Korean Sagas
Korean Saga – Preview
Thursday, 06 May 1999, 19:53:20
Hey All
I made it! It took from 7PM Tuesday at Omaha to 5PM Thursday at Kunsan with maybe 2 hours of sleep in between, but I made it. Been checking the place out, so I’m just learnin for a while. I’ll write more when I get my own computer. Remember, theres a 14 hour time difference from here (we are 14 hours later than Eastern Standard).
Talk to U all soon!!
Dan
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Korean Saga – Episode I
Saturday, 08 May 1999, 03:59:50
Let me tell ya, first couple dayz here and I’m already exhausted! Yesterday I walked around the entire base getting “navigateable”, then at nite, we (being the newbees) were taken out on our Green Bean, which consists of getting plastered at the onbase club followed by a trip to A-town (American Town, just outside the base here) for more drinkin and the infamous “Ammo Bowl” which is a huge bowl of alcohol with Soju mixed in and is passed around to everyone there. Today, we had a picnic in the back of our dorms. Played 5 on 5 full court basketball and volleyball, along with eating some “interesting” hamburgers and hotdogs. Seems pretty kewl so far, and theres more to come! Next Saturday I’m taking a day trip up near Souel for an Electronics Market (the largest in the world) with prices at 40-50% normal costs. If ya want something, let me know now! hehehe I’m personally gonna check out the DVD players and Digital Receivers, plus gotta get myself a Laptop computer. Well, gots ta get outta here, can spend anymore Saturday time in the office!
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Korean Saga – Episode II
Wednesday, 12 May 1999, 19:45:43
Hey All!
If this is the first message you’ve received from me, I’m sorry I missed the first 2, I finally got everyone updated in the addressbook, so I will be better at writing U from now on! 🙂 We went out on a teaching venture yesterday where we helped some of the Korean National school teachers speak better English. What an experience! They spoke with us for about 2 hours, just conversational, where we would correct a saying, or let them know proper pronunciation, etc. Afterwards, they took us out to eat at a local restaurant where the table were on the floor and had built in grills. We sat on the floor and the waitress brought meat (duck, pork and even duck neck) along with side dishes. We ate for a while, then they brought MORE food. Fish, rice (some expensive purple kind), and cherry tomatoes; plus of course, Soju and wine! It was really interesting. We all talked more and had a few good laughs on “cultural differences”. I think I’m going to continue volunteering for this every Wednesday, it’s alot of fun! Tonite our work office is going out to dinner for a coworkers send off. We invited the school teachers to come along too… I hope they go! Tomorrow I will check on the TaeKwonDo classes taught here on base and see what they are like; I really need to get back into it FULL time! hehe Can’t wait to see what the next dayz bring!
More to come soon!
Dan
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Korean Saga – Episode III
Saturday, 22 May 1999, 05:55:56
Heya all!
The saga continues…
This past Monday, a friend (Janet) and I started taking the Taekwondo class offered on base. The class is a lot of fun, very similar to my classes in Virginia, only smaller. We’ve been covering some demonstration moves for a sports day event this coming Friday (before Memorial Day weekend). It includes forms, breaking and tumbling. Should be fun! Our office is serving Ice Cream too for the event, so as soon as our Demo team is done, I head to the booth to serve some good sweets!
On Wednesday, we went out to teach English again and covered topics such as “I need your John Hancock”, terms and teams in baseball and basketball, some military customs (saluting, attention, etc) and some other basics. Afterwards we went out to eat, and man, this restaurant just didn’t know the work “quit”! The Ahjima (waitress) would bring out dish after dish of side item (like kimchi, partridge eggs, sprouts, etc) followed by the meat that they cooked on the grill in front of us. We ate alot, but decided we hadn’t had enough fun yet, so chose to go to A-town with some of the Korean teachers. The clubs in town had excellent music (mostly rock and alternative; remember, A-town is “America town”). We stayed out until about midnight, then came back to the base for much needed sleep!
Yesterday (Friday), I took an offical trip up to Osan Air Base for “Courrier” duty. Kunsan sends people up there daily to drop off packages, etc, so this time they picked me. It was pretty kewl seenin the “big base” here in Korea. Just outside the front gate were hundreds of little shops trying to sell everything from clothes to furniture. It was an awesome site though. Too much city for me, I kinda like Kunsan for that reason, not too much going on at any given time.
