Two nights ago I discovered that you really can't cook food in a microwave on an acrylic plate. As the plate proceeded to crumble under my food I said to myself " I must remember this important information" and "tomorrow I need to buy a new plate".
Then tomorrow came and it came the time of day for me to buy a new plate. As I walked into the PX I noticed a strange crowd of young Korean men exiting with passes around their neck. I then noticed a long line for which I could not tell the reason. I did not further investigate and proceeded to the kitchen section of the PX.
On my way passing the magazine rack and on the way to the checkout, I noticed the line had cleared and standing there were a gaggle of women wearing red and black letter type jackets. Closer inspection revealed that these were indeed the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleading squad. I knew that they were visiting Korea but had had no idea when or where and honestly no real desire to see them. However, happenstance being as good as any I said why not say hi. So I did. I talked to most of them (to what extent they were talkable just after getting off the plane that morning). Since I spent the time to come over and say hi they found the will to sign a picture for me. I would say it was quite an experience but in reality it wasn't. They were friendly but you could tell they were disheveled from the long trip and ready to just go to bed. You might say they had the look of Karly when I wake her up at 5AM to say hi, except I think Karly's a whole lot prettier.
On a continuation note. The car runs great and I think it should be good for the year.

A GREAT DAY
This morning started out with a wonderful conversation with Karly and enjoying her new found completion of the exercise section of MT.
After that I went and got my SOFA drivers license which required passing a test on Korean signs and laws.
I then headed over to finance and they squared away my TLA and other pay issues related to the PCS.
I headed to housing and got my cell phone number added with my name on the list to move out of BOQ.
Finally, I made it to the office.
About 5 minutes after my arrival, the Sergeant who was selling me a car showed up. I got there just in the nick of time. We completed some transfer of ownership papers and headed to get me insurance. I got insurance, and then registered the vehicle on post.
All of this happened before noon.
I then went to lunch at the KATUSA snack bar with my boss and we discussed some of the stuff I have planned for the year.
At 2 I had a very large meeting of a working group of which I will be one of the leaders in the future.
Needless to say, it was a busy but productive day.
Here's some pictures to finish it off.

Life will be fine. To enjoy the finer things in life may be only to live life whilst we are still alive.
Today I made a new friend and discovered that there is a Sunday brunch on Camp Walker. This makes me happy as I do enjoy the club brunches, and it's always good to meet new people.
Church wasn't quite as awkward this week, however, it still IMHO leaves a lot to be desired. I will be joining the Officers Christian Fellowship next week which will allow me to meet many other people (officers) in a less formal setting. I look forward to finding a good friend over here (other than my wife) to hang out with. I supposed you could say that I am in need of a battle buddy.

Once More unto the Breach
I have begun to work and propose changes. So far the unit seems to be very receptive, probably because there's a problem and I quickly devised a solution. A BIIIIIGGGG solution but nonetheless a solution. Now, just to make it happen.
On another note. Today marked the beginning of my final set of immunizations over here. It's the first in a series of 5 shots that will take 2 years to complete. Then I'll be good to go.
Continuing on, this weekend promises to be fun. I'm not sure what is going to happen so far but I know I will be heading to the thrift shop on Saturday (and perhaps buy a couple of things) and on to a little meandering around Korea after that. No I don't know where I'm going, no I don't know what I'm going to do, but I do know that I will have a GPS and my cell phone in case something happens.

Deadline

Karly has a voluntary deadline of Jan 31st to complete her Medical Transcription course. Please allow her the encouragement to make this mission a success and get it out of the way so that she can move on to the next steps.

She has a lot on her plate. Completion of the MT course is only the beginning. Once complete she needs to send out her resume to get a job. While awaiting response. Karly has a list of projects to conquer to get our house in order for sale. I must communicate that it is imperative that she works hard to accomplish these goals in order to make her stay over here longer and more peaceful. Procrastination is NOT a feasibility. Please help me in reminding her of what needs to be accomplished and helping her make things happen if at all possible.

It is unfortunate that I am unable to assist directly in these projects. If I were there, I know we could accomplish so much more in a short period of time. Karly is very capable and strong and with initiative and perseverance she will avail.

