Still Seoul Mates (11 years of marriage celebrated in Style!)

I am so proud to be married to my USN sailor. Living in China has made it difficult for Lee to maintain his active drilling reservist status, but through a lot of hard work, Lee was able to find a unit in Seoul, Korea to commute to monthly for reserve duty. This month, his reserve weekend just happened to fall on our anniversary weekend. Lee has been suggesting to me for months that I accompany him on a trip to Seoul, so this month gave me the perfect opportunity for a quick get away. The kids stayed home with Ying, our lovely housekeeper, and Lee and I hopped on a plane and zipped up and away for a quiet weekend.

 

At the airport in China, I couldn't find a Diet Coke in the vending machine, but did find a beer!

First, let me say that I stepped on post (it's actually an Army post) and felt like somehow I'd taken a 1.5 hour flight to America. I experienced reverse culture shock in all it's force as I walked into the Dragon Hill Lodge (a very nice mini resort just for service members) and everyone was so polite! No one pushed to get into the elevator, people apologized for crossing in front of you, even though they were a full 5 feet away, children said excuse me and best of all, no one stepped on my toes or elbowed me while waiting for our table at dinner!

Actually, really, best of all I could buy American products at the Exchange (PX). I felt a rush of euphoria as I combed the aisles searching for nothing in particular. It's amazing how finding something so basic, like a pack of sewing pins, can change your day. I had Taco Bell for lunch the first day, which really made me smile!

Seoul was freezing butt cold (yes, that is a technical term), hovering around 30 degrees Fahrenheit for our entire trip. I bought a pair of earmuffs, which I have never had the need for before. Here's my run down of lovely American delicacies consumed Friday, Saturday and Sunday:

Doughnuts... yummy... Taco Bell.... Outback Steakhouse...breakfast of chex mix, cheetos and diet coke... Navy Club for lunch....On The Border....doughnuts (again).... Taco Bell (again)... topped off with some crappy Korean run burger joint at the airport, which I ended up dumping all the contents into the trash can. So, needless to say, I gained 2 pounds in 3 days! Ouch! I'm still working it off!

This was at the crappy hamburger joint in the airport in Korea.

I enjoyed spending $250 US dollars at the Commissary on dried goods for the next 2 months. I usually hate grocery shopping, but can honestly say that shopping was a pleasure. I bought BRAS!!!! YEAH!!!! While shopping at the Exchange I paused, looked at Lee and said "Wow, it's so quiet in here!" I can't remember the last time I had a quiet shopping experience in China. Can I just say "Yeah for America style shopping!"? :)

So, I didn't do much sight seeing in Seoul, I didn't hit the pavement to learn about Korean history or culture and I didn't eat any Korean food. But, I did have a great time that weekend! Lee and I saw Avatar (my first movie in a theatre in 8 months) on the world's largest IMAX screen. Great Movie!

Another great example of Engrish at it's finest! This fine specimen was in the taxi.

So maybe on my next trip to Korea I will take some tours, see some culture, learn something new. But for this go round - my thanks to the service members at Yongsan Army Base for providing me with a little slice of America to satiate my need for a little bit of home. I think I can make it 5 more months 'til our next trip stateside!