The Chhims Meet The Neighbors! August 27, 2009

When Sokhom came home last night he ran into our neighbors in the hallway.  They invited us to dinner that night.  They eat pretty late at night – 8 p.m.  There is a mother, father and daughter living there.  The daughter works as a Geography teacher in a local school and knows some English.  They had relatives visiting here, and they live in California so they spoke Englishreally well.  We had Bulgogi which tastes a lot like the stir fry Cambodians make, rice with soybeans in it, sheets of seaweed you wrap around your rice, and of course Kimchee.  They had 2 types of Kimchee, one was fresh and the other was a few days old.  Unfortunately for me, the older one was closest to me at the table.  It was pretty strong.  They eat kind of family style.  All the dishes are in the middle of the table, and everyone has a little bowl.  Everyone just eats out of the same dish.  Everyone has their own dish of rice though.  For dessert we had sliced peaches and apples.  Their peaches were really good.  They almost had a melon taste to them.

The daughter, her name is Ji Young, tried to translate the best she could between all of us.  She did a really good job.  She offered to take us out into the city sometime and show us around.  She also said she would take us into Seoul sometime too.  I told her she could come over any time to practice her English!  We are going to have them over to our house sometime soon for an American meal.  It’s good to know that we have really nice neighbors.

A long awaited update… August 16, 2009

Well, I hope no one was holding their breath about next post. Sorry it’s been so long!  Sokhom and I both ended up getting a cold, which was not fun at all.  We’re both much better though. 

A few weekends ago we took a bus ride down to Osan Air Force Base.  It’s a 2 hour bus ride!  But when we got there, it was a lot of fun.  The Air Force Bases are so nice!!!  They are much better than the Army ones.  They had a Chili’s there, so we went there for lunch, then we went shopping! The area outside of any base is called “the Ville”.  The Ville in Osan is a very big shopping area.  There are shops selling all kinds of things… most famous probably is all of the purses.  Coach, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Gucci.  Some of it’s real, and most of it’s fake.  But they are a very good fake!  You almost can’t tell, and the price is unbelievable.  I got a pretty big (fake) Coach bag for $45.  Normally, it would probably be about $300.  We saw a Chanel bag that I’m pretty sure is real, and it was $120.  Normally, they are way over $1000.  I still wouldn’t pay $120 for a purse, no matter what the designer was though.   There were also a lot of blankets and luggage places as well.  We got 2 blankets made of this really soft fuzzy material for $50.  One is a throw for the couch, and the other one fits on our bed.  We went to this one store, and this guy does replica oil paintings.  They were really really good.  We might go back sometime and get some.  Sokhom and I rarely agree on pictures to put on the wall, but there were a few there that we both really liked. 

We have ventured out into “New City” quite often.  The place really comes alive at night, so we will usually wait to eat dinner till it gets dark out and then walk down there.  They have BBQ places all over the place.  You sit down at a table that has a hole in the middle of it.  They put charcoal in there.  Then you pick what cut of beef you want. (there are pork places, and chicken too I think) They bring you all sorts of little dishes of stuff like kimchee, salad, pickled vegetables, and soup.  Usually a cold soup and a hot soup.  The cold soup is really gross, it’s like a miso soup with seaweed in it. It’s nasty.  There is a little basket full of lettuce leaves, sesame leaves sometimes, and a hot pepper.  You use the lettuce leaves to wrap your grilled meat in.  The meat is usually marinated.  They also give you onions and lots of garlic to grill too.  There is usually this red, sweet sauce to dip your meat into, which I really like.  Sometimes they give you a little bowl of rice, but usually we have to ask for it.  You get a ton of food, and it’s usually pretty cheap.  No more than 20,000 won, which is maybe $16. 

There is a Pizza Hut in New City.  We went there for lunch one day.  They have regular pizza, but they have Korean pizza there too.  There is a Bulgogi pizza.  Bulgogi is marinated beef.  It tastes a lot like the Cambodian beef on a stick. We ordered a supreme pizza.  The crust was like those cheese filled crusts, but along with the cheese, there was also a little nugget of sweet mashed potato.  It was really good and really weird at the same time.  We had leftovers, and they wrapped the to go box with pretty red ribbon! 

