December Begins!!!

Monday, December 2nd, work work work.  It was a pretty quiet day so we all wondered why we didn’t get the day off… I know we get the day off a lot, but we work a lot too!

16797 Steps (7.31 miles)

Tuesday, December 3rd, after work I ran to ipark mall so I could buy tickets for the new Hunger Games movie – unfortunately I was too early to buy movie tickets for Sunday… I was too excited!

10040 Steps (4.36 miles)

Wednesday, December 4th, work work work!  I spent most of the night dealing with drama revolved around who had the keys to the cabinets that had our tactical gear in it.

19626 Steps (8.54 miles)

Thursday, December 5th, we had tactical PRT in the morning with our IOTV (body armor stuff)  It was actually pretty fun especially when I scared the crap out of one of my soldiers by actually picking him up and carrying him instead of just dragging him like the rest of the females.  After work I went for a run to ipark mall again and actually bought the tickets this time!

22034 Steps (9.58 miles)

Friday, December 6th, I woke up realizing that running so much after doing tactical PRT with my IOTV was a very bad idea – my back was hurting pretty badly.  After work I went out to the Navy Club for drinks and then ended up out in Itaewon to hear one of my friends who plays in a cover band play.

19097 Steps (8.31 miles)

Saturday, December 7th, was a fairly relaxed day for me.  The Vice President came to post and I had volunteered to be a part of the group that played for him but my higher ups decided they wanted a real sax player rather than me.  So instead I went for a run and ended up running 15 miles.  That night I went with my friend Dan Cantu to his holiday party on post.   Dan didn’t want to go by himself and I happened to have a fancy dress.  I was a bit nervous at first since it was a bunch of officers that I didn’t know, but I ended up having a great time!  It was hysterical because my band’s jazz combo was playing at the party and I hadn’t told any of them I was going to be there.  It took them a while to figure out who I was – apparently I look very different in a dress than I do in uniform!  However, by the end of the evening I was in rough shape – running 15 miles and then standing around in heels was a bad idea for my feet!

34181 Steps (14.87 miles)

Sunday, December 8th, got up early to watch MSU beat OSU in big ten champs game!!!  I went with a group to watch it at the Navy Club (since they were going to be open in the morning and had tvs!)  I honestly didn’t think we were going to do so well… it was awesome!  Afterwards, I went with some friends to go see Hunger Games 2 in 4D which was a really cool experience!

6902 Steps (3.00 miles)

Monday December 9th, we did a Seoul Tower walk for morning, worked all day and then went to our chicken and beer for dinner for Alan’s going away party.

19377 Steps (8.43 miles)

Tuesday, December 10th, was a fairly tame day - MPT rehearsals and paperwork, then to add to the excitement, I went to the commissary after work.  Wild times had by all!

10411 Steps (4.53 miles)

Wednesday, December 11th, we had a MPT rehearsal in morning, then in the afternoon the Canadian Brass came to give us a master class for two of our brass quintets and the woodwind quintet.  It was quite an interesting experience!  For dinner that night, I made my blue cheese and onion sauce steak for dinner for Herold, Dan and Sam.

13203 Steps (5.74 miles)

Thursday, December 12th, I didn’t made it to PRT since my back was hurting fairly badly.  I ended up going to sick call where the doctor was worried about my back and put me on basically a dead man’s profile.  And they put at shot in my butt.  It made me unable to feel by body and very woozy.  Apparently people thought I was pretty funny for the rest of the day!

8638 Steps (3.76 miles)

Friday, December 13th, we had our Band Change of Command which was the climax for the day.  I was still pretty heavy drugged since they doctor had prescribed muscle relaxers for me.  Afterwards I went back to my BEQ and ended up cleaning pretty obsessively.  I was going to meet my friends at the Navy Club but it was closed so I ended up meeting up with a friend out in Itaewon.  The drugs started effecting me pretty badly – I don’t think that type of muscle relaxer was good for me unfortunately.  Luckily I have good friends who helped me out.

16814 Steps (7.31 miles)

Saturday, December 14th, I stopped taking the muscle relaxers and got the drugs cleaned out of my system.  I played at the first general’s Holiday Reception all afternoon.  It was interesting because I ran into some of the officers and their wives that I had met at the holiday party I went to with my friend.  I also got to eat a lot in between sets and it was a great spread!  They even had bacon chocolate cupcakes!  That night I went out with my friend Jake and a couple other friends – we went out to Hongdae to listen to a cover band.  One of my friends and I got into an argument about the best chicken and beer place so I had to take him to mine to try! 

12785 Steps (5.56 miles)

Sunday, December 15^th, was one of the best lazy days.  I slept in, watched movie, and read.  Couldn’t ask for anything better!

1160 Steps (0.50 miles)

Monday, December 16th, was our first day of caroling around post with my Woodwind Quintet.  We had to go to formation and got stuck in EO class first, but then went over to the Finance building to play for the money folks and then for DTS/G8.  The Colonel there coined us.  Then we went to the post office and got kicked out.  It was an interesting juxtaposition of things.  We also went to try to play at the Dragon Hill but they are busy with musicians.  We took lunch and then went to play at the ACS building for housing and transportation.  Afterwards we went to AFN where my buddy, Ed got us on the radio live to plug for ourselves and for all the other caroling groups.  It definitely helps to have connections!!!  It was fun getting to carol around post – I can’t tell you how many Koreans took pictures/video of us playing.  They really like music!

14719 Steps (6.40 miles)

Tuesday, December 17th, was our second day of caroling.  We started early at the Hospital – we played in the chow hall and then in front of the pharmacy.  Afterwards we went to another big building and played in multiple locations – PAO, IG, Chaplains, and Force Management.  We took a coffee break for those in my group who are having issues keeping up and then went and played at for the Staff Judge Advocate.  We went and played at the USO and then took lunch at the hospital Katusa snack bar.  After lunch we went to Protocol with a captain who thinks we are his personal woodwind quintet.  He opened the doors to his building so everyone could hear “his” music.  Then he asked if we had played over at 8^th Army headquarters – we said no, you had to have a security badge to get in.  He said he had one and escorted us over!  We played for a bit there and then decided that was a good way to end on a good note!  Afterwards, I worked on some paperwork and dealt with too much drama.

However, I officially am 6 months through my tour in Korea and only have 6 more months to go!!!

7835 Steps (3.41 miles)

Wednesday, December 18th, was the start of the half day schedule and subsequently was a very laid back day!  We went to the pool for PRT in the morning and then I did some paperwork in the morning and then practiced for a bit.  After lunch, I didn’t have to go back to work so I bummed around a bit, read, watched tv shows and pretended to be productive!

11316 Steps (4.92 miles)

Thanksgiving and Holiday Concert

Monday, November 25th, concert band, concert band, concert band!  It was an all day fest of rehearsals getting ready for the big holiday concert.

19023 Steps (8.27 miles)

Tuesday, November 26th, was more concert band rehearsals and meetings.  Plus Navy Club.

8413 Steps (3.66 miles)

Wednesday, November 27th, was the last day of my week!  We had concert band and other training and then after work I went over to Dan’s with Sam.  Sam made us a spaghetti squash spaghetti (which was really good!) and I made lots of pies for Thanksgiving!  1 Apple, 2 pecan and 4 pumpkin pies.

12887 Steps (5.60 miles)

Thursday, November 28th, I got up and ran in the morning with Sam and Dan (we had to earn all the food we were going to eat!)  We went over to another friend’s house (with all the pies!) where there was a ton of food and good times!  I was kind of out of it though since it was my first Thanksgiving without any family and I was pretty bummed out.  I went to another friends afterwards and we watched Grizwold’s Christmas Vacation.

19799 Steps (8.61 miles)

Friday, November 29th, I got up early and took a coffee to my friend, Ed, who was working the radio station special for Black Friday.  Apparently they do do Black Friday on post and it is a bit scary.  I listened to it at the radio station and then got to Skype to family!  Later in the day I went for a run and got lost (twice) and ran nearly 9 miles by accident.  Later I went to a Black Friday party hosted by one of the guitar players in my band and his wife.

29632 Steps (12.89 miles)

Saturday, November 30th, I was completely lazy all day long.  Which was perfect since I was all mopey from the holidays.

