Welcome to S. Korea!

"Does any one speak english?" O.M.G. "Well, other than us, no. Deal with it!" -Me. I felt like I was baby sitting. We spent the first night in Korea catching up... Figure it out... 

@ Thanksgiving with 557th MP CO
2nd Platoon SPARTANS

The next day was Thanksgiving, and we had a great time. We joined his Platoon for dinner, and an intense dance competition. Following, we went to the next city over to see the 10 story mall. After, we returned to the party. That night was one the hardest that I have experienced so far. I listened as one of the sergeants talked about his previous deployments, soldiers that were close to him that got killed, how he had to drink to be able to sleep at night. He spoke of the hurt and the heart ache. He has received a purple heart and a medal of honor, but he doesn't think that he is a hero. There were many other conversations going on at the same time. Another sergeant talked about how everything happens for a reason and how God is in control. A happy home makes for a happy soldier. Support from the wife makes every thing easier. I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me and cares for me as much as Weston does. I am so blessed to have a faith in something bigger, to be a saved Christian woman, and to have a saved, Christian husband. Our marriage is based around the Lord, and when times are tough we turn to the Lord. I pray that there will be lives touched and seeds planted in all that I do and say. I hope that our marriage will be a testimony to those that know us. I thank God that my soldier has a Christian sergeant who isn't afraid to pray before the meal, who speaks of God openly, and who Weston can go to with problems and questions. 

In Weston's Barracks

My time with my husband included many new and rewarding experiences. I learned how to speak enough Korean to get along for the time that I was there. Either that, or the Koreans just had to figure out what the heck I was trying to say. We watched movies on post at the theater, at the top of the 10-story mall, and in the hotel room... of course, we didn't buy any boot-legged movies either! We did a lot of shopping. In S. Korea, there are shops every where. You just don't understand until you actually see them. You can walk down an alley and there be restaurants and shops. You can walk by an old building and open a door and find a hidden cafe, bar, or shop. Most of the owners live in the back or above it, or whatever. A lot of the shops is just a bunch jammed in there on tables. I swear, they see how much "junk" they can fit into each tiny space. AND for goodness sake, if you don't buy their merchandise then they throw a fit! Its not too hard to talk most of them down on prices if you tell them its too much and you don't want it.

At the top of the 10-story
mall. Sky Garden.

Our hotel room door.

We walked to and from cabs, took buses, walked some more, and took the train while I was there. That was something that I loved about Korea. We got plenty of exercise.We visited several other cities and did site seeing. Weston had to work during the week days, and I mostly hung out at the hotel or with O.M.G. (in case you are wondering, that stands for Oh, Monkey Girl! and her equally annoying fiance's name is Monkey Boy. Weston and I bought a mini rabbit while we were there, and I was all set to bring him home until I found out that the airlines were going to charge us $250. So, we gave the rabbit away to a good home. One of the most memorable things that we did during my time there was go to the Seoul Tower. Seoul is the capital of South Korea and has an awesome tower. It is also the home of the 10th largest zoo in the world. We were all set to go to the zoo, but things didn't work out as planned. The cab driver said it was going to take 2 hours to get there because of the traffic. Plan B was to go to the tower.

We took the cab up to the drop-off point and hiked to the top. Thank goodness I had comfortable shoes on or I might have broke an ankle. When we got to the top of the tower, I rushed over to the window to take pictures while Weston slowly made his way to the lookout spot. I guess he can't handle heights. hahaha

At the top of tower.

 

You can see Seoul
out the window.

The walls inside the tower are covered with tiles that people have bought and written on. Weston and I wanted to be able to say that we are part of something, to leave a memory inside the tower. So, we bought one of those blocks and wrote on it. We glued it on the wall in an open spot, where people will fill in the wall with other tiles.

Our Tile.

One of the walls.

When we went back down to the bottom, we found an area with a ton of locks that were all locked together. People can buy locks, write on them, lock them up, and keep the key. This is another way to leave a memory at the Seoul Tower. We did not do this, but the people we were with did.

A far away tower.
We were on the lock balcony.

The trees are made of locks.

OMG and I found a park outside the hotel that had all kinds of work out equipment. The Korean people just go work out at the park when ever they want for free. There is a playground for the kids to play on as well as a track around the park. OMG and I hung out at the park, taking pictures, and messing with the equipment until our soldiers showed up from work.

There are so many more things we did in South Korea, but its just too much to write about. This post would be forever long. All in all, the time went by so fast. I love my husband and I had a blast! I learned a lot about the Korean culture and got to meet a ton a great people. I thank our soldiers for their hard work and dedication to our country. It was great to see how they live and hear their side of things, to be able to be in South Korea with the troops during a war time period was a memorable experience. I support our troops 100% and I would hope that you do too!

The sunset by the barracks @ Camp Humpreys

The Love of my life and I

I had such a great time getting to know these men and women of the
US Army... Hooah 557th MP CO 2nd Platoon Spartans!!!

Our trip home began at 3:45am when Weston had to go to work. The night before, we had made a trip to another town to get our bus tickets. My bags were packed, and it was going to be a LONG day. After he went to work, I fell back asleep for a couple of hours. We checked out of the hotel at 9am and got on the bus. Once we got to the next bus station, we just waited there with our bags. The bus was to come at 10am. A group of 4 men were stalking us and really freaked us out. The attendant had no idea what we were trying to say. I finally found a Korean teenage guy that kinda spoke some English. He showed us where our bus would park and told us it would only be a little longer. Finally our bus came and we were on our way to the airport. We arrived at the airport 6 hours before our flight and couldn't even check our bags for 3 more hours. I remembered where the USO was, and we went down there and curled up on a bench where I slept for some amount of time. At 3:30pm on December 8th, I checked my luggage. Of course, OMG's bag was too heavy. At this point I was so sick of her whining and complaining. I had already told her to shut up once that day. Might have been a little rude, but I had spent 2 weeks with her and her man-- both equally annoying, rude, and inconsiderate. She is an only child, spoiled, and so dependent on other people that it is sick. -- Any way, we boarded the plane at 6:30pm. Next stop was San Fransisco, CA.

Once we arrived at the CA airport, I had thirty minutes to get through customs, get my bags, go through customs again, check my bags, and get on the next plane. We had arrived an hour late to California. There was no way that I was going to make it to my next plane. I got off the plane and ran to customs. Got through customs very quickly and headed to the baggage claim. My bags were some of the last off the plane of course, and I missed my flight. I got in line to be put on standby, and they found one for me 2 hours later. I went to my gate and fell asleep, but not without setting an alarm. I was woken up by OMG and noticed that there was hardly any one at my gate. Another woman was concerned as well and checked on the situation. Our gate had moved and our plane had been delayed due to weather. We walked to the next gate and waited as our plane was delayed a second time due to weather. It seemed as if the day was not going to end. Finally we boarded the plane and were on our way to Denver. I arrived in Denver at 7:10pm on Wednesday, December 8th. Yes, approximately the same time I had left South Korea. My brother's gf picked me up and we went to her house where I had a flat tire on my car. Calvin fixed my tire and I was on the road by 9:30pm. After driving for about 2 hours, I finally made it back to town and met up with some friends for breakfast burritos. My time with my husband in South Korea had come to a close. Another chapter in the books.