Yesterday we drove down to Yongson in Seoul.  We drove instead of taking a bus or the train because we had to get the oil changed on the truck, and the only place to do it is in Yongson.    The ride wasn’t too bad, but the Korean drivers are horrible.  I can’t tell you how many times we were cut off.  There was a minor traffic accident (we couldn’t see any damage), and they were stopped in the middle of a three lane highway.  We call Yongson “land of the big PX and Commissary” because they have a lot more stuff than here at Camp Casey.  I think I might go down to Yongson once a month or so and get the stuff I can’t get up here.  I found Lemongrass at the Commisary!  But no rice noodles.    I’ve been trying to make some Pad Thai with no luck.  The Koreans eat a lot of Mung Bean noodles (sometimes called Cellphane noodles).  They are really gross.  It feels like you’re eating worms.  Then I found some really really thin rice noodles at one of the little local markets, but when I made those and tried to stir-fry the noodles, they gummed up into big globs.  The Pad Thai taste was there, but the texture wasn’t.  So, I guess I’m going to get Sokhom’s Mom to send us some rice noodles from the Asian store in the US! 

Next month Sokhom will be “in the field” for about a month. He won’t be home for my birthday.  But he will be for our 5 year anniversary, so we’ll celebrate that weekend.  We’re not sure what we’re going to do yet.

So, we’ve been looking at getting our airline tickets to come home for Christmas.  Holy Cow!!!  The damage is about $2500 for the both of us.  Sokhom will just be there for the 2 weeks he has off, but I’m staying for about a month.  My sister is having her baby the beginning of January, so I want to be there for that and spend some time with them.  Wendy and Josh find out the sex of the baby next week, and I’m so excited to find out too!  Hopefully baby cooperates.   I’m getting into the knitting mood again and I want to pick a color out.  Don’t worry Wendy, I’ll refrain from the pink if it’s a girl.  

The weather here has been pretty hot.  We try not to run the A/C too much because of the cost of electricity, but there have been some days when I’ve had to turn it on pretty much all day.  We have several fans and use those most of the time.  July and August are supposed to be Monsoon season, but it really hasn’t been too bad.  There were a few days when the rain came down in sheets, ALL DAY LONG.  It was nuts.  They don’t have very good drainage in the roads, and it rained when we were going to the LotteMart.  The road was almost flooded.  There were things like plastic bottles floating in the street.  It’s a good thing we have a truck. Also good that we live on the 11th floor, so no worries about apartment flooding.  After the rain, it got nice and cool for about a day and half, and now it’s back to stifling hot, plus it is SO humid.  I’ve heard Autumn is really nice here, so I’m kinda looking forward to that.  But not the winter.  I hate snow!!!! (sorry Cindy!) 

Well, that’s all I got for now.  I’ll try not to wait too long for the next post!  And pictures…. I’ll try to get some pictures up soon.

My newest adventure July 22, 2009

Last Thursday, Sokhom finally started the in-processing part of being here.  Basically, he has to go through a bunch of briefings, and “enroll” us into things like finance so we get paid correctly, Tricare Medical, and a bunch of other stuff.  Even though we are stationed at Camp Casey, he has to go to Camp Stanley to do all this, which is just a few miles away.  Time wise though, it’s like an hour away.  Sokhom took the bus that morning to get there.  When he got there, he called me and said that he has to spend the night there, and if I would do him a huge favor and pack a bag for him and take the bus down to give it to him.  Easy, right?  Well that was just the beginning…