4165 Steps (1.81 miles)

Sunday, December 1st, was our Korean-American Friendship Holiday Concert extravaganza!!!  We got to work fairly early to have a quick rehearsal and then rolled out to the Seoul Arts Center (which is a phenomenal venue – it is called the Carnegie Hall of Korea.)  The dressing room had these great lounge chairs which we took full advantage of.  The sound check took forever so we were a bit rushed to change, but the concert went really well.  I even had a few friends come which was awesome J Afterwards we had to wait around for the dog and pony show with the General but oh well.  After we got back to post, I went out with Sam, Herold and Dan to this amazing burger place.  Seriously, it was amazing!!!  I ate way too much and it was worth it!

9858 Steps (4.29 miles)

Raking Leaves

Monday, November 18th, was the start of Fall Clean Ups on post – which is Area Beautification.  IE – I was out raking and bagging leaves.  It wasn’t bad though it was tedious.  It was also the first day of snow!

23074 Steps (10.03 miles)

Tuesday, November 19th, was a bit rough.  I was Duty NCO for the week and I had a huge issue with my CQ personnel which made my whole day interesting.  I ended up having to take a soldier over to behavior health to get checked up on.  It’s strange sometimes when I have to be an adult.

14894 Steps (6.48 miles)

Wednesday, November 20th, was more Fall Clean Ups and concert band rehearsals getting ready for our big concert!

21652 Steps (9.42 miles)

Thursday, November 21st, we were supposed to do Fall Clean Ups at our own BEQs but they didn’t give us any tools.  I told my SGM that if he could find my BEQ, I’d be impressed!  Needless to say, it was a bit of a slacker afternoon.  I did go get a Double Down from KFC which was a heart attack wrapped in chicken.

18111 Steps (7.88 miles)

Friday, November 22nd, I graded an APFT in the morning and then we had it fairly easy for the rest of the day.  I went to the Navy Club that night and met an interesting person though his friends were all dicks.  They managed to piss off everyone else in the bar.  One of my SFCs said that we all left because if we had stayed there would have been a fight – we definitely would have won but we would have all gotten in trouble!

15703 Steps (6.83 miles)

Saturday, November 23rd, I got up early and went to the “5K” Turkey Trot on post (it was more like 2.7 miles but who’s counting?)  That afternoon I went over to Herold’s apartment to make an apple pie while he made enchiladas.  Chuck and Sam came over and we ate, listened to music and played games.  It was a nice, relaxed evening.

24588 Steps (10.69 miles)

Sunday, November 24th, I got up and went to Southside Hash which was a nice run and then we all fancied ourselves up for a Hash wedding and Hash Thanksgiving.  It was nice getting together with so many crazy, wonderful people. Afterwards, I met up with a friend for dinner and to watch some movies.

28030 Steps (12.19 miles)

Back to the Grind...

Monday, November 11th, Happy Veteran's Day!  I managed to pull myself out of bed and go to the 5k run that was on post.  It wasn't a great run but I finished in just under 30 minutes.  And got the free T-shirt.  I didn't do much else productive that day except laundry and practicing and buying more drugs because my cold was back with a vengeance.  

16968 Steps (7.38 miles)

Tuesday, November 12th, first day back at work after leave always sucks.  Well, it wasn't terrible but I wasn't terribly excited to be there.  I mostly dragged butt all day.  After work I went to the Navy Club for the free hot dogs and cheap beer and then went to bed early.

10725 Steps (4.66 miles)

Wednesday, November 13th, we started the day with 1/2 mile sprints.  We also had concert band and we were given all the music for our holiday concert on December 1st.  I am worried about whether people will get everything learned in time - my parts aren't hard so I'm not so worried about me.

6933 Steps (3.02 miles)

Thursday, November 14th, was an interesting day.  We had tactical PRT in the morning which consisted of going to one of the soccer fields and doing Army circuit training.  It wasn't a bad way to do things and luckily wasn't that cold.  I didn't bothering showering after PRT since next up was Combatives training which was a lot of fun.  It was a very hooah type of morning.  For lunch, I showered and chomped down some food before going back to work for some WWQ rehearsal.  It was a very productive rehearsal which I was happy about.  Then I went to a BN schools meeting and then after a bit more paperwork, popped smoke for the day.   I met up the Sam and Dan and we went down to the river walk where the Seoul Lantern Festival was going on.  I was expecting there to be lights that were maybe strung across the river or floating down the river but there were these big paper sculptures lit up all down the river - all with some sort of historical or cultural significance.  It was pretty cool actually.  We had Italian for dinner afterwards and I made Sam take the head of my shrimp... it was staring at me in a really creepy manner!

21268 Steps (9.25 miles)

Friday, November 15th, was a responsible conduct holiday - ie, day off.    I slept in a bit do to the Nyquil, but was still up at a reasonable time so I could go into work and finish up some paperwork and get some practicing and reed work in.  I grabbed a late lunch of cup of noodle and did laundry before going out to the Navy Club for $1 beers.  I didn't stay very late and afterwards, went back to my BEQ, popped in a movie and went to bed.  I am rather exciting...

4441 Steps (1.93 miles)

Saturday, November 16th, was one of the most musically rewarding days I've had in a long time!  I woke up fairly early and got ready for the day.  I ran over to Starbucks for coffee (much needed) and then picked up my bassoon and went to the bus station here on post.  I met up with one of my percussionists and we hopped on the free bus to Uinongbu which is north of my normal location (basically up near the DMZ) where Camp Red Cloud is - also home of the 2nd ID band.  One of the guys up there wants to put in his conducting videos to be a band officer and he wanted to conduct Stravinsky's l'histoire du soldat (Soldier's Tale) which calls for Violin (covered by a 2ID trumpet player who is also a Violin player), Double Bass (bass guitar player from 2ID who use to be in 8A), trumpet, trombone, clarinet, percussion and bassoon.  Since I'm the only Army bassoonist on Penn, I got asked to participate.  The music is very hard - any free practice time I had for the last couple weeks was spent woodshedding my part.  I went north really nervous and feeling completely unprepared.  And I had a blast.  I didn't play things perfectly, but I was definitely not the weakest link and damn, we actually sounded good part of the time!  It has been a while since I felt like I truly accomplished something!  Afterwards, my percussionist buddy and I caught the free bus back to Yongsan.  I dropped off my instrument and met up with some friends who were out playing pool in Itaewon.  I had to walk back to post in the rain and almost had to break up a fight at the gate, but even that couldn't take away from me having a pretty terrific day.

9970 Steps (4.34 miles)

Sunday, November 17th, should have been a lazy day, but it ended up being more stressful than it needed to be.  I woke up and lazed about in bed watching the score updates for the Michigan State/Nebraska game (we won!) Then I had to deal with some CQ issues which meant I needed to shower quickly and head over to the band hall to give one of my soldiers a lunch break in the barracks with no power.  Then I went and saw Thor 2 with my buddy Carter.  Afterwards, I dealt with some more CQ issues, bought some coffee and then was lazy and did nothing but read (ok... Kate got me hooked on another book...)

9515 Steps (4.14 miles)

Germany!

Friday, November 1st, was the first day of my leave!  I got up really early, showered, signed out on leave and then left post.  The first taxi I got into, the driver had no idea what I was talking about when I said Seoul Station, but the second taxi did.  Once at Seoul Station, I got on the express train for the airport.  I got to the airport, got checked in, went through security and got some coffee.  My flight left at 10am for Paris!  I read the International Wall Street Journal and drank champagne for the first hour (yay free booze on international flights!)  I had one of those personal TV screens so I ended up watching a lot of movies - The Heat, Now You See Me, Iron Man 3 and Monsters University.  I read a little and tried to sleep but I was super excited and had a hard time sleeping.  There was also lots of food!  For lunch there was this strange thing on a spoon and I had wanted to beef option but they were out by the time they got to me so  I had the stuffed mushrooms.  There was a trio plate of desserts plus a plate of cheese.  The stewardess was appalled that I was drinking white wine with my cheese and brought me out red wine.   The second meal on the plane I had a shepherd's pie with lots of veggies on the side.  They also had lots of snacks throughout.  I got really tired about an hour before we were suppose to land... perfect timing, right?  We landed in Paris and I was corralled through customs (they stamped my passport and didn't ask any questions) and then I had a few hours before my next flight.  I wandered through the shops but plopped my backpack in one seat, sat down in the adjacent seat, and curled up over the two.  Luckily I set my alarm clock on my phone.  Unluckily, I was so tired I didn't hear it and apparently the French were blasted with music from Futurama for about 10 minutes before someone shook me awake.  I got on my next flight with no issues and slept the whole hour trip to Nuremberg.  Once landed, no one even checked my passport as I rolled through, grabbed my bag and met up with Matt!  He helped me haul my suitcase out to his car and we drove the 40ish minutes back to Hallstadt where he lives (just outside Bamberg).  He gave me the grand tour of his apartment including my own room with a fancy air mattress and 3 blankets (yes... I am spoiled).  He made sure to point out the strange shower that isn't completely enclosed but I had used a shower like that before (in Ireland) so it wasn't too confusing for me.  I pretty much collapsed after that and slept.