Today me and 3 friends (Patrick, Janet and Jason) took a trip to Mt Taedun (Tae dun san) for a tour hiking trip. We rode the cable cars up a little way then hiked up to the top of the mountain! The whole trip up was a total of 868 meters (about 2000 ft). Once up to the top, we took some pictures and ate lunch (ah the classic P&J). While we were sitting, some of the folks at the top were yelling out to signify they made it to the top; we were a little ways away, so we yelled back. Some Koreans on the hill next to us laughed and waved at us… I said “Annyong hi hasayo” (“Hey, how are you”, roughly) and they waved a bottle in the air (soju) and invited us over to partake in thier drink. We declined at first, but said what the heck and headed over after we finished eating. We brought them pistachios and cereal bars and ate and drank a little while trying to communicate (poorly, although it was fun for all of us). When leaving, we exchanged “kamsamnida”s (thank you) and “annyong hi kaseyo”s (good bye) and headed back down the mountain. It was an awesome site (Arum daun san or beautiful mountain)! I wish I could hook up my camcorder, cuz I have some kewl pictures. I will try to download them on my friends computer and get them out and also add them to the webpage. Well, enough for now; until the next saga…
Dan out
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Korean Saga – Episode IV
Friday, 11 June 1999, 09:19:08
Heya All!
It’s been a couple weeks now, so there’s a little more to tell ya this time. Let’s go back to last week … Memorial Day weekend. Let’s see… went back to Osan with a couple of friends. Found a nice leather jacket. Ahjooma (the store clerk) said the price was “one thirty dollars” ($130). I thought that was a good price on it’s own, but didn’t have that kinda cash on me. Said I’d come back next week. She said, “today very slow. I will make deal. Only $90. Buy today.” I thought about it a minute. I had about that in Won, but I hadn’t had lunch yet, so I told her 95,000 Won (about $80). She said she could only go as low as 100,000 Won ($85). So I took it. Still had plenty left over for the rest of the afternoon. I wish it was that easy in the States! Hehehe
Works been getting more challenging. I’ve been learning 3 new jobs (Military Pay, Travel Pay and Cashier/Disbursing). Brain overload! Hehe I’ve had some really good instructors though, so it hasn’t been too bad. I try to write things down as best I can, and try to make sense of the mess later to write up a continuity folder for my (one that I can understand). I think the Mil Pay side is starting to sink in now, the more customers, the more exposure to the system. At a minimum, it’ll help me when I test for Tech!
This past weekend was fun. Took the whole weekend to visit a friend up in Osan who just got here from Omaha. Finally got to see Star Wars – Episode I. What a great film! Sweet graphics too! We went downtown to the market; did some more shopping. Hit a nice little nook in the wall called the Kozy Korner (Bruce, U and Decka might remember that one! Hehe). Had a couple brews and threw darts; nice relaxing atmosphere. Crashed over in the dorms for the night and headed over to the OHOP (Osan House of Pancakes) in the morning. Got a huge Belgian waffle. Yummy! Stopped by the BX to pick up a couple DVD movies, then headed out for Kunsan again. Felt good to just relax for the weekend.
Wednesday, after teaching, we went to another traditional Korean restaurant where we had Eel soup! I cannot tell you how surprised I was by the great taste (if U know me, I’m not much of a seafood eater). The restaurant manager even commented to our Korean counterparts on “how well we ate, for Americans” (I guess Americans are too picky!) heheh Mr Cho, one of the Korean English teachers, told us about some very nice beaches on both the East and West coasts of Korea. I can’t wait to take some time to check them out, I guess Mr Cho said, that one of the beaches has been commented to be better than Miami Beach! Not too sure what’s going on this weekend yet.
Talked about going “exploring” with a Master Sergeant (John) here at work (who has a car!) and going to the Club for brunch with our teacher friends Sunday morning.
Next week Patrick (a friend from work), James (a guy who just got here) and I are going out for Airbase Defense Training (or Security Augmentee or plane watchers or rivet counters, whatever you want to call it). Some how got “volunteered” for fun duty. But, Patrick is a former Security Police troop so he said he has some hook-ups to keep us outta the dirty jobs!
Next Sunday, our Taekwondo class’ high ranking belt students are heading over to Chung Ju for testing under our instructors Grand Master. Gonna test for 3rd Degree with some of the Korean students testing for the same rank. I hope I’m ready! Wish me luck.
It’s 1 AM here, so I’m gonna go get some sleep… talk to y’all soon! Dan
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Korean Saga – Episode V
Friday, 16 October 1999, 09:19:08
It’s been a long time, I know, but that just means more stories to tell!
I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 months since my last message (and almost 6 months since I’ve been here; half way done already!). We did test at the end of June for our TaeKwonDo class; all of us passed (and received great words from some of the top Masters there!) It was really an awe inspiring trip, going to a major city and testing with hundreds of Koreans (we were the only 3 Americans there, along with a guy from Britain). I was really nervous, not being able to understand the conversations or what the judges were asking us to do; I just followed along with everyone else and managed pretty good! After testing, some of the Korean children that attend our school took me and Matt (another American student) around and “showed us off” to their Korean friends… it was really cute! Hehehe
My friends John, Tino and I went to the PyonSan National Park, which has a beautiful waterfall in the center of the park. We did some extreme hiking to get to that point, but it was worth it! We swam a bit in the pond that the waterfall fell into. On such a warm day, it was very refreshing. We started to go out to find the temple hidden somewhere along the trail, but we were already very tired and chose to save that for another trip.