The bus to Camp Stanley was at 3:30 and would arrive about 4:30 with the return bus at 5:00.  I got to the bus stop a few minutes early, and asked which bus to get on.  The guy who I asked said, well, this bus goes to Camp Red Cloud, then you can transfer to another bus to Stanley.  He sounded like he knew what he was talking about, so I settled in for an hour’s bus ride.  After we were riding for a few minutes, the guy who I had asked turned around and said, “I apologize.  I was just reading this bus schedule, and there is actually another bus that goes directly to Camp Stanley at 3:30.”  Great.  So that actually means the bus gets to Camp Red Cloud at 4:30, not Camp Stanley.  I reached for my cell phone to call Sokhom and let him know I was going to be late, and discovered that I forgot my cell phone.  It was at home charging.  Great, again.  I wouldn’t be getting to Camp Stanley till about 5:30, and Sokhom was expecting me at 4:30.  When we got to Camp Red Cloud, the guy who misinformed me said that I would probably get to Camp Stanley quicker if I get a taxi.  Camp Red Cloud and Camp Stanley aren’t very far apart.  I was a little leery about taking his advice again, but it did make sense.  The bus got to CRC at 4:15, so I was thinking I was doing pretty good.  I’ll probably get to Camp Stanley right when I told Sokhom I would.  I went to the Taxi stand and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  There was about 3 people ahead of me for a taxi.  They each called the taxi service every 5 minutes.  I waited for a 1/2 hour for a dumb taxi.  So by the time I reached Camp Stanley, it was exactly 5:00.  I missed the bus back to Camp Casey.  Plus, no Sokhom to be found.  I waited around a bit in case he was held up by a briefing or something.  I walked out towards the main road so I would be more visible.  A girl came up to me and asked me about my purse.  (It’s one I knitted and felted, and she had one too.)  We got to talking, and I was telling her about my situation.  A Captain happened to be walking by and heard me.  He asked me where Sokhom was supposed to be, and I told him he was in processing, and I was just delivering his luggage.  He was like, “Well, lets get you straightened out, and find him.”  We walked about 1/4 mile down the road, (did I mention I was wearing flip flops?  yeah…)  and asked one of the staff duty guys.  He said Sokhom was in Senior Barracks, and to go to another building.  More walking and stairs… Finally we found a person who could actually help me, and he walked me over to the building Sokhom was staying at.  We knocked on the door.  No answer.  Knocked again.  No answer.  Then some people came down the walkway, and it was Sokhom’s roommate.  He opened the door, and Sokhom of course wasn’t there.  I was just going to drop off the luggage and try and find a taxi and go home.  His roommate thought I should just wait for him to come back, just in case he went to go get food or something.  So I waited around a bit, and then had an idea.  His bag with all his papers and stuff was still in the room, and maybe, just maybe his phone number was in it.  I rifled through his papers, and found his phone number!  Yes!  Then his roommate informed me his phone didn’t have any more minutes on it.  Right.  So we found a couple of Majors, and they let me use his phone.  Sokhom answered, and I was like “Hi.  Where are you?  I’m at your barracks.”  Sokhom answered, “I’m at Camp Casey!!!  You didn’t get off the bus, and you didn’t answer your cell phone, so I got on the free bus at 5:00 to go to Camp Casey to look for you. I was worried.”.  I was thinking, you have got to be kidding me.  I missed him by like 30 seconds when I arrived by Taxi.  I think I actually even seen the bus pull out when I arrived, and Sokhom was on it.  I was really sorry I forgot my cell phone.  Of all the times to forget it too.  So I ended up taking a taxi back to Camp Casey, and Sokhom found a bus back to Stanley.  You’d think that would have been the end of the story, but it only gets better.  I waited at the taxi stand at Stanley for 45 minutes!!!  People were waiting ahead of me there too, and calling every 5 minutes.  I befriended a couple there, and they said I could share a taxi with them.  They just had to be dropped off at their apartment outside of Stanley, and then I could go on to Camp Casey. We waited so long that we started walking towards the gate to get a local taxi. (There are only certain taxi’s that are allowed to go on post. Local taxi’s can’t.)  While we were walking a taxi just arrived on post and we flagged it down.  It’s a flat $35 taxi ride from Stanley to Casey.  So, instead of taking the normal route, staying on the main road, the taxi driver decided to take a “shortcut”.  Which I think just meant less traffic and traffic lights.  Boy did I get to see some windy country roads.  It was crazy.  I didn’t get home until 8 p.m.  I guess the moral of this story is…. Never forget your cell phone in a foreign country.  It is now permanently attached to me at all times.

