Settled

Reunited

 We moved into a house on post a week after we arrived in country.  This is the first time we've ever lived on post and it's definitely different.  One of the reasons we've always loved living off post is that it really forces us to get out and explore the city.  We ultimately decided to live on post for the sake of the dog.  As I mentioned before, not much in Korea is large-dog friendly.  Living on post we have a house with a fenced yard that will accept our 70+ pound German Shepherd.  We live on Camp Walker which is about a 45 minute bus ride to Camp Carroll where Adam works.  Our house is only 3 blocks from the preschool, which Lucas LOVES, by the way.  The medical clinic is close by, the commissary is here, and the PX is just a short walk away.  Living on post is nice for the convenience, especially while overseas.  Although I do think it would be awesome to live in a high rise apartment and really explore the city, living in a house on post is fantastic.

The first week was super busy.  Adam was in-processing with the battalion so Lucas and I explored a bit.  We got enrolled in Tricare, applied for our visas, and relaxed.  Tyler, an awesome guy Adam met at CCC, is also stationed here.  He has been SUPER helpful and we are so grateful.  His wife, Michelle, and dog, Keeter, just arrived from the States.  Keeter had quite the adventure on the plane but thankfully they all arrived safe and sound.  It is so nice to have friends here!

We've been trying new food, even Adam.  Beef and leaf are popular restaurants here.  The beef is cooked at your table and it comes with a ton of side dishes and lots of leaves.  You're supposed to wrap the cooked beef in a lettuce leaf to eat it but we normally just eat the food separately.  One such restaurant had the coolest play area for kids.  It had video games, slides, and a trampoline floor.  Lucas regularly asks to go back there but he'll settle for the indoor play place at Burger King.

The flight and first few days

I won't go into detail on our experience at the Seattle airport because it was less than pleasant.  There was some miscommunication about the weight requirement for the dog and that caused a bit of anxiety at the check in counter.  But we all (including Bear) made it on the plane and safely to Korea.  What can I say about the flight?  Well, it's long.  The flight was about 12 hours.  We were fed twice, one Western meal and one Korean meal.  All of the food was good but I certainly wasn't prepared for the pepper paste!  The flight attendants are the absolute nicest.  And impeccably dressed.  We all watched a ton of movies.  Lucas even told us when he needed to use the potty!  I'd say that makes for a very successful flight.

A word of caution: Korea is not a large-dog friendly country.  Poor, poor Bear had to ride in the cargo area of a bus to the hotel on post.  It was about an hour long drive.  By the end of that he had a huge gash on his nose from getting thrown around under the bus.  When we got to the hotel we found out it's a No Dogs Allowed hotel.  So they kept Bear in the loading area.  This is the bitter part of our trip.  Had we known how traumatizing this initial experience was going to be we would have sent him over after we had a house.

Adam did some of his initial in-processing at Yongsan and after two days there, we got on another bus (well, Bear got under it) for a four hour ride down to Camp Carroll, where, you guessed it!  The hotel isn't exactly dog friendly.  They had two pet rooms and we could only have one for five days.  Luckily we were able to get a house on post right away and were able to check out just in time.

BIG.

First impressions: Everything is BIG.  The apartment buildings are huge.  The stores are huge, not spread out like in the States but up.  Over 70% of Korea is mountainous so space is at a premium.  The country is beautiful.  There are a lot of trees and greenery.

Green!  The view from the Dragon Hill Hotel

Big and green.

On the ride to the first hotel from the airport, just when I thought I'd reached my limit for emotional exhaustion, Lucas reminded me to slow down.  He said, "Oh, no!  It's getting dark.  How will I see how cool Korea is when it's dark?"  Slow down.  Enjoy this experience.  Bless his heart.

Preparing to move

After leaving sunny El Paso, TX in April, 2012 we headed to hot and humid Lawton, OK for Captain's Career Course.  In July, 2012 we found out we'd be heading to Korea come fall.  We were excited, nervous, anxious, and BUSY.

My husband is super on top of things and applied for command sponsorship right away.  In order for a servicemember to bring his/her family to Korea, they must apply for the family to be command sponsored (CS).  Basically it's a process to determine if all members of the family will have the services they need.  There aren't many family members in Korea so some of the medical facilities, schools, etc don't have everything some people need.  For instance, if a family member has certain medical conditions they might be denied sponsorship if the medical facility near the base can't treat it.  That is just to ensure everyone has access to the services they need.  Our CS was approved quickly so the fun of planning an overseas move began!

We had to get passports, immunizations, arrange for our household goods (HHG) to be shipped, get tickets, get the dog a ticket, ship our car, and the list goes on.  Luckily the Army takes care of moving the HHG and storing whatever we didn't bring with us so that wasn't too bad.  In the middle of all this I had sinus surgery to add a little excitement to our lives.  The end of September was super busy packing and cleaning, the beginning of October brought Adam's graduation from CCC and a long drive to Oregon.

 

Yellowstone National Park

 We spent an awesome month and a half in Oregon visiting family before we left the country.  On our drive we went to Yellowstone National Park and spent time in Montana.  Then it was home sweet Oregon.  We all loved spending time with family and friends and Lucas cherished the moments with his grandparents.  I was really happy to spend so much time with both of my parents and not feel like we needed to cram a visit into a few short days.  On an extra rainy Saturday in November, my dad drove the three of us, our dog, six suitcases, two backpacks, and one carseat up to Seattle for the looooong flight to Korea.

A walk in the rain with Oma

At the Oregon Coast Aquarium with Boppa