In July, John, Mr Yong, Ms Suh and I went on a road trip to Taechon beach, which is along the West Coast of the Peninsula. It’s a very long beach with views of sand and the Yellow Sea for miles. All along the shore we found tons of shells and starfish and other oddities. It was refreshing to once again walk along the sands and splash the cool water on my bare feet. Really made me miss Virginia! After spending several hours there, we went to a mountain park that was maybe a half hour away. It began to rain unexpectedly, but we found a nice sheltered campground pavilion and had lunch there. In looking around, we realized we had found a really nice place to spend a weekend in the mountains! (more on that later)… Heading home, we stopped for some dinner (beef on a leaf and soup) and went to a Karoke house and sang (badly) for about an hour. Our Korean friends could sing quite well, although I had no idea what the lyrics were.
The same month, we had our first Base Exercise. I was on night duty in charge of a Fire Team (a security team that drives around the base in a Humvee searching for “Coyotes” [the bad guys] and keeping an eye on our troops in the Defensive Fighting Positions). We all got Cammied up and donned the helmets and gas masks; “played war” for 4 days straight. Man were we rough. At one point, the rest of my team had been on other duties, when a call came in telling me to go to the Transportation Squadron to check on some gun fire heard. I hadn’t done anything like that before, so it was a fun challenge. I got some other guys from another Fire Team to scout with me and we went inside and saw that a sniper had some troops pinned behind some vehicles. We called to the Command Post and had them send an Armored vehicle to the scene so we could get a better shot at the “coyote”. Man, I’ll tell U what, it was 5 in the morning and I was dead tired, but that’s something that gets the blood rushing and energy going. Long story short, we got the guy, but lost 2 of ours and I slept all weekend long afterwards!
In August, we (John and I) went back to PyonSan park to find the elusive temples. We drove to the southern portion of the park to find a different entrance point that may lead to the temple gates. Sure enough, we found a parking area where a hiking point lead to the Temple. It was only a 20 minute “hike”. We saw what the temple had to offer, then went on to find the point where we stopped on our last journey. As we climbed, we noticed some scenery that looked familiar. So it was, had we only gone another kilometer, we would have reached our destination. Since we had only hiked for maybe an hour, we decided to press on and find new grounds. The travels took us to the highest peak (SaeBong) where we stood in the clouds (literally)! The pillowy masses seemed to engulf us as we stood in awe looking over the mountainous landscape. Eating our lunch (fruits and nuts with water chasers), we went back down toward the temple and snapped our photographs and left, completely exhausted. No problem sleeping that night! Hehe
Later that month, my friend Lessley arrived to Korea and in September we arranged to go back to the campground with John and do some camping. She came down from Osan Friday night and we went to watch a movie (“The Haunting”), took a tour of the base and got some sleep for the big trip in the morning. Saturday we went to get the equipment and headed out to the park. We got there at maybe 1PM and set up the tent and had some lunch. We gathered some firewood for the later that night, packed up our backpacks and headed out on one of the hiking trails (can you tell I enjoy hiking?). We must have hiked for 4 hours, and I think we got lost at one point, but we followed the sounds of the river and found our way back, though we didn’t have a trail to stick to. It was really kewl having such a nice weekend open to us and no one else around to ruin it. That night, we started the fire and had some hotdogs and spaghetti (and of course Marshmellows); bathed in the river and we all talked until maybe midnight before retiring to the tent. The next morning, we packed up, made some breakfast and headed out to the beach. We only stayed for about an hour, since we had to get Lessley back to the base by noon to catch her bus back to Osan.
Went on a nice, cool bike ride the last weekend in September. The sun was shining and it was about 70 degrees with little wind. I toured across the farmland where many on the Korean farmers were reaping the rice crops. It was a very relaxing 3 ½ to 4 hour ride. I can’t remember another time where I enjoyed being by myself and wasting the day in wonderful solitude!
Started going to an Orphanage with a coworker and people from another organization. The kids there are ages 3-15 and have 2 different groups: a learning class, teaching English to the older kids, and a “romper room” of sorts where we just get to play and wrestle with the younger kids (U know which one I like best!). It’s funny to watch during snack time, because we give them cookies and drinks and some of the “older” young kids will hoard some of the bags of cookies and take them to a closet room to hide them… I caught one of them, but I pretended I didn’t see anything. Heheh
This month is the beginning of the new Fiscal Year at work (Happy New Year!), so the tempo has picked up a bit. But it hasn’t slowed down the traveling too much. Went with Janet and John on another nice bike ride through the country side this past weekend. Although it’s been getting a little cooler, the day was very similar to my last bike ride. With the new year, I thought I’d start some new resolutions. One of which is to get off my “keester” and start back taking some school. I start with a Speech class at the end of this month. Take a few (hundred) CLEP tests and maybe have my degree before I leave here. The next exercise begins next week… fun fun.
Please let me know what’s happening in your neck of the woods!
Talk to you soon and Happy Halloween!