We’re moved in! July 11, 2009

Well, lots have happened in a week.  We ended up not going down to Seoul last Sunday.  We figured it was best for now to stay where we were.  Instead we went to New City, which is the area of Dongducheoun we live in.  They have tons of restaurants there, and little shops.  There were people on the sidewalks selling different things from food to socks.  It was kind of weird to stop at different floors of a building to see what shops are on them.

Monday we went to see our apartment. I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was thinking that it wouldn’t be decorated like the one we saw.  But, when we walked in, it looked exactly like the one we saw!  I must admit, I was relieved.  I really liked the dark colored wood, and the wallpaper was really nice.  We spent a good hour going over the apartment, looking at everything.  Our Realtor, Mommy, tried explaining to me how to work the dishwasher, oven, and washing machine.  But I think a lot of things got lost in the translation.  I still haven’t figured out the washing machine.  I know that what they call the oven is actually a microwave.  I’ve only figured out 2 buttons on it.  I think it might be an oven too, but I don’t know how to turn it on.  And if it is an oven, it is VERY tiny.  None of my cookie sheets fit into it.  We can get an oven from the Army, so I might do that.

So, the next day, our movers came in the afternoon.  We are on the 11th floor, so we were thinking that they would be taking many trips up and down the elevator.  When they arrived, we got a big surprise.  They showed up with this truck that has this huge platform elevator that extended all the way up to our kitchen window!  They removed the glass, and brought everything through!  It was crazy. So then the handy-man that kind of put our apartment together showed us all the gizmo’s and buttons of our apartment.  We got 2 cards that look like credit cards.  One opens the door to get to the elevator, and the other one opens our front door.  I’m not sure that the door one works though.  But, on the door, there is a keypad.  All we have to do is punch in our code, and the door unlocks.  There is also a key, but I guess that’s if all else doesn’t work!  The door also automatically locks when you close it.  So no worrying about if you locked the door or not!  There are buttons that turn off all the lights in the house.  In every room, there is a panel that turns the hot water on and off.  This is because the apartment is heated by hot water flowing through pipes under the  floor.  I suspect that the panel does more, but we haven’t figured that out yet.  Although the other day, I think we accidentally hit a button, and I woke up the floor really hot.  There is a button that turns the gas line to the kitchen on and off.  There is an under the counter TV in the kitchen, and it is hooked up to the security system.  So if somebody rings you either at the elevator or at the door, and your in the kitchen, the TV switches to the security camera. The kitchen TV also has recipes on it, but again, I haven’t figured out how to get to that.  Even if I do, I doubt I’d be able to use them, seeing as I don’t read Korean.   Under the sink in the kitchen, there is a really fancy water purifier.  There is a separate water faucet at the sink for that.  There is also something called a food dryer under the sink.  I guess Koreans put their food waste in it, and it dries it out before they put it in the garbage to keep it from smelling.  On the floor by the sink there is 2 touch pads.  You touch them with your foot.  When you press on the left one, it turns the faucet it on.  If you touch it again, it turns off.  If you touch the right one, the faucet will turn on only for the amount of time your foot is on the pad.  I think that is probably my single most favorite thing in the kitchen.  I’ve always hated touching the faucet to turn it on with chickeny fingers.  So, curiosity got the better of Sokhom, and he decided to try out all the buttons on the fancy toilet.  Lets just say he was quite surprised by the amount and force of water used.  Also, there is a special button for girls, and yes, there is an air dry option.  We also found out you can heat the toilet seat.  I think I’m never going to see my husband again.