651 Steps (0.28 miles)

Saturday, November 2nd, was my first full day in Germany!  And I was sick L  I slept in (which was awesome!) and Matt made me breakfast and coffee (he learned how to make coffee… he is one of the few people in the army that doesn’t drink coffee!)  Matt went and showed me post and I got access to wifi so I could check my email and assure folks that I made it safely.  Afterwards, we decided to hike into Bamberg (about a 45 minute walk… in the rain!)  Bamberg is a really quaint little place – the town hall is built in the middle of the river.  Years ago when the peasants asked for a town hall, the lords of the land gave them the tiny slip of land.  The city builders built two bridges on the north and sound ends of the island and built a hall larger than the lords of Bamberg.  Because it sat lower than the churches, the lords couldn’t get the church to rally behind them to make the peasants take it down.  It’s funny because the town hall actually extends over the island and over the river… use what you get!  Matt took me to the restaurant for dinner where he went his first night in Germany and we had his first meal – the Lumberjack special!  It was a giant steak covered in fried onions with fried potatoes and covered with a fried egg.  With a giant dollop of horseradish on the side (not as strong as the horseradish from Hamtramack!)  We also had Rauchbier which is a smoked beer that tastes a lot like bacon!  In a good way!  After dinner we wandered around some more and had some more beer and then had Spaghetti ice cream – which is ice cream made to look like spaghetti… it was actually really cool!  We took a taxi back because I was exhausted!

12736 Steps (5.54 miles)

Sunday, November 3rd, was a lazy day for us!  (It’s vacation!  It’s allowed!)  I read most of the morning away and we watched the show Bullshit! With Penn & Teller.  (Hysterical if you haven’t gotten a chance to see it)  We also shared a sampling of beers).

1831 Steps (0.8 miles)

Monday, November 4th, we decided to tackle the sights in Bamberg!   We drove into town and parked in the parking structure that was the bomb shelter during WWII.  It was impressive!  They could fit the whole town down there and even had escape tunnels.  We went to the old archives/library first but they were closed L  Next we went to the Dom Cathedral which was the imperial cathedral of St. Peter and St. George – the first building was finished in 1012 and the current building was finished in 1237.  It was gorgeous and showed all the awesome old church things!  Including walking around on dead people.  Then we went to the Rose Garden which, even in winter, was very pretty.  Lots and lots of different variations of roses.  We then hiked over to St. Michael’s Monastery which was originally built in the 1000s and rebuilt in the 1600s.  Unfortunately it too was closed for construction but it was very impressive from the outside!  Then we walked through Burgerpark which was huge!  And every so often was a sculpture or statue.  And red squirrels.

That night was dress up night and I rocked out in my red dress.  It was fun with good food, wine and dancing!

18539 Steps (8.06 miles)

Tuesday, November 5th, we decided to go into Nuremberg.  We got up early and bought a ticket for the train, took the train from Hallstadt to Bamberg and then Bamberg to Nuremberg.  At the train station in Bamberg we picked up some pastries (and coffee for me!)  We wandered around Nuremberg for a bit (we were lost but Matt assured me we weren’t…)  We, of course, went to the library.  Yes, they use Dewey.  Then we went up to the Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle) which was one of the most important imperial castles for the Holy Roman Empire.  Apparently, I did not know much about the Holy Roman Empire!  There was a huge interactive history section where I learned a ton about the ins and outs of the Empire which was fascinating.  Plus – giant castle!  Afterwards, we were starving so we found a place for lunch.  We started with Glühwein which is a spiced hot wine which really warms your cockels.  Then we had beer and preztels and other German yummies.  We then wandered through Nuremberg just taking in the sights.  Around the base of one of the cathedrals was a whole group of people in Guy Fawkes masks who said they were a Occupy group.   We also went to the Lego store (which was awesome!)  They had a whole wall of organized by color pieces…  We then wandered outside the city walls to a movie theater called the Roxie which was showing Ender’s Game in English!  It was awesome to be able to see the movie so soon after it came out!  And in the correct language!  Afterwards, we caught the train back to Bamberg and then to Hallstadt. 

18045 Steps (7.85 miles)

Wednesday, November 6th, was another bum day which are important for vacations!  Lots more reading and tv show watching.  We went into Bamberg for dinner where I had some amazing schnitzel!  Then we went and sampled a bunch of the local beers (when in Germany!)  It was a great laid back day!

16857 Steps (7.33 miles)

Thursday, November 7th, we went back into Nuremberg via the train.  Our first stop of the day was to go to the Documentation Center Nazi and Nazi Party Rally Grounds.  It was incredibly interesting learning about the Nazis and WWII from the German point of view.  It was scary and terrifying  - they did so much with propaganda and it is amazing how history can repeat itself over and over.  Afterwards we went back into the city center and grabbed lunch (brats and sauerkraut and bread rolls!)  Then we went to the Febohaus City Museum which was in an old merchant’s house (Late Renaissance style) which went through hundreds of years of history as you went through the house.  Germans really do have their audio guides down to an art form.  For dinner we went to this amazing steak house and then caught the train back to Hallstadt.

12377 Steps (5.38 miles)

Friday, November 8th, was my last full day in Germany L  We got up in the morning and decided that even though it was raining, we were going for a run!  We ran out to the Seehof Palace and Park which was an old summer residence for the Bamberg prince bishops.  Matt swore that it was a 10k run to the place but it was maybe… maybe 4 miles.    I told him he needs to stop believing his soldiers when it comes to distances!   For dinner I just pointed at something on the menu and ended up with this awesome pork dish were they had fried the skin so it was like crackling and there were potato dumplings and a rich sauce.  I was basically in food heaven!

16887 Steps (7.34 miles)

Saturday, November 9^th/ Sunday, November 10th, I rolled out of bed, showered and made sure all my stuff was packed up.  We gathered my bags down to the car and then swung through a bakery to get some pastries and coffee to sustain us for the drive.  We got to the airport in really good time (actually, before the Air France counter was open) but I got all checked in.  It was sad to leave Matt, so I wandered through the airport a bit looking at all the wierd things to buy before settling down with my kindle to read.  My first flight was relatively uneventful, I read and napped.  I didn’t have a ton of time in Paris – enough time to check my email, use the facilities and walk leisurely to my next flight.  The long flight went ok – my tv moniter didn’t work so no staying up all night watching movies L  The steward was upset but I told him it was no big deal.  I read for a bit and napped.  The food was fun just like the first flight.  There was an appetizer of pineapple, spinach and foie gras (which I don’t think I had ever had before!)  For lunch I had a polenta with cheese and mushrooms.  For breakfast I had a fruit thingy which was sweet and sugary and woke me up!  I landed just fine in Seoul, customs still refused to stamp my passport, got my luggage and caught the subway back to post.  I was instantly hit with the horrible smell of Korea as soon as I got off the plane… ugh… Once on post, I went and signed in.  It was maybe 10am so I went to work and checked my email and then went to my hash running group (not to run, just to hang out so I could stay up long enough to reset my body’s clock)  We ended up getting pizza afterwards and I watched a New Zealander get into a fight with a Russian.  Korea is very strange sometimes…

2866 Steps (1.25 miles)

17874 Steps (7.77 miles)

Ending October

Monday, October 28th, was a pretty easy day for me since half the band wasn't at work since it was a Comp Day for them.  I was able to get some paperwork done and practice.  Scary but true.  It turned out to be a long day though since i had to help make sure all the gear and vehicles were ready for Tuesday.