Good news!!!
I may not have to stay in the BOQ for the year!! For now I will be here for a little while but I am now officially on a list to move off post. There are a few contingencies but I think it'll happen. There are two routes to move off. One is the list and the other is a memorandum requesting to move off. The latter is mostly a last resort; however, I'll deal with last resort if necessary so that Karly can stay over here longer legally.

The View Would be Good
The view from my windows would be good if they weren't obstructed by the other BOQ and the giant umbrella in front of my place. If this was more like Colorado, or had they decided to consult someone who thinks about nature when designing a building and integrating a great view in each window, then the BOQ would be in an incredible location. Instead someone wasn't thinking and I have to walk 50 feet to get a great view. That's not too bad but I will say that I really miss Kansas. The city life, even the on post more open space city life just doesn't seem to appeal to me. I suppose my standards are too high. If that's the case then I just need to make another promotion and hopefully those considerations will be more pertinant to those that are "running the show". I looked at the base cost of the housing and realize that they should be able to run a resort for us to live in for the price we're "paying". In reality, I think I could stay in the hotel all year long and have maid service for the number that was given to me. In case you couldn't tell, I am not impressed in the slightest by the housing over here. I think the Air Force is correct in their assessment of Army housing as sub-standard.

I'm probably just cynical because I don't have my wife here to make life better.

Alas, I will do my best on our measly budget to make steady improvements to the crackerjack box which they have given me.
I will post pictures when I get to the BOQ today.

Change Is Good
So in case anyone was wondering, As of tomorrow I will have spent 83 of the last 113 nights in hotel rooms, and over 250 nights since joining the Army just under two years ago. If you need an expert to advise you on living from hotel rooms then I can probably help. Starting tomorrow I will hopefully be spending almost 3 months straight without living in a hotel room. As of right now I'm really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, this "stability" comes with the price of seperation. Every day is one day closer to being able to spend some time with my beautiful bride again.

Good stuff
I just spent the last hour making my blog a little more user friendly. I hope y'all like the changes.
Take care and Be Safe on this lovely day.
Remember the purpose of today. It is to celebrate an individual who wanted true equality of all people. Unfortunately, his goals have not been met and our legislative branch has done a good job of making segregation a requirement rather than helping to realize Martin Luther King Jr.'s true dream of equality.
Equality to me means the same treatment for all, independent of race, color, ethnicity, religion, creed, or status. There can be NO quotas or special considerations in equality.

These are my thoughts for today.

This morning I went to the "collective protestant" chapel service at Camp Walker. It was interesting. As many times as I try to go to these services, the contemporary and nondenominational, I just don't get it. I haven't been able to deal very well with all the Amens, the hand raising, the altar calls, and the "extemporaneous" prayer. I know it's because of my rearing but you would think that a Christian is a Christian and that if you could go to one service you could go to most and feel right at home.

This is NOT the case. Since the time of Martin Luther, the protestant movement has taken many twists and turns. One of the latest is the non-denominational "mega-church". They are a wonderful missionary idea which has led massive growth in the Christian faith. But not without consequence. Many times the doctrine and preaching are very shallow and Biblical interpretation is whatever the pastor answers when confronted with a new question. Faith is not the issue here, there is no lack of faith and belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the issue is depth.

Repeating Jesus or God or Father 200 times in a service will bring you in no closer contact than one sincere statement of the same. An example of this is the Lords Prayer. Father is mentioned only once at the beginning and then subsequently referred to by your, you, yours, thy and thine depending on the version you were taught or use. If you challenge the idea that the prayer taught to us by Jesus himself didn't have enough "calls" to the Father then I must question your faith or at the minimum your ability to hold focus on the Subject to whom you are praying.

Even though the churches "plug you in", I have heard of many who desire more depth in their worship. This not being the self introspection and bible reading and interpretation, but depth of worship with more structure and tradition in the sanctuary, at the altar, and in the church year. I have found that these people may start out in the "mega-church,"or simply the non-denominational church, but end up "church shopping" or as I would prefer to call it denomination shopping to find the church which has the doctrine most consistent with what they have come to believe and feel in their heart as well as their interpretation of the Bible (and perhaps as noted later on their Political view may play a role as well). Needless to say the Bible does and can be interpreted in many different ways (unfortunately this can be problematic as some (like many lawyers) will twist it into whatever suits their needs at the time).