Sokhom went to Seoul yesterday and got the truck.  It literally took all day to do.  He had to take a train and the subway down to Seoul, then travel back and forth between the pick-up place and Yongsan to register it and get tags.  They actually charged like $6 for a temporary tag, that only lasts for the very short drive between the pick-up place and Yongsan.  It was ridiculous.  Then on his way home, he took a wrong turn and got a little lost in Seoul.  Luckily, he had his Magellan with him, and between that and him calling me to look up roads on Google Maps, he made it back home.  It took 3 hours though!

Today we went to this place called Lotte Super.  I guess it’s a little bit like Walmart, only a lot smaller, and it’s mostly grocery store.  We were very happy to find out they carried the “right” brand of Oyster Sauce that we like, and we can buy chicken there.  For some reason the commissary doesn’t carry fresh chicken, only the frozen bagged Tyson kind.  I’m going to have to go there again and see if they have rice noodles and lemon grass.  I’m hoping they do, otherwise we’re going to have to try to find a southeast asian grocery store, and that will be tough.  We might have to go down to Seoul for that.  Speaking of things the commissary doesn’t have, so far I have found that they don’t carry Bisquick, unsweet chocolate, and very little yeast.  I might have to get my family members in America to send me some stuff.

I think that I am forgetting a lot of things that have happened this week.  I’ll update if I remember any more!  I guess I shouldn’t wait a week to write.

Happy 4th of July! July 4, 2009

There hasn’t been too much going on the past couple of days.  We were supposed to have our lease looked at on Thursday, but all of the offices are closed on Thursdays for “Sgt.’s time.”  Whatever that means.  Fortunately, even though it is a 4-day weekend for the Army, the housing office was open on Friday.  So we got our leased looked at, but there was a bunch of paperwork that still needed to be filled out and signed by Sokhom’s commander, so we probably won’t be able to finish anything apartment related until Tuesday.  On Monday we are going to look at our actual apartment, which I’m pretty excited about.  We also found out that both of our household goods shipments have arrived, as well as our truck.  Hopefully they can deliver both of the shipments at the same time on Wednesday.  We found out we can drive on our American drivers license for 30 days after we arrive.  After that, we have to have a Korean driver’s license.  I’m debating on whether I want one or not.  I guess it would probably be a good idea, but I’m not in too big of a hurry.

We’re in the beginning of the Monsoon season here, so it’s been raining and storming intermittently since we’ve been here.  We’re not far from the bus stop, so we don’t have to get too wet.

Today is the 4th of July.  I didn’t think that they would have fireworks here, but they are.  There is also a Deana Carter concert tonight, so I think we’ll go to that.  It’s supposed to rain, so I might have to get an umbrella or something.

We might go to Seoul tomorrow.  We are right by a train station, and Sokhom heard that the train fare is only $2 each.  We’re not sure what we’re going to there though.  I guess we’ll figure that out later.  You know us, we’re kind of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of couple.

I think I rented an apartment. July 1, 2009

Yesterday we took our first adventure outside the gates of Camp Casey.  We had another captain show us the area that he lives in with his family.  I don’t really know how to say the Korean name, but everyone calls it New Town.  It looks like New York City just plunked about 4 or 5 blocks into the middle of Korea.  It’s crazy.  But surrounding all the shops are tons of high rise apartment buildings.  He also drove us through Camp Hovey, which is attached to Camp Casey.  Camp Hovey is actually where Sokhom will be working everyday.

After our little tour, we went to the PX cause, well, there’s nothing better to do.  As we were leaving, Sokhom ran into someone he worked with in Iraq.  Afterwards, I found out it was someone he had several altercations with, and Sokhom can’t stand the guy.  They say the Army is a small world…