6519 Steps (2.84 miles)

Tuesday, October 29th, I was suppose to go to the M16 range to qualify.  It turned out to be a total cluster... we were tagging along with another company.  We were late leaving (they had us cooling our heels for a long time waiting on the convoy) and then the convoy took off through a yellow light and left us behind.  Luckily, we knew roughly where we were going... well, we got their eventually after a Russian officer tried to trade us a map for one of our vehicles.  Then, once we got there, we sat around waiting... after a couple hours and they had only zeroed maybe 30 people of the 150 people there, they decided no more zeroing - we'll all just try to qualify.  We packed back up and headed back to post.  (After we took pics of the bus they had destroyed getting to the range... thank goodness that wasn't us!)  One the way back, we listened to AFN and got a shout out on the radio... I happen to know the radio DJ...  and luckily, all the folk in my vehicle spent our time laughing about the day rather than spending too much time bitching...

6698 Steps (2.91 miles)

Wednesday, October 30th,  work work work.  Normal day though I was pretty short with people because I was ready to be gone!  After work I went to get my nails done and I coughed pretty much the entire time and as soon as I left, my nails got smudged.  Ugh...

13821 Steps (6.01 miles)

Thursday, October 31st, was my last day of work before leave!  Happy Halloween!!  It went by in mostly a blur thank goodness though I got into a fight with one of my friends which put me in a sour mood.  There was also a rumor about a surprise EDRE in the wee early morning so I was thinking I had to stay up late to sign out on leave at midnight so I went out and listened to a cover band (which was pretty good actually) and got very little sleep.

14414 Steps (6.27 miles)

Core Dump!

Monday, October 14th, was another day off and it became my cooking day!  I put together Enchiladas and Shepard Pie in dishes that I froze and now can easily pull out for dinner later on.  I also went for a run - I was going to run Seoul Tower but instead ran the perimeter of post and saw lots of new stuff that's close by.

10938 Steps (4.76 miles)

Tuesday, October 15th, we had lots of computer/printer issues at work.  It could have been worse - BN had lost their internet so I hand carried lots of paperwork over to BN so that my soldier could leave for WLC the next day!  My WWQ also got together and had our first rehearsal in a bit - we are starting to think about our upcoming holiday concert and the caroling season.

12543 Steps (5.46 miles)

Wednesday, October 16th, was a pretty normal day.  My soldier left for WLC and I did paperwork.  Story of my life!

14022 Steps (6.10 miles)

Thursday, October 17th, was a long and stressful day.  I don't even know why it was so stressful but everyone was in a bad mood.  I went with a friend to go see a movie - we walked over to the Ipark movie theater and the only movie that was playing in our time range (and was in English) was Gravity.  It was a good movie - very poignant though it did make me dizzy.  I might have had more issues if we had seen it in 3D.  I definitely want to come back to this movie theater though to see the big blockbuster movies that are coming out soon - Hunger Games 2, Thor 2 and such...

20029 Steps (8.71 miles)

Friday, October 18th, was a Comp day for us (making up for the extra work we do...)  I got up and went for a run with my friend Alan and we ran/walked about 8 miles.  Afterwards I met up with two of my specialists and took them to get their CIF issue which is all their Army equipment and gear.  We had to inventory it all (and luckily I had just done this so I could help them because I knew what it all was!)  Then we went and laid out their equipment, painted and taped their bags and packed their "Go Bags".  We had heard rumors that an EDRE (Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise) was on the horizon so I invited all the new folk to the unit to come to our bag packing/painting party.  Quite a few showed up in order to get their gear in order.  Afterwards, I went to the Navy Club for my usual Friday night hangout.

27570 Steps (11.99 miles)

Saturday, October 19th, I rolled out of bed and went to my Hash.  It was a much longer run than normal... like 12 miles long!  We told the hares that if they had just done another 1.1 miles we could have called it a half marathon!  I was so sore and tired by the end!  Afterwards my friend Dom and I went to get pizza - we went to a place called Monster Pizza because I was told by some band folk that it was the best pizza around.  It was not.  It actually reminded me of Bells Pizza... only really good as drunk pizza food... it was super greasy!  Then we met up with some other runners to go to HBCfest which is a musical festival in HBC (right outside my gate) where all the local bars have a rotation of local bands play.  IT WAS CRAZY!  There were sooo many people that they were spilling into the streets though the local cops weren't too happy about that.  My group ended up holing up at the VFW since it was slightly quieter than everywhere else.  It was a fun night of dancing and listing to music!

27570 Steps (11.82 miles)

Sunday, October 20th, I got to sleep in a bit and then bummed around a bit.  At night they were running the Shadow Run of the Army Ten Miler - it started at the same time as the actual Ten Miler in DC.  We actually only ran a 10K (ie... the 5K route twice...)  There were about 30 folk who came out, though it was fun :-)  I ran with Alan the whole time and we finished a couple minutes less than an hour.

18358 Steps (7.98 miles)

Monday, October 21st, was rough getting up after such a late night, especially since I still had to go to PT.  We have a new PT schedule were it runs from 0630-0800 and our first formation is now at 0930.  And we no longer wear our reflective belts.  And they aren't closing the roads during PT hours anymore.  Our thoughts are that 8th Army heard that they needed to reduce their ranks by 10% and said "challenge accepted!"   In the morning we marched a honor guard ceremony and hat afternoon we went to the EST practice shooting M16s - the EST is like video game shooting.

7920 Steps (3.44 miles)

Tuesday, October 22nd, was another day of work work work.  I did have lunch with a friend at one of the KATUSA snack bars and he whipped out an ultrasound photo - his shock and awe!  He was so excited to be a dad though he isn't telling many folk until they are further along.

9679 Steps (4.21 miles)

Wednesday, October 23rd, started with a class on growing professionally and personally and the trainer had one of the KATUSAs stand up and talk about US misconceptions.  He said," I wear skinny jeans because they fit and I wear bright shirts (esp. pink ones) for fashion.  But I not gay."  It was fairly adorable.  At lunch I ran down to the TMC (Troop Medical Clinic) for my doctors appointment where, while I'm lying on the table the doctor asks me "Are you a nurse?"

Me: "No?"

Doctor: "No medical training?"

Me: "No??"

Doctor "Well, you definitely sound like you have!"

Me: "Ah... a lot of my family is in the medical profession."

Doctor: "Oh?  What happened to you?"

Me: "I went and got a frivolous arts degree instead"

Doctor: "Well, you can always go back and get a medical degree!"

I thought it was funny.  They shot my arm full of drugs and then I rushed back, changed into my dress uniform and marched another ceremony.

9279 Steps (4.04 miles)

Thursday, October 24th, was another fun day.  We did tactical PT for PT in the morning which consisted of us learning different buddy carrys.  I got a bit peeved because they segregated the females for training which is a huge EO violation.  Afterwards we had our EDRE where we had to bring all our equipment and "Go Bags" and lay them out to be inspected as if we were going to war.  It's amazing how much stuff you have to go to war with.  We also had a full unit weigh in which means I spent my lunch measuring people in between bites.  I had a heart to heart with my SGM at the end of the day about EO issues.

8058 Steps (3.50 miles)

Friday, October 25th, was thankfully a Comp Day.  I slept in a bit and didn't get up to run because my body really needed the rest.  I skyped with some family in the morning and did a fashion show for my mom over skype.  I did eventually drag myself into work to get some paperwork done (I will never catch up on all the paperwork...)  I met up with Sam there and we did fashion show part 2 and then bummed around the PX before going to happy hour at the Navy Club.  I walked in and an officer shouts out "Captain America!"  I did an embarrassed wave and trudged through as the rest of the guys in the room wanted to know why he was calling me that...  Afterwards, I went back to my BEQ and popped in a movie for a bit.  Some friends called and were feeling down so I trudged out to go play pool with them - playing pool against me always makes people feel better!

10940 Steps (4.76 miles)

Saturday, October 26th, I woke up and met up with fellow hashers right outside the gate and we traveled together to our start point.  The hash run today was a good one because the pack stayed together pretty much the whole time and it was only about 4 miles.  Afterwards we trekked back to post.  I bummed around for a bit and then met up with some friends to go to a Halloween party.  I went as a Librarian (I know... so original... but I do have the clothes for it!)  There was a guy in a giant bear suit and he got hounded by the Koreans no matter where we went.... it was hysterical!  A couple of the guys took turns wearing the suit because they all needed breaks from having their pictures taken all the time!  There was another guy who was dressed as Quail Man and we were polling the folks who recognized him to see what the age spread was... not very big at all actually.  It was a really fun night :-)

15014 Steps (6.53 miles)

Sunday, October 27th, I woke up not feeling all that well.  My cold progressed to more than just a little cough, but to full blown cough with crap in my lungs and dizzyness :-(  I slept in for a bit but then had to go to work.  I did get to have a fairly awesome brunch with a friend though, but then more work.   I ran into my PLT Leader at work and he told me that I wasn't allowed to come to PT in the morning with that nasty of a cough and texted my soldiers to tell them I wouldn't be there...  I doused myself with Nyquil and went to bed early.