The question begged is, why do these people start on this path and what determines where they end up? I am certainly not an expert on that topic but I can and have thought about it a lot. Now, I'm not going to be PC here because I can't and talk about different denominations as though they are the same. Many church alliances have been formed which may or may not be an attempt to more singularize theology or to bring denominations closer together. Some of these "alliances" give their parishioners the "opportunity" to worship at other denominations and fully partake in their traditions, to include the Sacriment of Holy Communion. The quandry is what has happened in these denominations to cause a need for these alliances, and why are there only certain parts of a whole denomination which will do this. For example the Lutheran Church (of which I am a member) has been split into many seperate denominations. Why? In Germany there is only one German Lutheran Church, why then has the US split the denomination into 3 major and one minor denominations as well as many other sub-groups? I give you this, we have the Wisconsin Synod, the Missouri Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. What is odd is that certain political views tend to predominate each of the Synods (there are always outliers). A truist would say that a denomination should not be divided by political party or values. Thus the truist will look only at the theology/doctrine before joining a denomination as opposed to looking at the people. Now I will go on to say that this separation is not at all limited to the Lutheran Church. It can be seen in Presbyterian, Methodist and Episcopalian as well as the non-protestant Catholic and Jewish faiths. I ask you to ponder why, in the US, we have split even to our core religion? And I propose that the answer is not what you want to hear.

Back on track. The movement of new believers into the denominations. As mentioned above there are many different denominations all preaching a similar message. The message of Jesus Christ. When a denomination questions the teachings of Jesus and what the Bible says, that church has lost it's cornerstone and needs to look back and rebuild. For all others the incoming new believer will be looking for something that digs deeper so they can learn more about their faith. This is a journey and one church may not be the destination. Thus it is imperative that the basic foundation of the church be preached each and every week (and even in midweek). Many churches have defaulted to modifying or changing their traditions to accomidate or bring in those new believers. I will not go into depth on that subject other than to say, there are many people which will stumble on this and perhaps be drawn in (wonderful) but through their training in the doctrine of the church they must be on the same level as a Junior Confirmand. To give only a rudimentary education and release as a full member is to slowly and gradually forget the roots of the church. This must not be allowed to happen, for the sake of the Christian world we must not forget the foundations of our faith. It's not just about God, it's about salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. This and this alone!!

My new boss rocks. At least so far. I have a feeling he's going to be the best thing since sliced bread for me over here. He is a native Korean and we are a team. Which is awesome because he's already teaching me the language and I've already been to a local restaurant which there is no way on God's green earth I would have even attempted without a translator. Mmmmh, Mmmmmmh good.
I will have my house already before the weekend is over (again thanks to my boss speaking to the housing manager in his native tongue). If it is the one I was showed on my tour around post, it will be a most lovely location with a nice yard out front, a gazebo and a very large grill for me to use within 20 feet of my door. Now I just need to get some wood and I can cook my traditional food of choice.
Tomorrow I will quest to find vehicle and phone resources.
Much Love,

I'm done!!!!
Yay, no more headaches from inefficiency.
Tomorrow, I get to experience the bullet train. It should be fun.

The exercise in inefficiency
Inprocessing, need I say more.
It's not a problem with the program it is a problem with the content and time management. It wouldn't take much to make this process much more educational and beneficial to all of the soldiers. However, it is not my place to make changes in this command. I seem to be figuring out this business which I am in. I unfortunately can't change much yet however, seeing so many different things as I have, I am constantly developing ideas and looking at all situations as an outside auditor. I like seeing the problems with the system and knowing the tools to fix them but the big issue/hurdle to get over is either getting myself into a position where I can make the changes, or being able to overlook them because it's "none of my business". I DO NOT like the latter option but it is actually the more likely scenerio.
Now on to other things. I won't have to deal with the inprocessing issues for much longer and I will be released into the world where I can begin to discover all that Korea has to offer. I will say this. Of all the countries I have been to, next to Brazil, I get the warmest feeling from the Koreans. They seem to be a very peaceful people who are truly our allies both militarily and economically.
I will leave you with some more pictures of the Dragon Hill Lodge. They aren't the greatest of pictures but they should do the job. There are also a couple views of the city from post. As I am isolated to post until later they are the best I can do.

