the invasion of Korea
Episode 3
lockdown
The view from the room was spectacular, however, with the President in Busan and the APEC summit, there was a lockdown on the base and I got to see the inside of my room for 48 hours straight. I was briefly able to make out into town with Sancho Ponchi and we did a little shopping before we were gathered up and told to return to the base because of a alert. So, in the freezing cold of Korea, we had to wait two hours in the cold and then go through a complete search just to get back to the relative safety of the base. There was no communication from the base as you might have noticed.
The show went well because none of the people on base could do anything but go to our show. It was well received and Sancho and I got to talk to the Filipino band afterwards. This is the third all girl, Filipino band we have met on a base. It seems that the only form of entertainment the enlisted get is all girl, cover bands. They sing well, better than the originals, but they are more eye candy than anything else and the guys can't get enough of looking at them. Sadly, these three girls perform six nights a week, every week for six months. This is the only thing they get to see.
From my perch inside in my room, I could see out over the harbor and the mountains that make up the shore line. With a full moon shining down over the mountains onto the water, I was able to take some time to prepare for the trip home. It's time, I have been here long enough and I can think of nothing more I want than a few days at home. I haven't heard much from the homestead, the request of daily emails was forgotten much the same way I forget to email my brother in Iraq everyday. I guess life moves on without you and that's the hardest part of any long trip. I can see why the men and women on these isolated bases around the world start to lose their grip. Drinking here isn't so much for recreation so much as to kill the pain of feeling abandoned. They drink a lot.
It was another early flight out of Busan amid massive protests and traffic. The traffic in Korea is best described as frantic. If you have a car, and a destination, the rules of the road are this... anything goes. Traffic lights are more decoration and the barriers between the lanes of opposing traffic are really more like an emergency brake brought to you by public works. What would have normally been an hour drive to the airport took two and a half. Every ten feet there was another wreck. No cops on the scene, just fighting and gawkers.
Flight was less than a half hour back to Seoul. The drive to the hotel... two hours. We could have walked in less time.
My impressions of Asians are pretty much the same of every American. We believe they drive slow, yell a lot and that they are really smart. The driving issue can best be explained this way - When you're driving in your world, you are careless and comfortable. When you don't know where you're going or what the signs say, you slow down a lot just so you don't slam into a building or miss your exit. Do they yell a lot? Yup. Here and there. It's a matter of pride, but the few I have met have been pretty laid back. They talk calmly and love to ask you questions, but when another Korean approaches it's like they have just run into their life long nemesis. Yelling seems to be a complimentary way of saying, "hey shithead!".
I can't say that the cities are as enjoyable as Japan's, but they have their own charm. The smells are so bad that it takes away from some of the thrill, but you get used to it. Except for the smell of booze breath that is everywhere. If you have ever been around someone looped on a bottle of wine and had to smell their breathe, that's what it smells like here, everywhere. If the booze smell doesn't get you, one of the small spice shops in the market will. Raw spices that can burn your nostrils so badly that your eyes water as if you have been maced. It's that harsh. If there are a lot of people and you can't move out fast enough, then it's even worse. I would say that you could spray pepper spray into your mouth and it might relieve some of the pain of this pungent spice.
I have two full days left. One day for shopping and one day for a trip to the DMZ which I will see one way or another. I have a feeling that the train might be the best option as I have seen how slow traffic can move around here. It might take two weeks by bus and I am only 60 miles away.
My clothes are clean. My bags are packed. I am two days away for an awkward return to the past.
lockdown
The view from the room was spectacular, however, with the President in Busan and the APEC summit, there was a lockdown on the base and I got to see the inside of my room for 48 hours straight. I was briefly able to make out into town with Sancho Ponchi and we did a little shopping before we were gathered up and told to return to the base because of a alert. So, in the freezing cold of Korea, we had to wait two hours in the cold and then go through a complete search just to get back to the relative safety of the base. There was no communication from the base as you might have noticed.
The show went well because none of the people on base could do anything but go to our show. It was well received and Sancho and I got to talk to the Filipino band afterwards. This is the third all girl, Filipino band we have met on a base. It seems that the only form of entertainment the enlisted get is all girl, cover bands. They sing well, better than the originals, but they are more eye candy than anything else and the guys can't get enough of looking at them. Sadly, these three girls perform six nights a week, every week for six months. This is the only thing they get to see.
From my perch inside in my room, I could see out over the harbor and the mountains that make up the shore line. With a full moon shining down over the mountains onto the water, I was able to take some time to prepare for the trip home. It's time, I have been here long enough and I can think of nothing more I want than a few days at home. I haven't heard much from the homestead, the request of daily emails was forgotten much the same way I forget to email my brother in Iraq everyday. I guess life moves on without you and that's the hardest part of any long trip. I can see why the men and women on these isolated bases around the world start to lose their grip. Drinking here isn't so much for recreation so much as to kill the pain of feeling abandoned. They drink a lot.
It was another early flight out of Busan amid massive protests and traffic. The traffic in Korea is best described as frantic. If you have a car, and a destination, the rules of the road are this... anything goes. Traffic lights are more decoration and the barriers between the lanes of opposing traffic are really more like an emergency brake brought to you by public works. What would have normally been an hour drive to the airport took two and a half. Every ten feet there was another wreck. No cops on the scene, just fighting and gawkers.
Flight was less than a half hour back to Seoul. The drive to the hotel... two hours. We could have walked in less time.
My impressions of Asians are pretty much the same of every American. We believe they drive slow, yell a lot and that they are really smart. The driving issue can best be explained this way - When you're driving in your world, you are careless and comfortable. When you don't know where you're going or what the signs say, you slow down a lot just so you don't slam into a building or miss your exit. Do they yell a lot? Yup. Here and there. It's a matter of pride, but the few I have met have been pretty laid back. They talk calmly and love to ask you questions, but when another Korean approaches it's like they have just run into their life long nemesis. Yelling seems to be a complimentary way of saying, "hey shithead!".
I can't say that the cities are as enjoyable as Japan's, but they have their own charm. The smells are so bad that it takes away from some of the thrill, but you get used to it. Except for the smell of booze breath that is everywhere. If you have ever been around someone looped on a bottle of wine and had to smell their breathe, that's what it smells like here, everywhere. If the booze smell doesn't get you, one of the small spice shops in the market will. Raw spices that can burn your nostrils so badly that your eyes water as if you have been maced. It's that harsh. If there are a lot of people and you can't move out fast enough, then it's even worse. I would say that you could spray pepper spray into your mouth and it might relieve some of the pain of this pungent spice.
I have two full days left. One day for shopping and one day for a trip to the DMZ which I will see one way or another. I have a feeling that the train might be the best option as I have seen how slow traffic can move around here. It might take two weeks by bus and I am only 60 miles away.
My clothes are clean. My bags are packed. I am two days away for an awkward return to the past.
posted by Daniel Loomis | 7:33 PM
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