Turkey Necks and Sloppy Joes

Sunday, October 6th, I got up fairly early so I could start my crockpot ribs!  I got to smell the ribs all morning and I only missed getting to smell them when I went out for a Hash with Southside.  The ribs were fantastic by the time I got back :-)  Not a horrible way to spend a Sunday!

15274 Steps (6.64 miles)


Monday, October 7th, we didn't have PT in the morning because we had a sequence rehearsal for the CSM change of responsibility which can be worse than a change of command because CSMs never know how to shut up :-P  One of the CSMs had some pretty fantastic one liners including "you can tell by my turkey neck and sagging belly."

5274 Steps (2.29 miles)


Tuesday, October 8th, was a fairly normal day though the top ranks of the band were out at the M9 range.  We worked, there was drama due to the government shut down.  Fairly normal stuff at this point.

9687 Steps (4.21 miles)


Wednesday, October 9th, we did half mile sprints for PT and then had a fairly normal day.  We were suppose to have concert band in the morning, meetings and paperwork in the afternoon.

6301 Steps (2.74 miles)


Thursday, October 10th, was a long day.  We did buddy exercises in the morning for PT.  We had a sequence rehearsal in the morning and then classes (which were frustrating as hell).  Then we had a Honor Guard Ceremony in which I marched.  It was frustrating and long and hot.  Afterwards, I stayed late working on paperwork for training and for my squad.  I treated myself to a milkshake from Once Upon a Milkshake.

14169 Steps (6.16 miles)

Friday, October 11th, was the start of my four day weekend for Columbus Day. I slept in a bit and then met up with Sam for a day of shopping.  We went over to Garden5 (where we had the joint concert last week).  We got these really strange corn shaped, bread with cream in the middle things at the subway which were fantastic.  Then we had fun, spicy hotdogs.  When we left, we had small cakes (that I had eyed last week!)   We shopped the hell out of the food, can't say we did much actual shopping though!  We've decided we are both good window shoppers but are horrible at committing to an actual purchase!  We headed back to post and ran into a couple other band guys in Itaewon so we had coffee with them and then showed them some of the funny things we found at the Hamiliton Shopping Center.  We also found the Korean version of a Claires which was lots of fun.  We headed back on post and went to the Navy Club since it was $1 beer night!  I ended up meeting up with a bunch of people and it was pretty hysterical.  One of the guys had a bit too much to drink so I walked him home and then had movie night with another friend (we watched Airplane which I hadn't seen in forever!)

15683 Steps (6.82 miles)

Saturday, October 12th, I rolled out of bed to go run the Columbus Day 5K fun run on post.  A couple of other band folk and Carter also ran which was nice!  I ran with Herold for a bit but he took off on me, but I still ended in around 27:00.  Afterwards we got Jamba Juice!  I showered and relaxed for a bit before meeting up with Sam and we went and got our nails done - Mani and Pedi.  I think I terrified the Korean lady with the amount of calluses on my feet.  Then we went and got her watch battery replaced and shopping around a bit on post.  We decided to go out to Itaewon to go have dinner at the Rose and Crown and didn't realize that the Itaewon Global Festival was going on.  They had shut down the street and lined it with tents - Sam and I decided to walk down the middle which was crazy crowded.  I led the way, since I am the giantess, and helped break our way through the crowds.  There were tents with all sorts of world arts and music, but predominately the tents were filled with different types of ethnic foods.  And it was an odd assortment of countries - USA, France, Germany, Kenya, Uzbekistan... very random.  The US tents had boiled crab, hot dogs and sloppy joes.  I was really excited at the Ecuador tent which had horchata!  I had us stop and buy some - it wasn't as good as the horchata from my Taco Stand in Fernley, but it still tasted like being back in NV.  We decided it wasn't worth trying to fight for food so we went with the first plan and got a table at the Rose and Crown.  I had Young's Double Chocolate Stout (which was fantastic!) and Sam had an Irish Cream Ale.  We both had a salad (because the dressing is soo good and I am trying to figure out what its made of!) and then we split the Fish and Chips and the Shepards Pie.  After dinner, we trotted down to the Bampo bridge to watch the water and lights show.  Afterwards, we came back to my place to watch Pitch Perfect.  Sam stayed the night since it was late by the time we were done with the movie, plus the festival was creating so much noise that Sam wouldn't have been able to sleep at her place anyway.

34454 Steps (14.98 miles)

Sunday, October 13th, was an extremely lazy day for me.  I rolled out of bed fairly late, went and grabbed some coffee and then got pulled into a book and couldn't stop until I finished it.  I finished the third book of the Hunger Games Trilogy, Mockingjay and it left me in quite a funk.  The trilogy really makes you think about what we as a species are capable of and what could possibly happen.  I walked down to the commissary to stock up on food and made beef stroganoff for dinner (though it wasn't nearly as good as Moms!)  I got to skype with a friend and then watched some tv online before deciding I should call it a night.

7012 Steps (3.05 miles)

Ceremonies and ceremonies...

Tuesday, October 1st, was a fairly normal dayish... we had dress rehearals for the upcoming USFK Change of Command... our 4 Star General was going to change out and so its going to be a big deal with a lot of brass... Afterwards we had more concert band rehearsal for our upcoming rescheduled joint concert.

11138 Steps (4.84 miles)

Wednesday, October 2nd, was Change of Command Day!  It was a nice late start for us followed by the SGM lining us all up and inspecting our uniforms with a ruler and a fine toothed comb.  We rolled out for the ceremony... which was incredibly long!  There were 5 speeches - some Korean guy, the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dempsey, the outgoing Commander, General Thurman, and the incoming, General (I'm not even going to try to spell his name at this point).  It almost turned into 10 speeches, but someone got wise and did simultaneous translations (thank goodness!!!)  That was a long freaking time to be standing out in the sun unable to move.  Luckily, no one passed out on the field.d  After work, I dragged Carter (who is newly promoted to SSG!) out to Craftworks to have a beer and a burger to celebrate his promotion and tease him that his promotion was the reason the government got shut down... it follows, right?

7396 Steps (3.21 miles)

Thursday, October 3rd, was our big makeup concert day with the Korean Special Warfare Command Band.  Because of the government shutdown technically all concerts should have been cancelled... our first instinct was to just not answer our phones and check our emails... but we did go get permission from the 8A chief of staff in order to still do our concert.   However, we were waiting anxiously for the phone call last minute saying get back on the bus and come back...It was a late start for us, though I rolled in early so that I could get some counselings and other paperwork done.  We loaded up the bus and rolled out to Garden5 in Songpa which is this huge shopping center with an open plaza in the middle (where we were going to play).  We then had a joint sound check/rehearsal/basically a first practice concert for a couple hours.  Then we got fed Bulgogi, were allowed to wander around for a bit (I've decided I'm going to go back... fun shopping experience place!), then we changed in these tents they set up in the  basement of one of the buildings and then we performed our concert!  We had an MC for the concert who spoke all in Korean and apparently she was a very famous Korean comedian.  I didn't understand anything that was going on except I think she was trying to auction off some of the Korean saxaphonists to some of the women in the audience.  She also called our commander "Chef Deeeeeeelaney!"  The bari sax player who was sitting next to me translated a bit of what she was saying... mostly that she asked our Katusa (who had sang one of the songs for the concert) to come back on stage and show us his dance moves.  After he did this, she said "you are obviously a virgin."  Then he ran off the stage... it was an odd concert.

10538 Steps (4.58 miles)

Friday, October 4nd, started off with more dress rehearsals/dry runs for a change of command, though this time its for a CSM Change of responsibility next week (which might be even longer since NCOs really like to talk...)  After a couple run throughs, I ran over to turn in this weeks CFC stuff, grabbed lunch with a friend, and then slaved away the afternoon with the training shop getting caught up on DTMS stuff and the slides for BN.  Then I went to happy hour at the Navy Club (still loving the $1!) This time, our bar had been overrun by Air Force Officers and their scary looking wives!  I had dinner with some friends (Italian of all things... it was pretty good!) and didn't stay out too late since it had been such a long week!