Dan
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Korean Saga – Episode VI
Sunday, 21 November 1999, 07:08:06
Welcome back to the continuing Korean Saga… last time I mentioned the upcoming exercise. Here’s what happened with that:
There were 14 of us volunteered to be on the OpFor Team (Opposing Forces or the Bad Guys). What a blast! We went all around base terrorizing the look out posts and infiltrating the different squadrons on base. We dressed up in camo and dark clothes and snuck around during the night trying to find the weak points around and to see who was sleeping! It wasn’t east work though; our hours were basically all day and all night with scenarios running every hour or so. We’d plan on the attack, set out to find the locations, either destroy the Good Guys (Defenders) or get killed or captured. Afterward, we’d head back to camp, clean weapons, reload ammo, check out the next target and MAYBE get some sleep. We had some cots and GI sleeping bags. This went on for 3 days before we were able to take a break, get a shower and a few hours of real sleep. Then back to the games for the last 3 days.
Some of the scenarios were like this: head along the outside ridge of the base and go through some of the Korean villages to get a closer look at the fence lines and check on the posts to see if they were watching for us. If we didn’t get shot at, it was a good sign that they had no idea! We’d get right up along the fence and fire up the post and more than likely take them out before they knew what happened. We’d cut through the fence and sneak on base to the next targets. Of course by this time, the Fire Teams would be out scouting for us and the base sirens would go off.
Sometimes they’d drive us to a certain location and “insert” us (as if we had gotten on base to that point) and attack some unsuspecting building. We’d take out Comm and the Hospital on a couple raids, but they caught on after a while. Hehe One of the inserts we took over the hospitals bunkers (and me and one of the other guys got our picture taken for the base news paper!). Of course, they made us give up so we could see how they handled enemy prisoners. That’s another funny story, but I’ll send the picture and it’ll say it all! Hehe
My friend John left for home last week, going back to Little Rock AR. I was sad to see him go, since he was a good friend and one of the only ones who liked to travel around Korea. I’m happy for him though, because he’s going back to his 2 sons to do some camping in VA! FUN! We took a final road trip up to Seoul to drop off his car there and we checked out some things at the Army Post. Flew back that night to get some things taken care of.
I’ve changed up my plans a little for my vacation time while I’m here… breaking it up into a bunch of little vacations: Kadena, Japan in January; Great Wall of China in February; Australia in March and maybe Cairo, Egypt in April! Don’t know how this is all gonna work yet, but I’ll send pictures if it does work!
The Speech Class has been going well, 3 assignments already and a Symposium on Monday. Doing some research on “Violence in Entertainment – effects on children”. Our group is taking different views each on this; I have “News” (the others have Music, Media, Movies and Games). We practice tomorrow before the assignment is due. I hope we do well.
Just put up some Xmas lights to brighten the dorm room up a little. Looks pretty good!
I think that’ll about do this time. Until the Saga is ready… I bid thee ado…
Dan ecstatic
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Christmas Letter
Friday, 10 December 1999, 17:47:42
Season’s Greetings!
It seems every year I write, the letter begins with, “Another year’s gone by and what a year!” I guess this year is no different, since so many new experiences have come my way. From the beginning of the year it seems like I’ve been all over! From Mt Rushmore in South Dakota and Copper Mountain in Colorado to a trip back to Virginia and Michigan, it’s no wonder I have a hundred thousand miles on my car! And that was just the beginning of the year. Now I’m all the way across the globe on a small peninsula known locally as Hankook (or Korea for the English standard – hehe).
Since coming out here, I’ve developed a new perspective on a great deal of things. The Korean culture has such a simple aspect to it, yet the customs and courtesies are very intricate and complex. The people are very friendly and helpful (except maybe for the bus drivers who will run you over if you don’t get out of the way! Hehe). Almost the entire landscape is comprised of either rice and farmlands or mountainous terrain. With some friends, I’ve been able to explore a great deal of the area (mostly the parks and hiking trails of the mountains), along with visiting some of the major cities, such as Seoul, Kunsan and Taebeck. As for the military side of things, if you’ve never been through an exercise, or only been through the ones in the States, let me tell ya, they don’t mess around out here! They play like it’s for real (maybe because we are still at war with North Korea, but hey, who am I to say! Hehe) In the last exercise, we took a break from the gas-masks and played the part of the terrorist bad guys. That was a blast! Work itself is going well, always learning more and more. They made me the Flight Resource Advisor, so now I’m learning Budget along with Military Pay and Travel. Wow! So much to the Finance field!
Y2K is coming soon, and with it, a whole new world of experiences! For the New Year, I think I’ll be in Seoul to celebrate (though, I think they are on a Lunar schedule and many don’t actually celebrate; but with the friends I know here, we’ll bring it in with style and show the Koreans how to have fun! Hehe) Gonna try some more traveling this year before I move from Korea. In the works is a trip to the Great Wall of China, Kadena in Japan and Sydney Australia! Don’t know how I’m gonna swing it yet, but I figure, while I’m here, may as well, right?