This morning, I woke up early yet again at about 5 a.m.  After a while I managed to fall back asleep again, and didn’t get up till about 9.  Sokhom called several real estate agents to look for apartments.  That was a major job in and of itself.  Either they weren’t open yet, or they wanted us to be there right that very moment.  There was one lady who said she was right outside the gate in her car, and we couldn’t find her.  Come to find out she assumed we were at Camp Red Cloud, which is about an hour away!  Finally about 1:30 we were able to get someone.  When we met her, she introduced herself as Mommy.  She is a very sweet lady.  She owns the rental agency, a smoothie shop and a Chinese place.  She and two other men led us out to the parking lot.  I felt very aprehensive about getting into a car with 3 people I don’t know, in a foreign country, and 2 of them don’t speak English.  So we were listening to the 3 of them banter back and forth in Korean, and Sokhom and I just sat there, kinda of hoping we weren’t being abducted.  I felt better when we got to the first apartment.  It was about 3 or 4 years old.  Three bedrooms, all wood floor.  The bathrooms were kind of small, and there was no oven, and a fridge about the size of a microwave.  Other than that, it was very big and spacious.  Then she took us to the other side of New City.  This apartment complex is brand new, and huge.  It has underground parking.  All of the towers form a circle, and there is a playground in the middle of it.  We saw an apartment on the 9th floor.  The front door was very industrial looking and heavy.  Once we got in though, it took my breath away almost.  It has a little foyer area with closets for coats and shoes.  It has 3 bedrooms, the living room is huge, and kitchen just as big.  The master bedroom has California style closets, and the master bathroom has a bathtub, seperate shower, and an electronic toilet.  Yes folks, and electronic toilet.  It even has a bidet function. The whole apartment is about 1600 sq ft.  These apartments were better than a lot of the houses back home.  So, needless to say, we said “we’ll take it!”.  Now, unfortunately, the apartment we looked at was not the same one we’ll rent.  But as far as structure goes, it’ll be the same.  All the apartments in Korea are individually owned, so they are wall papered, and cabinets and flooring all different.  So, we after we told Mommy we wanted to rent there, she set things up at the real estate office and the homeowner came down.  This entire process was done in Korean.  I have no idea what was said.  But we did find out that the apartment won’t be ready until next Wednesday, so we have to stay in Casey Lodge till then.  We’ll get to see the actual apartment on Monday.  Tomorrow we have to take Mommy to the housing office on post so we can get things straightened out with the lease there.  Basically, the Army has to approve the lease, and they have to inspect it to make sure that it’s ok to live in.  I’m very excited to live here!  I was expecting the worst, and ended up getting an apartment better than anything you get in America!!!

We made it to Camp Casey June 30, 2009

Yesterday morning after our briefings, we had lunch at Subway with some friends we knew from Ft. Gordon.  His wife is Korean, so she let me pick her brain a little about Korean culture and business.  Afterwards, we all went to this little shop on post that sells cell phones and cell plans.  If you ever move to Korea, make sure you buy your cell phones on post.  They are way cheaper, and the phones are cheaper too. Also, it is much harder to get a cell phone plan off post since your not a local.  We both got a phone, and our plan is only $60 a month.  Our Korean friend, Mickey, told us this is a very good deal.

When we got back to the hotel, we discovered that our key cards no longer worked.  Sokhom went to the front desk and found out that the Army didn’t pay itself the night before, and they had no idea we were staying another night.  They wanted us to pay for the hotel room the first night, and it was over $200!  Sokhom said heck no, and went off to the 1st Replacement Company to get all that paperwork figured out.  Luckily, we didn’t have to pay any money out of pocket.  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with our cell phones.  Luckily, it is mostly in English, but there are a few things in Korean, and we of course have no idea what it does.

Later in the evening we set off for the “Big PX”.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but it is exactly like any other PX in the United States.  Except maybe the food court is a little bit bigger.  In Korea, you have to have a ration card.  They scan it everytime you make a purchase at the PX or Commissary.  They do this to keep track of everything that you buy.  Also, they have a cap on how much you can spend at the Commissary and how much alcohol you buy at the Class 6 (the liqour store). They do this because of blackmarketing.  Apparently it’s been a pretty big problem.