13296 Steps (5.78 miles)

Saturday, October 5th, I met up with a group of friends to go hiking in Bukhansan National Park where we climbed Baekundae Peak (about 830 meters).  It was a cool climb with a bunch of parts where you were scrambling hand and foot up rocks.  I was amazed how busy it was... you really are never alone in Korea!  Apparently, when you get old in Korea, you hike up and down Korean mountains with as much fancy hiking gear as you can carry.  I just had on my running shoes and if I'm going to be scrambling over rocks like that, I will need to invest in some shoes that can grip because I slipped a bunch and landed on my butt only a few times!  The view from the top was absolutely amazing though!  After we climbed back down, we went out for Chicken and Beer since some of the guys we were with had never been to our Chicken and Beer place in Hongdae (which is the best Chicken and Beer place that I've been to!)  I called it an early night because I was exhausted after such a long day!

22833 Steps (9.93 miles)

 

Catch up!

Monday, September 16th, work work work.  I do that, you know!

10084 Steps (4.39 miles)

Tuesday, September 17th, we had our first rehearsal with the Korean National Military Symphony.  For the joint portion, I am one of 4 bassoons!  It is crazy!  I haven’t played with that many bassoonists in years!

8999 Steps (3.91 miles)

Wednesday, September 18th, was the last day of my week and the first day of Chusok!  (Big Korean Thanksgiving/family reunion rolled into one)

6840 Steps (2.97 miles)

Thursday, September 19th, was a responsible conduct day for the band so I slept in but still got up and put my uniform on so I could go to a schools meeting at battalion.  I ran into Carter there and he gave me shit about coming into work on my day off.  My friend Dom and I got to talking and he is a member of the Hash running group.  He said that tonight was the start of the Korea Hashathon and that I should tag along.  I said, sure!  I’m game for running groups!  The group is a very random one – a mix of soldiers, expats, English teachers and god knows who else!  For a hash run, there is someone who is the hare and they lay a trail (with chalk or whatever) and the runners have to follow the trail though the hare can lay false trails and double back and make it quite difficult to follow.  The hash can be anywhere from a mile or two to 10 miles!  At the end, there is a little party with singing and shenanigans (there was even a guy who played bagpipes at the end!).  Overall, I had a fantastic time!  It was really nice to meet non-army-band folk.  Normally, there are a couple groups in Seoul that Hash on the weekends, but because it was Hashathon there were going to be 14 hashes over the next 11 days! 

14491 Steps (6.30 miles)

Friday, September 20th, I decided to go back for Hash run #2.  This Hash happened to be Uijeongbu which is up North near the DMZ.  I traveled with a group via rail to get there.  This Hash was mostly through the woods and up and down a crazy mountain and I think they said it was about an 11k?   Anyway, it was a lot of fun!

20930 Steps (9.10 steps)

Saturday, September 21st, I got convinced to do more Hash runs!  I truly had meant to be productive over the weekend, but running sounded a lot more fun.  I went to one Hash in the morning and then one in the afternoon.  By the end, I was beat!

28507 Steps (12.40 miles)

Sunday, September 22nd, was a thankfully relaxing day!  No running for me since I had an APFT the next morning.  I was supposed to meet up with a friend for dinner, but he accidently fell asleep and slept through our dinner plans (a fact I get to make fun of him for for a long time!)

11014 Steps (4.79 miles)

Monday, September 23rd, I woke up feeling terrible.  I hadn’t slept well and I was pretty sick to my stomach.  But I toughed it out and went to my APFT and managed to pass with a 250.  I was pretty rough feeling the rest of the day though.

13568 Steps (5.9 miles)

Tuesday, September 24th, was a normal morning but then we had a joint rehearsal with the Korean National Military Symphony which was fun.  What was really funny is that we had a break in the late afternoon and the Koreans got us snacks for the break.  Snacks were Burger King whoppers and fries.  It was pretty hysterical actually if you think about that that must be what Koreans think us Americans eat for our snacks. 

8979 Steps (3.91 miles)

Wednesday, September 25th, I helped run an STX in the morning for the new people in my band.  I taught the courses on Individual Movement Techniques and Moving Under Fire – I actually had a lot of fun teaching and then watching my troops run around with the gas masks and dummy weapons.

21474 Steps (9.34 miles)

Thursday, September 26th, was another joint rehearsal day however this time it was all day long.  We were playing in a different auditorium and went through the whole concert – their portion, our portion and then the joint portion.  While I was waiting and not playing, I managed to make a pretty phenomenal reed (if I do say so myself!) just in time for the big concert!

12755 Steps (5.55 miles)

Friday, September 27th, was our big concert day!  I didn’t have to report to work until 11:30, but I got up earlier so I could go in and check my email and take care of paperwork (and get a starbucks, of course!)  We loaded up and traveled out to KBS hall.  We had a sound check with all the different groups and then we literally ran through the whole concert since they were going to do a live broadcast on the Korean TV and they needed to know who to zoom in on and such.  Then there was dinner (I think there was a fish head in the soup…) and then one of my soldiers was going to be interviewed by AFN since this was her first concert in Korea (and actually in the Army since she was a new soldier)  I got interviewed too about her since I am her first line leader.  Then the concert!  I think it went really well… I was happy with how we sounded J  It was huge production and a lot of work but the audience seemed to really enjoy it!  After the concert, we packed up, and I was back on post and in bed around 23:30.

8155 Steps (3.55 miles)

Saturday, September 28th, I rolled out of bed a little after 6am in order to make it the bus that was leaving at 7am for the Comrade Marathon for the 60^th Anniversary of the ROK-US Alliance.  There were a few other band folk running – one running the 5K, two running the 10K and then myself and one other running the half marathon.  We got there, got our bibs and t-shirts, got our bags checked, and did all the other regular runner stuff.  Our new vocalist was the person singing the US anthem which was cool to see!  Then, before the run, we were lead in warm up excises by a KPop group.  One of the more hysterical things I’ve seen in a while.  When the race started, I started to hang with the 2:00 pace group, but then I got ahead of them… and before I knew it I was doing 8:30 splits for the first 9 miles!  I paid for it the rest of the race though!  I ended with a 2:09 final time which was a PR for me (by best half marathon before was a 2:13 back in 2010)  After a half marathon, you usually expect a bagel or a muffin or a banana… not in Korea! They gave me a lunch plate with rice, some really strange fish soup, kimchi and a random assortment of unidentified substances.  I nearly puked…  Afterwards, I took the subway back and hobbled back to my BEQ.  I showered and then collapsed in bed with a movie which I half watched and half napped.  Later, I met up with some friends for some pizza and beer (which is always the appropriate night after a half marathon!)

24898 Steps (10.83 miles)

Sunday, September 29th, I woke up incredibly sore!  My IT band in my right leg is mostly on fire – that’s what I get for not training correctly and starting off waaaay too fast.  Anyway, I was a bit of a bum for most of the morning – though I did get up for my book talk chat and then skyped with my mom.  In the afternoon I went to the final hash run of the Hashathon which was a short hash and then a beer mile.  I took 4^th place for the females which I figured wasn’t bad considering I was hobbling after the half marathon.  Afterwards, some friends and I went to a restaurant in HBC and I had spinach mozzarella ravioli. Mmmm!  Then skyping with friends and bed!

7117 Steps (3.1 miles)

Monday, September 30th, I didn't have PT in the morning since my woodwind quintet was supposed to play a change of command in the morning.  We got up and rehearsed early but then our mission got cancelled and instead had to go to drill band all morning... yay... For lunch we had a Hail and Farewell with pizza.  After work, I went to get my hair trimmed since I hadn’t had it cut since before I went active duty (months!!).  Apparently I just want a trim with a few layers does not translate well in Korean.  The guy took a lot of my hair off and I am pretty bummed out.

10848 Steps (4.72 miles)

Tokyo!

