are and what you have brought to my life.. I can only hope that I have given something of the same value to your lives. We will always be family and you will always hold a very special place in my heart. 

So now.. let's get this Korean Adventure started so I can share it all with you.. =D