That’s it from my end. Please write back (or call) and let me know how your doing and what you are doing (or did) for your holiday season. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
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Korean Saga – Episode VII
Saturday, 25 March 2000, 16:45:20
Hafa Adai all (that Chamorros for Hello)!
It’s been a while, so there’s a LOT to tell since Christmas. A lot of what I’m gonna tell ya has some great pictures associated with it on my web page, so I’ll include a direct link if I mention something that is out there (kewl new tactic! hehe) First off, time is getting SHORT for my tour here in Korea… less than 3 months to go! I’ve been extended for another 18 days to help out in the office, but nothing too major. Time has gone by REALLY fast, yet it seems I’ve been stationed here for such a long time. In the past couple months, I’ve been on 2 parts of my mid-tour vacation. One (Okinawa, Japan – January) was planned, more or less; and the other (Guam, Micronesia – February) was really out of the blue. I decided not to go to Australia yet, at least not until I have some more time to plan.
Okinawa is a subtropical island south of Japan. I went out there to visit with a good friend (Charlie) I knew from Omaha. He and is wife have been there for a few months now and really enjoy it (especially the extra Cost of Living Allowance they get out there!! hehehe). The locals are very friendly, like Korea, and the weather stays relatively warm year-round. While there, we checked out the beaches and some of the market areas. The sea creatures are really kewl and bizaar in some places. Charlie went fishing and caught a HUGE “mahi mahi” (some strange looking fish that’s mainly native to that area). The Japanese prices for most entertainment is very expensive so we mostly did the on-base activities. We had a really nice BBQ on the first night over his friends house and had an extensive discussion with a Marine friend over the use of Sergeant vs Staff Sergeant. Too much on that to go into! hehehe Of course we had some drinks, so it made the topic actually seem logical. HAHA Most of the week though, Charlie had to work, so I got to spend some good “solo-time” walking around and enjoying the weather and the sites.
Guam is a tropical island and a terriotory of the United States. It’s found south east of Okinawa in the Micronesian islands between the Phillopeans and Hawaii. I should have a lot of information on Guam in the new web site, so I won’t go into the details here… just the fun! It took me about 3 days to get there, traveling on Space A military flights, but it was good, because I got a chance to go to Tokyo Japan and visit some more friends from Omaha (Rob and Jennifer) and also to head back to Okinawa for another visit with Charlie. When I stopped in Tokyo, I got to see Mt Fuji (but only from a distance). I didn’t get a chance to visit the city itself, but there’s still a little more time, so I might head back over there if work permits and do some more site seeing. When I finally got to Guam, I had a mission: try to find an old family friend that had moved there over 11 years ago. To my disappointment though, she had moved in ’95 to the isle of Rota, which is about 30 miles north of Guam. No boats headed out there, and I didn’t have a phone number to call, so I just took the time in Guam to relax and do some site-seeing. Decided to try out parasailing and kayaking, which were both really relaxing. The locals (called Chamorros) that ran the beach club were extremely friendly and helpful (they speak English in Guam, but get mostly Japanese tourists, so I was a nice change in pace for them hehe). Spent a good part of the day there and got a REALLY nice tan (and a few good burns too, where I couldn’t reach with the suntan lotion! hehe) It was sunny most of the time I was there; I guess that the temp stays around the high 80s and low 90s year-round. I was LOVIN’ it! Beats the heck outta the cold and snow in Korea! hehehe Founds some waterfalls and caves, ran into some interesting wildlife (geckos, monitors, wild boars, strange insects, etc) and met some great people. There’s a lot of history on the island, but I’ll put that in the webpage too… (www.geocities.com/dreanged1/guampage.html)
Next and final trip before I head out will be to China, and that’s planned for April now.
Things in Korea have been pretty constant the last few months; many of my friends have left and a lot of new faces are showing up all the time. We’ve been hit with a lot of War Games lately preparing us for a big exercise later this year. We also had an inspection team come thru to check out our base, as we are currently in the final runnings for “Best Base in the Air Force”. We are waiting for the team to evaluate the last base (in Italy) before we find out the results. I actually had to give a speech to one of the Colonels on how we operate in the Finance office and what we do for the base. I was really nervous, but the speech went great. (I’m glad I had just taken that speech class a couple months ago!!) hehehe
That about covers it for now… so until next time, please keep up the Emails and let me know what’s happenin’ in your neck of the world!
Delta Alpha Nixon Romeo Echo Alpha Out…
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Korean Saga – Episode VIII
Friday, 28 April 2000 11:03:08
Heya all! Just wanted to write one more “Saga” before I head out and give ya the last “things a happenin'” here…
After having 2 more exercises following my return from Guam, I took a day off to check out the reason we are here in Korea – a tour to the Demilitarized Zone (for those who remember the history class, that’s up at the 38th parallel where North and South Korea agreed to a cease fire back in 1954 and has been in effect this whole time!). The information was excellent and the “talk sites” were pretty scary. We actually saw some North Koreans soldiers on the other side of the border. My friend Matt was with me and we took some great pictures. Much of the war-time era feelings were still in the air as we walked around; so we moved from “site” to “site” rather quickly.