Friday, September 6th, started off bright and early with a 4 mile ruck march!  My platoon had one of our shorter guys in front but let me tell you, he could haul ass!!!  I had to run a few times just to keep up!  After I changed and such, I went into work to get some paperwork and counselings done.  Then I went, signed out at BN, went back to my BEQ, changed, packed and headed for the airport.  I got a bit lost but managed to find the express train to the airport.  At the airport I had a bit more drama since my ticket was from United but I was flying Asiana who apparently hadn't gotten the memo.  I ran back and forth between the United and Asiana counters but eventually I got my ticket and made it through security.  Immigration was also fun since I didn't have a stamp in my passport entering the country (I hadn't used my passport to come in since the military brought me in) so there was a bit of a hullabaloo about that.   Eventually I got through to the gate, scrounged up some food and read a bunch until my flight took off (it was running late).  On the plane they fed me a huge meal as well and I had a personnel TV to watch movies.  Not a bad way to fly!  Once in Japan, I made it through customs and easily followed James' instructions to take a bus to the hotel.  Unfortunately the bus didn't leave for another hour so I bummed around the airport, looking at the sights.   On the bus, I sat next to an Italian who was a system administrator as well as a drummer.  Fairly interesting man and we had a good time chatting for the 1.5 hour trip into the city.  At the hotel (which was very swanky!) I wandered between the two lobbies while I waited for James to get back from his work dinner.  The inside of the hotel resembled Rodeo drive so it was no trouble keeping myself entertained while I waited though since I didn't have a working cell phone or access to internet I hoped I was in the correct hotel!  I did get to see some drama of all these men carrying out a screaming old lady though since it was all in Japanese I have no idea what was actually going on.  When James got back from his dinner, we checked into the hotel, stumbled upstairs, chatted for a bit and went to bed - I was exhausted!  It had been a very long day!

13130 Steps (5.71 miles)

Saturday, September 7th, James and I woke up fairly early, chatted for a bit before going out to tackle breakfast. We decided the hotel breakfast was too expensive so we decided to go out and find breakfast on the town. We stumbled upon a coffee shop and through pointing and smiling alot, we got coffee (cocoa for James) and pastries! It was delicious and of course we talked each others ears off! Then we walked down to the Imperial Palace. There seemed to be a race or something running related going on since there were a ton of runners on the sidewalks though James and I couldn't figure out what distance of race they were doing. That Palace itself was really cool looking even though you couldn't actually go into the Palace but you were allowed to wander around some of the gardens - which we did. It was gorgeous! Afterwards, we met up with James' boss, Randy, and two other guys from the conference they were all attending, Mark and Peter. We all went to the Tokyo National Museum which was incredibly fascinating! We had an English speaking tour guide show us around (the 5 of us plus a really strange Russian kid who tagged along) - the highlights were learning about Shintoism and learning that the Canadian representative was so nervous he signed on the wrong line when the Japanese surrendered after WWII. Afterwards, the group of us went to a Japanese place to eat - I had noodles and whale bacon. It was strange but definitely an experience. After that we wandered a bit through the subways and I got to people watch! We had a beer at a random pub and then James wanted us to go to this one meat place for dinner that he really liked but it turns out it had closed over a year ago, so we asked for suggestions and ended up at this amazing dinner place! It was a fantastic meal and each course just got better and better! I had a lot of fun since I the lone girl in a group of nerdy guys and it was interesting to hear their perspective on things. Hopefully I didn't bore/horrify them with my perspective!

25751 Steps (11.2 miles)

Sunday, September 8th, James and I got up relatively early and got breakfast at our coffee shop again. Then we headed to the north part of the city to see a Buddhist Temple. You can get your fortune by shaking this metal canister until a stick pops out. Then you match the writing on the stick with a drawer and pull out your fortune. My first fortune was a Bad Fortune - so what you do is fold it up and tie it onto these rods where the monks take them to burn them. Then I went through the different purifying rituals - drinking from the well and washing my hands, breathing in the incense, and bowing and clapping in front of the temple. Afterwards I went back and did my fortune again - this time it was The Highest, Excellent Fortune. Apparently, it worked!  After the temple, we went back south to the Shibuya Crossing which is apparently the busiest crosswalk in the world.  Mulitple roads meet together and they stop all the cars and everyone crosses the street at once.  It was fairly epic.  We got a coffee at starbucks which was on a second story floor and watched the street - it was like watching a really horrifying battle surge except with no weapons.  Then we hustled down to the Shinto Shrine and waked around there for a bit.  Then I was anxious about missing my flight so we went back to the hotel and I took the bus back to the airport.  James told me that Tokyo airport was super easy and fast and he was right!  From when I stepped inside to when I had my ticket, got through security and Immigration and got to my gate it was maybe 10 minutes.  It was a short flight back to Seoul, I took the subway back and was on post by 11pm.  It was a fantastic weekend and I am bummed that it flew by so fast!

16317 Steps (7.09 miles)

Monday, September 9th, it was back to the daily grind for me.  I started the day with a Seoul Tower hike for PT.  After formation, I headed into my eye doctors appointment where they got me fitted for new glasses and gave me a new contacts prescription.  More work and other such stuff.

17704 Steps (7.7 miles)

Tuesday, September 10th, was suppose to be a quiet day for me - I started the day with deck of cards PT, and then was going to do paperwork... but then apparently I was the only one available to go the Battalion training meeting so I was the little SSG at the big table with the Colonels, Majors and Captains. Luckily my friend Carter and Arnone were hiding in the back at the meeting and made faces at me the whole time as I was briefing the Battalion Commander. That afternoon my household goods arrived - finally! I finally have more than the 3 shirts I brought with me (well, plus the couple that I've picked up of been sent)!!! Wahoo!!!


14601 Steps (6.35 miles)

Wednesday, September 11th - it's hard to believe that it's been 12 years. This song will always remind me of that day:

10402 Steps (4.52 miles)

Thursday, September 12th, started off with getting our butts kicked with circuit training.  Then it was an easy morning, followed by a quick lunch and then we got on the bus, drove an hour to our joint rehearsal with the Korean Special Warfare Command Band (think - the Korean version of the 82nd Airborne Band, fairly awesome!)  The rehearsal lasted a couple hours and it was fun to be in a bilingual rehearsal, though I wanted to wallop the American tuba player behind me for his rude comments throughout rehearsal.  After the rehearsal and photo op, we loaded up the bus and had Korean hamburgers (which didn't taste anything like a hamburger) and drove back to base (which now took a few hours since we had to fight traffic).  I was suppose to go to a dress fitting when I got back but we got back super late and they were already closed, so Samantha and I went to have this amazing milkshakes from Once Upon a Milkshake... I had a chocolate/salted caramel mix!

8851 Steps (3.85 miles)

Friday, September 13th, was a late start day since we were suppose to have a gig that night.  Because I had missed my dress fitting I braved the torrential rainstorms to go get felt up by a small Korean lady.  I'm really excited how the dress is looking so far... can't wait to see the final product!  Afterwards I changed into my appropriate civilian attire (ie - I looked like a librarian) and headed into work.  We milled around for a bit but they made the call that the concert was cancelled since people didn't want to get rained on to see a concert (it was suppose to be outdoors)  However, they already rescheduled the concert for next month.  I ran over to the CFC pick up to get the stuff and then went and got my flu "shot" - it was really the flu mist which ran down the back of the throat.  Not Aunt Mary-Kate's brand though - I checked!  Afterwards we went to the Navy Club for $1 beers and sweet potato fries.  It was more crowded than normal since someone was having a party so I got to hear some very young guys chatting... they had to be privates or 1LTs.  The highlights of the conversation were "I just want my daiquiri!"  and "can I pay using my T-money card?"  Then I went with a group to the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (I wasn't going to go but I got bullied into going... apparently I am allowed to only read soo much before I'm considered anti-social)  They played:

Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis
Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini
Bernstein - Candide Overture
Barber - Adagio for Strings
Gershwin - An American in Paris

18559 Steps (8.07 miles)

Saturday, September 14th, I rolled out of bed early and trotted down to the other side of post.  There was suppose to be a 5K race on post combined with the CFC kickoff party but the race got cancelled due to safety issues (apparently the post commander gets worried if we are running in a thunderstorm).  I stayed for the CFC kickoff party which they had in the gym and then walked back in the rain.  I was going to be productive... that truly was the plan... instead, I watched a couple movies and then took a nap.  After I lazed about all day, I met up with some friends at the Dragon to eat German food (I had chicken, brats, potato salad - not as good as moms! - and sauerkraut.  And a beer and German chocolate cake!  Afterwards, we wandered down to the Church Bar and I played Darts - and surprisingly won!  Mostly everyone was bad and I just was the least bad!  We went to Bulldogs next where they were playing 80s music videos the whole time.  I made sure we all got back on post before curfew and then called it a night.