Just like home!! Only a little different.
Today has been interesting to say the least. This morning we were learning about the culture and language of Korea. It was a fun class taught by Koreans. Unfortunately, the field trip scheduled for this afternoon was cancelled on account of snow. That brings me to the title of the post. Apparently it has been snowing at home in Kansas as well recently. All I can say is that my contacts which told me the climate in Korea is similar to that of Kansas are right. The biggest difference is the monsoon season which I will get to experience. But the snow is beautiful especially with the neat Korean archetecture.
This afternoon I have also discovered that it will be easier to learn the language with a little help from someone who knows the language. I discovered this as I was trying to decipher hangul and it's translations in the phrase book and stumbled on a couple of puzzling character sets with pronunciations which didn't seem to fit the alphabet given in the book. When I took the book up to the information desk they told me the alphabet in the book was missing a couple of sounds. This does not help my cause of learning the language very much now does it? I think I'm going to try and find a better book for learning and only use this book for the pocket guide to phrases (which has already come in quite handy).
Lesson for the day:
an-neong-haseo - Hello
kamsa-hamneeda - Thank You

The following are three views from my window. They are of the garden which is behind the Dragon Hill Lodge (a DOD run resort).

First off,
I MADE IT!!!
Secondly a wild and crazy ride needs to be posted.
So it all started Monday 07 Jan at 0300 when Karly and I left for the Manhattan Airport. This part was uneventful at least until we got there. Karly and I were both pumped full of coffee from staying up waaay too late and we arrived at the airport which was, much to our surprise, still closed. So we thought we'd go to the nearest town, Ogden, and upon arrival we discovered that it was entirely closed as well. So we headed back to the airport to see if it opened at 0430 and it hadn't yet so we decided to head to Manhattan and find a gas station. Finally we had our relief. When we returned to the airport it was just opening at 0500 for my 0555 flight. Check-in was uneventful.
0525 a TSA agent shouts across the security line "we got 1 hour" aka the flight had been delayed by an hour. 0625 no news so I go to check my connection and I was scheduled to take the 820 instead of the 715 to Atlanta. 0715 no news. 0730 oh crap how am I going to make a noon flight in Atlanta if I'm not even in Kansas City yet. 0800 I check the flight status and it's still delayed so we start rebooking. I'm now going to fly to MCI then to LAX and then ICN. Great that sounds good (even though the ticket said I'd arrive on the 8th when indeed I didn't get here until the 9th). 0915 the planes inbound to take us to MCI. 0930 the plane had to turn around and go back to Salina. 0940 "We've been authorized to provide ground transportation" yay so I am going to make it to MCI before my 1455 flight to LAX. I got cleared to drive myself (with Karly) and I got a voucher (which will make Karly's flight over cheaper). So off go Karly and I to MCI in the truck. We arrive about noon and I check in my bags for the flight. We then see some of our compatriots from Manhattan whom inform us that about 20min after we left, a plane showed up and they flew. Oh well, we got to spend more time together (including lunch) and got a voucher out of the deal. By the way I found out that I would have a layover in Pheonix. So after some tears and lots of hugs I departed for my time in Korea. We arrived in Pheonix 3 hours later and were told that an unexpected plane change had occured and we were to report to gate 9 which was a 1/2 mile walk in the terminal. After arrival at gate 9 we were told that our flight was being changed from 308 to 36 and that we were to report back to gate 14. We arrive at gate 14 and they have not heard about this change and that we were to go back to gate 9. We pitched a mutiny and they let us on flight 36 to LAX. I arrived at LAX and my newfound friend from Manhattan and I headed to the USO for the 6 hour layover. I really liked the LAX USO it was a great place.
After waking up at 1000 we headed to the international terminal and through security (this took over an hour). We made it to Incheon about 10 minutes early, headed through immigration and all was well. We got to the baggage carousel and unsurprisingly based on the last 36+hours neither of my check bags and one of Charles's bags don't show up.
But in the end we have made it to Yongsan for inprocessing and all is well. They found my bags and they should be here tonight (what time I do not know).
Now that I am away from my beautiful and wonderful constant distraction, I should be able to post a little more often.