The week after, (the beginning of April), I took my final Mid-Tour Vacation – to China! We had such a great time out there and I was with a GREAT group of people (17 of us total). We visited the Great Wall (of course), BeiJing, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City and the Ming Tombs. We also saw some traditional shows (such as the BeiJing Opera and the Chinese Circus) and ate at some fine resturants. We seemed to rush a lot, but we had to get a lot in in 2 1/2 days! I got some great pictures (10 rolls worth!) and about 50 of them made it to the internet (www.geocities.com/dreanged1/chinapage.html) I should have them posted this week, so check them out after the weekend. There are some out there now, but only a small handfull.
Of course, the fun didn’t stop there. The weekend after China, I took another tour down to Pusan (South-eastern corner of South Korea) to check out the Cherry Blossom festival held annually. This city has the longest run festival in the country (probably has something to do with the fact that it is the ONLY city not to be overrun or destroyed during the Korean War!) The trees were beautiful and the temperature was GREAT! We spent the night there and checked out the night life – clubs and beaches, etc. Had a good time as always, and of course took some more photos!
Finally, this past week, we had our final War Games before our big inspection. Everything seemed to go well and we passed this one, so the inspection should go alright. I worked in the Enemy Prisoners of War camp where we take any prisoners we get and place them in holding cells. We’ll get some interrogators out there, but for the most part, they just sit tight until the War is over. I’ll have some pictures of “War-Man Dan” on the INet soon. Didn’t get to kill anyone this time, but it was still fun chasin’ ’em down! Hehehe
Below is a letter written by an annonymous WolfPack friend, but I liked the content – ENJOY!
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Korean Saga – Episode IX (Headin’ Out)
Tuesday, 09 May 2000 11:12:55
Hey all… the packers come in the morning, so this may be the last message I send out from here for a little while (I’m bring the ‘puter with me, but I’m not sure what all is going yet). I’ll be able to check my Email still – all through the move to England – but it may be more sparatic than normal.
And I wanted to say “THANKS!” for writing to me while I was out here… it REALLY meant a lot, both the good laughs and sometimes sad news. All of it helped to make this year away from EVERYone and everything back home a little easier. Please don’t loose touch as I head out again. I’ll have you all in mind! For some, “see ya soon!”. For others, “I miss ya”. For everyone, as with Korea, there’s an open invitation to stop out in England to visit anytime! I’d love to see ya!
Gotta finish packin’… talk to ya lattah
Dan
[Editors Note: This letter was written anonomously by one of our folks here at Kunsan, enjoy!]
Dear friends and family,
From the deepest, darkest depths of South Korea, that rainy, murky, sweltering, rice paddy covered, mosquito infested pearl of the Far East known as Kunsan Air Base, comes the joyous, near hysterical announcement that soon, very soon, your loved one/friend will once again be in your midst to take his place in society as a respectable human being.
I have survived the worst the Far East has to offer, thousands of unknown bugs and spiders, vicious mosquitoes, rats the size of cats, aggressive flies, poisonous snakes without names or serums, the Korean Krud, and the claustrophobia of a gas mask. I have been dehydrated, demoralized, interrogated, intoxicated, unappreciated, and uncivilized. If I appear to exhibit certain oriental mannerisms its because I’m suffering from too much rice, OB beer, SoJu, white dogs, green slime, AMMO bowls, kimchee, dried squid and yakimahndo; but most of all, loneliness and depression. Don’t worry, these will end in time given a generous dosage of patience, understanding, and tender loving care.
In preparing to welcome me back to civilization, you must make a few allowances for the crude environment I’ve been subjected to for the past 12 months. Try to be a good listener as I unfold my horror stories, which may be numerous, varied, and generally true. I have been around the world and back, having witnessed some of the most bizarre things imaginable. I have seen many a sad sight, heard many a sad tale, but mine, inevitably, will be the saddest of all. Some of my behavioral patterns have undergone radical alterations, but you may find me completely unaware that my habits are out of the ordinary. Once again please remember, “Patience is the key to successful rehabilitation.”
Show no alarm if I prefer to squat, rather than to sit in a chair. I will tend to remove my shoes before entering a house. Remain calm when I insist on sleeping on the floor with my clothes on. I may stare in fascination at any building over three stories high. Be lenient when I try to buy everything at half the market price, and accuse the salesperson of being a thief. Don’t be surprised if I answer any and all questions with “I HATE THIS !@#$$%^&* PLACE!!!”. Pretend not to notice if I pour gravy on my mixed vegetables, or add hot sauce to just about everything else. Don’t be amazed when I stare in wonder at fresh bread and milk. Please don’t get mad if I carry toilet paper everywhere I go, this is a commodity in Korea that can be used as currency in case of emergency. Pay no attention when I carry my backpack everywhere, even to the neighbors, as this has been faithfully by my side for 12 months, and has become a part of me. Also, take it with a smile when I go everywhere with a flashlight, I’m expecting the lights to go out at any minute.
