Korean Adventures Continued...

So after arriving in Seoul, and finally getting to our hotel in Yongsan, we all fell right to sleep once settled in our room. I was sleeping peacefully, partly due to all the cold medicines I took on the plane, but was awakened by Jay at 3 o'clock in the morning. Jay had heard Mia moving around in her sleep and instead of letting her settle back down, he woke up, got her out of bed and proceeded to wake me up. When I was not so thrilled to be woken up by two hyper Bice's at 3 o'clock in the morning, Jay was like, "come on, Babe, I can't sleep, wake up, Mia wants to play..." Seriously... what are we going to do before dawn in Seoul, Korea? Go to the park? Get some breakfast? Explore the city or shop? No, it's a good time to sleep. Needless to say, Jay is still having some trouble getting his clock back on track though Mia and I seem to have adjusted well to the time change.

The next morning we ate some breakfast then decided to walk around the base to check it out. We went to the base PX (kinda like a Target) and they wouldn't let me in with my ID card. I guess I also needed a "ration card". Damn Army. So we decided to buy me a cell phone at the phone vendor outside of the PX. After carefully selecting a phone I could live with for the next 2 years from the slim pickings I had to choose from, we set up an account, filled out the paperwork, selected the phone plan, and the girl went to activate my phone. While she was calling the phone company to activate my new phone, Mia and I went to check out some of the other vendors nearby while Jay waited for the phone. When we came back, the girl came over to us and said, "sorry, this phone is no longer being sold, you have to pick a different phone." There were only 3 others to pick from and they all sucked. Jay and I were confused, why did they have this phone on display but then refuse to sell it b/c they stopped making them? They made this one, didn't they? Don't they want to sell it even though they're not making new ones? So feeling frustrated, and the bored look on the girl's face making me more so, I said, "forget it, we'll buy a phone somewhere else." Jay was also frustrated and told the girl to give him the paperwork we had filled out. The girl didn't want to hand over the papers, so Jay made her rip them up in front of us. As we walked out, Jay said he farted when Mia and I went to look at other booths, and that it had been really bad. He suggested that might be why the girl didn't want to sell us the phone all of a sudden. I could understand that.

From the PX, we went back to the hotel and looked around the shops at the hotel. Whaddya know?! There is a cell phone shop in the hotel, and they gladly sold me the same phone the other girl wouldn't sell me, set me up with a plan, and Jay didn't fart in the shop, so the deal went through without a hitch! Yay... I have a new cell phone! They even programmed a calling card and showed me how to use it so I can call overseas without using my plan minutes.

We took a taxi that afternoon to the shopping district, InTaeWon (I think that's how it's spelled), and it had been a cold but sunny day all day. Once we got out of the cab and started walking along the shops, it started to snow, then rained and snowed, then just rained... sweet. But we did find a CoffeeBean (woohoo) and my greentea latte kept me nice and warm as we walked the cold, wet streets of Seoul. One thing I've learned very quickly is Koreans are VERY pleasant people, I'm feeling pretty optimistic about things.

The next day we loaded up a cab with our massive bulk of luggage and drove about 100 meters to the bus stop. There we waited for our bus while eating lunch. While we were eating, I noticed others getting on a bus and I asked Jay, "what time does our bus leave?" He answered "11 o'clock". I asked what time it was, he answered "ten fourty-five". Then it hit us, oh crap!!! We've gotta go! Jay jumped up and started grabbing our bags to put on the bus, while I tried to clean up Mia, throw away our trash, and help Jay. Mia, being the independent spirit she is, would not cooperate with us, and at one point ran away from me. I went after her, but she darted out the open door quickly and started running toward the bus. Two privates (? I don't know army ranks, so I'm assuming that's what they were), were watching us as they talked and the guy looked at me like I was crazy and yelled, "your daughter is running into the street!" as I ran by him with my arms full of crap yelling for Mia to stop. Thanks, Asshole, do you think you could help by grabbing her as she ran by you, rather than looking at me, pointing out the obvious, and making me feel even more helpless than I already did? Needless to say, this pushed me over the edge, because Jay came over and gave me a "WTF?!" kind of look when he heard what the guy said. I would like to point out that Mia stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, as I taught her to do, b/c she knows she's not aloud to step onto asphalt without holding mommy or daddy's hand. She never ran into the street. But I was still upset, and when we finally got on the bus, Jay handed Mia to me to sit with me, but I said, "no, she's sitting with you." Then I sat in the seat behind them and put on my big, oversized designer sunglasses and cried silently. It took Jay a while to figure out that I wasn't okay, but by the time he did, I think I cried all the stress out of me and was feeling better. He apologized when we got to our room in Osan, for being a dick earlier, and I felt a lot better.

In Osan, we were able to get our passports stamped with the proper visas so Mia and I are no longer illegal and I'm not coming home in February after all. We also got a stamp on his orders that says I'm allowed to shop in the BX since I don't have a damn ration card. We then went to the BX in Osan and I bought some running shoes and work out clothes, and Jay and I went for a long run while Mia took a nap. Ahhh! My body is still sore (4 days later) but it felt so good! We went exploring around the shops in Osan later that day. I found some paintings that I think would be gorgeous if professionally framed. I also found a LOT of good things to buy for everyone for Christmas. It's going to be a Korean Christmas, everyone!

The next morning, we were going to be leaving around 11 again (to the famed Kunsan, Jay complained about so much) so I went for a run while Jay stayed with Mia in the morning. It was awesome b/c the running path is along the flight line and 2 Blackhawk helicopters and a C-17 landed overhead while I was running. Once again, I'm sore, but it felt great.

We got to Kunsan without any problems. Jay's old room was still empty, so we stayed there and I got to see where my man was living for a year without us. I've got to say it was pretty dismal. The buildings all looked like they were the same from the Korean War, and there really isn't anything to do on base. I guess the good thing was the flight line was along the running path again, but my workout gear was dirty (and still is) so I couldn't go running. Mia and I walked along it, though, and stood at the end of the runway so we could watch the F-16's take off over our heads. It was so cute b/c Mia would get so excited everytime she saw a plane, and she would wave to them as they were taking off. We also got to watch Jay take off both days he had to fly and that was pretty cool. I've never watched him fly, and it was surreal knowing my husband was flying one of the jets flying over our heads. Mia now points at F-16's and yells, "Daddy!" I guess one good thing came out of Kunsan!

Tuesday afternoon, after 2 1/2 BORING days in Kunsan, Jay finished his last flight, and came home, changed clothes, and started loading up our 1994 Kia Sephia (a Kunsan special with rusted blue paint and leopard print car seat covers and new tires) with our copious amounts of luggage (the car was riding low after it was fully loaded) and we set off for the biggest adventure of all.... finding our way to Pusan, all by ourselves on the famed Korean highways!!! YEEEHAWWW!!! Stay tuned... more adventures to come!