Thursday, December 19th, I had to work though I was
fairly distracted all day. After work I
took the express train to the airport to pick up Caroline and Matt. I got their a little early but I ended up
waiting for a long time since there was an issue with the cargo door on their
plane and they couldn't get their luggage!
Finally I collected them and we took the express train back to Seoul
Station and then cabbed it back to base – I think Matt was a bit horrified with
the Korean taxi driver’s weaving ability.
I got them checked into their hotel and got them all tucked in! Both of them we’re tired!
19371 Steps (4.92 miles)
Friday, December 20th, I woke up early and gallivanted across post
to meet up with Caroline and Matt. We
grabbed some coffee and pastries and then exited post so we could catch our bus
for the DMZ tour. I paid for us to go to
the JSA but our group was meeting up with a group from Camp Humphreys that was
doing both the JSA and the 3rd tunnel so they wanted us to tag along
for both! Unfortunately there was a
bunch of snow so the guys coming up from Camp Humphreys were really late! Unfortunately this meant that the JSA wouldn't
let us in so we went to the 3rd tunnel first which was very cool –
those North Koreans are fairly crazy folks!
We had a Korean lunch and ended up not getting to go to the JSA. On the way back they did drag us through an amethyst
store, trying to get us to buy stuff. Once back at post, we dropped our stuff off
at the hotel and at my room and then headed up to the Navy Club for some
beers! Afterwards we went out to Itaewon
for dinner at the Boiling Crab where they take all sorts of seafood, put it in
a bag with spices, shake it up and then pour it out on the table in front of
you! Afterwards we went out for more
drinks at Seoul Pub and wandered around Itaewon taking in the sights!
19906 Steps (8.66 miles)
Saturday, December 21st, I woke up early to do the
Jingle Bells 5K run which should have been at 9am but didn’t actually run until
10 which made me crunched for time! Then
I threw on my uniform and met up with my WWQ to play for the general’s other holiday
reception at the Hartell House. The food
was just as amazing at that one – they had a giant ice sculpture of a ship
which was filled with shrimp! Sam and
Dan took Caroline and Matt out to the War Museum. I meet up with them after I got done with the
reception and we went out for Galbi (Korean BBQ). Then we went to Craftworks to sample the
beers and met up with a few more friends who decided that Caroline and Matt
needed to have a soju experience so we went to a Makali bar and had both makali
and soju! It was a very nice night J
21929 Steps (8.79 miles)
Sunday, December 22nd, I met up with Caroline and Matt and we went
out to the Gyeongbokgung Place just as the changing of the guard was taking
place. We wandered around the place and
the Folk Museum and then wandered to try and find an old village though we
mostly got lost. We went and had a great
Korean lunch though! Unfortunately
afterwards as we were walking Caroline took a huge tumble scaring the crap out
of Matt and myself – I thought she had broken her arm! Thank goodness she hadn't! We wandered back to Itaewon and went to Vatos
Tacos for dinner – had amazing Galbi tacos and a Makali margarita!
20209 Steps (8.79 miles)
Monday, December 23rd, I had to go to work in the morning L but
luckily it went very quick except for the last safety briefing. Then I met up with Caroline and Matt who had
checked out of the hotel on post and then I took them to their Hilton hotel off
post which was right next to Namsam park and had a gorgeous view of the Seoul
Tower! We grabbed a quick lunch out on
the economy and then I headed back to post since I had to work that night. My WWQ got to sneak into The 3 Star General’s
house while he was having a dinner party and play for him and his guests
afterwards. When I’ve done this gig for
the last general, it was very informal – as in, a few people listened intently
while everyone else drank and socialized. This general, however, made everyone come out
and sit down and we gave a pseudo recital.
It was quite interesting! There
was also a Korean gentleman there who the general called Scholar Han – not sure
who he was but he must have been important by how the general treated him!
26798 Steps (11.65 miles)
Tuesday, December 24th, I got up and met up with Caroline and Matt
at their hotel. We wandered down to
Namdaemun which is one of the big shopping areas in Seoul. It was crazy!
Seriously… I felt like I had been dropped into a scene from Blade
Runner! We also tried a whole bunch of
random food from street vendors – some really good, some really weird… We also wandered into Shinsegae (a very
expensive mall – really high class!) and Myeongdong (another outdoors shopping
area but with lots more American brand stores).
The big find of the day was finding a certain type of Japanese scotch
that was nearly the only thing that Matt wanted to find! We had to go into the underground at Namdaemun
but we found it! We went out to Hongdae
to my favorite Chicken and Beer place (we also had non-chicken stuff for
Caroline!) It was a great night!
18933 Steps (8.23 miles)
Wednesday, December 25th, Merry Christmas! I woke up and cleaned up a bit and skyped
with Mom while Kate and Andy were visiting!
Then I went and met Caroline and Matt at the gate to let them on post. They came over and we cracked open champagne
for the mimosas and I put in the cinnamon rolls! We skyped with Mom, and opened presents. Sam came over and we ate quiche and played
Cards Against Humanity! We all conked
out for a bit but then we got ready to go to a friend’s house for dinner. We climbed the hill to SFC Miranda’s
apartment with beer and wine and got to meet a bunch of people I didn’t
know. He had turkey and all the
trimmings and we had a good time! We
brought CAH and had to introduce some of group to the game! I was so glad to have family with me for the
holidays!!!
15231 Steps (6.62 miles)
Thursday, December 26th, I woke up sadly and met
Caroline and Matt at their hotel and we took a cab to Seoul Station and then
took the express train to the airport.
(I totally got us lost too…) We
got them checked in and I left them at the security check point. I bought lots of fat food and took the
express train and subway back to post L I
sulked around for a bit but then met up with my friend Ed at work (he runs the
AFN radio station on post). As soon as
he was done with work we rolled out onto the economy and wandered for a
bit. We got coffee and a bite to eat and
then went and saw Drumcat! Drumcat is an
all-female, Korean percussion group – and awesome!!! It was like a mix of stomp and blast with
skimpy outfits. I even got dragged on
stage (Ed and I were the only white people in the crowd and the Koreans all
gasped when I stood up – so tall!) to whistle along with them! I had an absolute blast – so glad I have
great friends here to keep me busy and cheer me up!
5501 Steps (2.39 miles)
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