You will find my manner of speaking is radically different than it used to be, and sometimes may be totally incomprehensible. I may speak a mixture of English, Spanish, Korean, Filipino, Indonesian, Russian, and bits of other languages as well. I may lapse into English occasionally, but that will only happen if I am talking to a close friend or relative, and then only after it has been established and confirmed that I’m talking to a real American. When I meet someone for the first time, I will likely bow at the waist and say something like, “AN YOUNG HA SAY OH.” During the course of everyday conversations I will probably use strange words like YOBO, FIGMO, DMZ, GREEN BEAN, YELLOW BEAN, BROWN BEAN, PALI-PALI, YOBO SAYO, A-TOWN, THE VILL, AHJIMA, AHDASHEE, and many other things that make no sense to you but are very near to my heart. I may tend to talk to most people with exaggerated hand gestures and in a simplified, almost childlike language. I may also suffix my words with strange endings such as, “cashee”, “changee”, and “finishee”. Try to endure these variations with courage and patience and soon I will be able to communicate with the general public with relative ease.
There is one thing I must warn you about: the excessive, colorful adjectives, adverbs, and expletives that have been an integral part of my vocabulary. With gentle admonishment and reminders my profanity will eventually wane to a level of acceptance among mixed groups and scrupulous neighbors.
To minimize the dangers of cultural shock, and keep me from hurting others and myself the following actions are strongly recommended. DO NOT, repeat DO NOT, at any time ask me if I have managed to save money while in Korea. Because of culture shock, I may become semi-catatonic and begin to mumble something about club bill, slot machines, class VI, loans to ex-friends, gifts for departing friends, kimchee cabs and buses, Popeye’s chicken, mink blankets, starter jackets, leather coats, Wolfpack Wheels tickets, and too many parties. Do not make flattering remarks about the great food provided for the troops overseas, or say anything about Korea, as this could trigger an awesome display of violence. NEVER, NEVER, say the words “RECALL” or “EXERCISE” above a whisper, and if an ambulance or fire truck happens to be within range and it’s siren is going, DO NOT make an attempt to stop me because I ‘m probably running around looking for a ditch to dive into. When crossing the street take care of me, as I have become completely oblivious to car horns, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, push carts, and other various forms of transportation that are common to Korea.
In order to make me more comfortable in what seems like an alien environment the following actions are suggested. For the first ten days serve nothing but roast beef, either rare or too well done, with plenty of fat (this is known as steamship round and tastes like the ship was long overdue). Don’t serve milk fresher than two weeks old or bread that bounces. Never allow more than one piece of silverware per meal, and be sure it is bent, tarnished, or filthy (a plastic spoon is best). Pour generous amounts of chlorine into the drinking water, this is the taste that I have become accustomed to. Plug the drain in the shower so the water rises to my knees. Be sure to turn the hot water off intermittently, and at your discretion, add a few bursts of scalding hot water followed by immediate loss of water pressure. When washing clothes, add one or two cups of dirt to the water to maintain that yellowish look that I have gotten so used to. Have the TV and radio adjusted so that only one station can be received, and try to ensure plenty of static. Make sure someone slams a door every half-hour while I am trying to sleep. Every evening about 7pm, open all the windows and doors to let in as many mosquitoes as possible, as I am accustomed to sleeping with them. Never allow the temperature in the house to fall below 95 degrees in the summer or above 40 in the winter. If I insist on putting the refrigerator in the bedroom do not discourage me, this is where I’m used to seeing it and eventually realize that it belongs in that empty space in the kitchen. Ignore me if I eye the pooch hungrily and mumble something to the effect of “GOTTA GET ME SOME KAY-GOKI!” Please don’t question me when I decide to ride my beat up bicycle to work instead of driving the new car. I have developed a fondness for bicycles, so have all the neighborhood kids buzz me periodically, being sure they issue no warning and are traveling at least 30 mph. If at all possible, make some craters and trenches in the lawn and surrounding area. I’m in the habit of negotiating them in a drunken state at night and cannot maneuver in a straight line or on level terrain. Be sure to start at least two rumors a day about someone I know or work with, at least one of these rumors should be particularly vicious and of a personal nature.
In other words, I may have the jitters, jumps or twitches, but I will not be lonely, depressed, or unhappy. I may have changed, but inside I am still the same person who left. Because of an entire year away from home, you can be sure nothing is as important to me as being back. Be patient with me and try to help me as much as you can, but be careful not to try too hard. Fear not, it has been proven time and time again that “Koreanitis” is not permanent – it can be cured in time with a little patience and lots of tender loving care.