9720 Steps (4.23 miles)

Sunday, September 15th, I got up and did the breakfast thing.  I got to talk to my mom and grandparents on skype before heading to the commissary to stock up for the upcoming long weekend.  Afterwards I went to the band hall and worked on reeds for a while - still don't have any good reeds but I did try...  Got to spend the afternoon/evening chatting on skype before getting sucked into a book and losing track of time and therefore getting to bed super late!

11478 Steps (4.99 miles)

Ahead of the game!

To finish off Tuesday, September 3rd, by going with a group to our Chicken and Beer place in Hongdae.  I ate way too much but it was a nice finale to the weekend.

16523 steps (7.19 miles)

Wednesday, September 4th, it was back to work which was a bit of a bummer after such a nice long weekend.  We did extended sprints for PT.  The morning was getting training stuff together and then the afternoon was filled with rehearsal for our upcoming concert with the Korean Special Warfare Command Band.  Their director came to rehearse with us.  The highlight - a new Korean version of Fly Me to the Moon that starts with solo jazz bassoon.  That's right... it surprised the heck out of me! 

5895 steps (2.56 miles)

Thursday, September 5th, started with way too many push-ups.  Then I went to CFC training since I was voluntold to be the CFC rep for my unit (with my commander since he's our only officer).  CFC is Combined Federal Campaign which is giving soldiers the opportunity to give to a huge variety of charities and organizations.  There is a huge drive from mid September to mid November and I'm my unit's liaison and subject matter expert now.  I nearly worked through lunch getting all my paperwork done, which paid off.  My contact at BN said I was the best out of all the units to work with! :-D  After work, I changed clothes quickly and trotted down to Itaewon for my first dress fitting.  A little Korean lady felt me up while I wore a mock up of what my dress is going to look like - it was an interesting experience.  

11671 steps (5.08 miles)

It's here!

Monday, August 26th, I was back to work.  For PT we went down to Camp Coiner and did a 2 mile for time.  Work was a fairly normal day and I took Aubrey to a KATUSA snack bar for lunch.  After work, we grabbed a quick dinner and then did the hike to Seoul Tower.  We managed to make it to the top right at sunset.  It was gorgeous!

25749 steps (11.20 miles)

Tuesday, August 27th, we hiked to Seoul Tower for PT and I did pretty well seeing as it was my second time in less than 24 hours!  I did paperwork in the morning and then we had staff call in the afternoon.  After work, most people bailed but Carter, Aubrey and I went to see a baseball game.  I managed to get us there, get us tickets and get us fed!  I am getting much better at figuring my way around!

26222 steps 11.40 miles)

Wednesday, August 28th, we did deck PT in the morning and we had a rehearsal for the following day's mission so I was playing tenor sax.  I don't think our chief likes saxes because he kept giving our section weird looks and it wasn't always directed at me!  I spent the rest of the day practicing tenor sax and doing paperwork.  After work, I met up with Aubrey and we went and grabbed dinner at Vatos Tacos - he had a beer (still no beer for me) and we had Kimchee carnitas fries, tacos and nutella nachos.  Delicious!  We wandered down to a convience store but called it an early night.

16772 steps (7.29 miles)

Thursday, August 29th, I got up early so I could go let Aubrey off post so he could get to the airport.  It was sad to see him go!  Then I had to rush back to the band hall, change into my ASUs and get ready for the gig.  We gathered our gear and got on the bus.  I sat with Samantha and mostly zoned out for the couple hour bus ride up to Warrior Base.  It was raining fairly steady all the way.  Once we got there, they decided the woodwinds shouldn't go outside so we chilled on the bus while the bass went out and did fanfares for General Pak.  General Pak is of the 4 star variety on the Korean side.  He is the guy who held the allied forces together when we were pushed back all the way to Busan before MacArther did his famous act on Incheon.  Anyway, General Pak apparently likes us bands.  Afterwards it was a long bus ride back down to Yongsan (including the bus getting lost).  After a quick lunch, I went back to paperwork, which will be the death of me.  That evening they lifted General Order #1 for us, but I didn't drink like I think most people did!

5708 steps (2.48 miles)

Friday, August 30th, was thankfully a fairly short day.  Did sprints in the morning for PT, then did paperwork.  We had a Hail and Farewell at the Oasis for lunch (only could have the buffet... bleh) and then I had everything done so I was let loose.  I read for a bit and then met up with a few friends at the Navy Club for happy hour.   Happy Hour consists of $1 drafts and free food (chips and salsa and meat loaf this time)  When I left I had had dinner and a good time for a grand total of $3.  You really can't beat that!  I then read the night away.  What I great way to start my 4 day weekend!  My new computer also showed up and I spent some time starting to get it set up!  It is delightful to have a computer that doesn't have a huge crack through the screen.  And is fast!  And super quiet!

11688 steps (5.08 miles)

Saturday, August 31st, was delightful in its laziness!  I was going to get up and go running, but instead I watched football scores and read.  Other than going to go see Immortal Instruments: City of Bones at the on post movie theater (mostly to see if Clary was as whiny in the movie as she was in the book - she was...), that was my delightful reading day.

5037 steps (2.19 miles)

Sunday, September 1st, I got up and was actually motivated since I had caught up on all my sleep.  I decided to run Seoul Tower - the route I take is about 5.5 miles with a gain of nearly 800 feet.  It's a bit rough to run up and I ran the whole way except for on one killer hill and when I got to the top and an old Korean guy stopped me.  Now, I'm not quite sure due to the language barrier but I think the guy either wanted to take me to breakfast or have his son - a pilot who is carrying the flag in the parade in October - take me to breakfast.  Either way, I smiled and continued on my run.  After that, my day consisted of reading, px run, reading, talking to people on skype, and more reading.  Is there a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening?

14306 steps (6.22 miles)

Monday, September 2nd, was a productive day!  I didn't get up super early but I did get to skype with Kate and Andy in the morning and then meet up with Samantha to go shopping - my goal was to get a custom made dress.  We wandered down to Itaewon and first had to stop at Starbucks.  Then we wandered some of the side streets and went down the Antiques row.  Samantha loves antiques so we perused for a bit.  We saw a really old bugle, bass clarinet, pump organ, lots of intricate woodwork, old cameras, spoons, really old books and other assortment of stuff.  Seriously, if I had the time and the money, I would go Pinterest crazy!  We got back on track and went down to an underground row.  The first shop the little Korean lady said she made shirts but when we told her we were looking for a dress, she hustled us down to her friend, the dress maker.  He asked if I had a picture of what I wanted (I did) and then what color I was thinking.  Another guy came and measured me all over the place and then told me to come back on Thursday for the next fitting. He didn't want to take my credit card but walked me down to the ATM instead (didn't want the fees?)  Overall, super easy and super cheap for a custom made dress.  I see why it is all the rage in Korea to get custom made finery.  Samantha and I wondered into another dress shop afterwards where they had an assortment of dresses and I talked her into trying on a mermaid style dress.  However, the shop owner was only interested in us buying something and was pretty rude about us window shopping so we moved along our way.  We wandered down to the Hamilton Shopping Center were the sales clerks were like mosquitos but we had a good time laughing at some of the strange underwear they were selling.  There was a bra with flowers pinned to the boobs and a man's thong with elephant ears and trunk.  Only 10,000 won the lady said.  I wish I could have gotten a picture!  Then we went to Vatos Tacos for lunch - we had Watermelon Wheat beer and Kimchee Carnitas French Fries (amazing!) and I had pork belly tacos.  Afterwards we wandered to a different section to get Monster Cupcakes for our buddy on CQ.  We didn't know what his favorite flavor was but we went for a vanilla one with a skeleton on top and a mocha one with a dead finger (made of icing!).  Samantha and I parted ways and I went back to my BEQ for skyping, laundry and reading.

17483 steps (7.60 miles)

Tuesday, September 3rd, I woke up and went for a run with Samantha.  She showed me how to get down to the running path by the Han River.  This will be important knowledge since I was looking for long stretches of road for my half marathon training (possibly a full??) and the best part - it's mostly flat!  We didn't go for too long since it was fairly hot out (summer was back with a vengeance).  Afterwards I went back to my BEQ, showered, went to the band hall to practice and get a bit of work done, then came back and am trying to be productive!  At least, get my blog caught up so Grandma will stop haranguing me ;-)