This morning we made our way to Camp Casey.  We took a shuttle bus to Camp Stanley and our sponsor met us there.  From there we took another bus to Camp Casey.  My first impression of Camp Casey is pretty good so far.  We haven’t really run into any problems or anything.  Sokhom has spoken to some of the other guys he will be working with.  We walked to the PX and Commissary, and aside from being really small, I think it’ll work.  I found most of the stuff that I usually buy, and I learned that if there is anything specific I want I can order it from Yongson.  The only thing that concerned me is that there was no fresh chicken, and very little beef and pork.  Sokhom found a Ribeye though and was a happy camper.   I even managed to find some Seventh Generation laundry detergent and fabric softener, so maybe there is hope.

Tomorrow we are supposed to find an apartment.  Sokhom talked to one of the other captains he will be working with who lives off post with his family.  He gave him some advice, and might be picking us up tonight to see his apartment.  Apparently it is in a new area called “new town”.  It is only a few minutes from post and sounds promising.

First blog post, first day in Korea! June 28, 2009

Ok, so I’m going to try my hand at blogging.  We’ll see how it goes, and if I really keep up with it.  I wanted to start a blog to document all the cool stuff that we (Sokhom and I)  are doing.  As you can tell from the title, we’re in Korea!  My husband is in the Army, and this is our first overseas duty station.  We’re pretty nervous, but very excited.

We left Atlanta yesterday (or day before yesterday?  The International Date Line confuses me!) and arrived in Incheon, South Korea. Before we left though, when I was checking in at Atlanta, we discovered that the travel agent in Ft. Gordon (where we were stationed before) never ticketed my flight!  Of course, the travel agency isn’t open on the weekends, and we had to call their emergency number, and have Delta airlines fax our orders to them so they could ticket it.  Hopefully that is the last dealing we’ll have with that horrid place.  Anyway, the flight was fine, if not a bit long.  It was supposed to be 14 1/2 hours, but we had a good head wind, and made it 45 minutes early.  We were in an emergency exit row, so we had lots of room.  We were seated next to a Dr., and a lady a few rows up from us started vomiting all over the place. (Literally, just turned her head and went for it in the aisle.  Gross.), so he and the lady were upgraded to first class and we got an extra seat!  It was quite roomy.  Each of the seats had their own TV screen, and they had tons of movies you could choose from, and even some American TV shows.  It also had a feature where you could watch where the plane was on a map.  That was really cool.

When we arrived in Incheon, we went through immigration, baggage claim, then customs.  Since we are military, and if anybody reading this is military and traveling to Korea, after baggage claim, you have to go all the way down to the end of the baggage claim area (across from baggage claim 1)  and to the right is the customs area for military, and they show you were to go to catch the bus.  Unfortunately, to catch the bus you have walk clear to the other side of the terminal.  It’s a good 10-15 minute walk.  The bus ride to Yongson, in Seoul, was crazy. We realized that the bigger vehicle you’re in means you have priority in the lanes.  Our bus driver was frequently stradling 2 lanes, and weaved through all the lanes.  We were inches away from other vehicles parallel to us.

So after white-knuckling it through town, we arrived at Yongson, where they dropped us off at 1st Replacement Company.  It literally shares a parking lot with Dragon Hill Lodge.  Sokhom went through some briefings while I was allowed to check in to the hotel to rest.  Dragon Hill Lodge is really nice.  There are tons of places to eat, and a bunch of shops, including a shoppette.   Weirdly, we had Mexican for dinner.  Our flight was timed just right, cause by the time we got to Yongson, ate dinner and everything, it was nighttime here, and we were ready for bed!  I guess we do have a bit of jet-lag though cause we both woke up at about 5:00 a.m. this morning.  Sokhom and I both had a morning full of briefings, and then we have the afternoon off.  Tomorrow we will be going to Camp Casey.  We will be living  off-post in Dongducheon.  They do not have family housing yet in Camp Casey.  The military just allowed command sponsored family members stay there earlier this year.  They do have most of the amenities one would need though, like a PX and a commissary.  I think there is a library too. They do not have a medical center though, and I’ve heard that they have an agreement with a local Korean medical facility for family members to go to.  I guess I’ll find out more about that later.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the area is like up there, and how we will be living.