In conclusion, put clean sheets on the (twin) bed, fill the fridge, set an extra place at the table, send no more mail to PSC 2 Box 2003, APO AP 96264 because…
I’M COMING HOME!!!!!
[Editors Note: This letter was written anonomously by a person stationed at Osan, although most of it also applies to Kunsan]
For those of us no longer at Osan, you can probably relate to some of these. For those of you still there, ENJOY IT!!! Pass this on to other Osan Alums….
First Realizations That You’re Not at Osan AB, ROK Anymore:
– It’s 0201 hrs, Sunday morning, and you’re still downtown
– You can slam 3 beers before your friends can finish their first
– Mmmmmm….Miss Lee’s McDonalds Burgers……
– You can’t stop saying, “When I was at Osan..” or “At Osan I/we..”
– The thought of hearing, “EXERCISE, EXERCISE,EXERCISE…CONDITION BLUE..MOPP 4!!” makes you think, “Ahhh, those were the good ol’ days..”
– Remembering your first Soju Experience brings a smile to your face
– Coming through the main gate late at night isn’t as exciting… you don’t feel like Harrison Ford in the “Fugitive” running from Town Patrol, ducking into alleys, looking around corners just trying to “make it”
– Your co-workers think that drinking beer at 1601 hrs, on a workday, in the office, is absurd
– You leave work by 1630 hrs everyday
– No water-main breaks, No Power or Water Outages
– DEROS doesn’t mean anything to you anymore
– Your wife/husband/kids are starting to get on your nerves again
– At home, you actually have to leave the room to get a beer
– You “can” find something to do
– Don’t know what you did with your Unit “Coin”
– Can’t find a bottle of Jinro Soju Anywhere
– Fresh Air
– Think to yourself, “Damn, I shoulda bought that when I was over there!”
– Haven’t thought or muttered the following: “I hate this !@#$%^& place!” or “This !@#$%^& place sucks!”
– You’re now using the items that used to be in your mobility/personal bag
– The thought of walking somewhere is simply “ridiculous”
– Your backpack is stuffed in the closet somewhere
– During the week, you’re in bed asleep by 2100 hrs
– On the weekends, you’re in bed asleep by 2100 hrs
– Wake up for work and you’re “sober”
– Leave work and you’re “sober”
– Malls
– You ask the lady bartender for an “OB” and she looks at you funny
– No one knows what a “Freedom Bird” is..
– Haven’t seen a “Patriot Missile” battery in a while
– Buy all the liquor you want
– Sunday NFL is actually “on” Sunday
– Have a craving for Kim-Chi or Bulgoki
– Taco Bell
– Nobody appreciates a good game of “Bones” on Friday’s after work
– When you start to think, “Korea wasn’t so bad…” or “12 Months went by fast..”
– Come to the conclusion: Soju really “is” the BOMB!!!
– You constantly talk about: White Dog, Ammo Bowl, Aragon Alley, Juicy Girls, Buy Me Juice?, My House-Down/Up, Giant Club, Golden Gate, The Wax Show, Heavy Metal, Yaki-bag, Flower Lady, Jungle Juice, The ‘Ville, Popeye’s, The CE hooch, Station Club, OB House, Mustang, Challenger, La Cantina, Hill 180, The Train Tracks, USA Blankets, Challenge Coins, Wing-Man, Benjo ditches, The Flying Chicken, Green/Brown Bean, OHOP, OHouse, AFKN, Eagle FM, the “scooter”, Burger Bar, Town Patrol, Bottles of Bacchus, Combat Bottles, Chin Mok,
Morale Calls, Kimchi Bus, AAFES taxi service, “Short” Calendar, Book Mark, Back Massages at the Barber Shop, Mini Mall, Monsoon, Blackcats, (Loungee) Red Horse, Ponchos, Parkas, Long-Johns, Mobility Teams, All (4) Mo-bags, Chem-gear, STAR Training, ULCHI FOCUS LENS (UFL), Foal Eagle, Walking home in condition black-MOPP 4, Osan Ni, Pac-House, Dragon Hill, Latino night, Phoenix Hotel, Penthouse, Crystal Club, Redzone, Golden Bell, Ironhorse, Xanadu, Dragon Club, Young Chun Club, Eagles Club, Ajooma, Adashi, Mikju, Cheap Charlie, No Money No Honey, 784-4121/4122, The Pavilion, Sand-Bag detail, ATSO guide, Sign/Counter-sign, P-Bromide, EET, UCC, Mike’s BBQ, Wolfpack Wheels, Condition Red, “Leading the Charge”, Mustang Country, Flying Fiends, Project Cheer, Block Parties, Turtle Park, Mig-Alley Flyer, Burger King, Talk-Tips, Today’s Pick City, The “Hump”, Tunnel 3, Kegoggi, Packing?, and…………..
The Sad Day of Saying Goodbye to Some of the Greatest People You've Ever met in Your Whole Life...
Journal of Daniel Rea Photography 