Be It Ever So Humble ...

...there's no place like home

Now, mind you, home is always what we make it ... and this one will be no exception. It will have some challenges: size, cleanliness, darkness.  The building, the newest of the field grade officer BOQs, looks spartan and comfortable enough on the outside.  Inside is another story. It is instantly apparent that the common areas are not cleaned but once in a very ... very ... long while.  I use my elbow to open the glass entry doors, and will never walk along the hallways in socks or bare feet.

My 'apartment' is on the second floor, really just to the rear of the center part of the photo above.  The view is un-spectacular, but I think I can leave the curtains open without fear of voyeur activity. *lol* One laundry room services all four floors; it sits on the third floor and has about 8 sets of washers and dryers - several of which are currently broken. The good news is that they are free and I won't have to keep myself supplied in quarters. It could use a deep scrub down, and one day I may just tackle that job myself!

The building is also located within walking distance to everything: PX, commissary, Post Office, movie theater, Chili's, my work, and ... coffee!! In fact, sitting by the window at Rickebacker's, which is located in the hotel called Turumi Lodge, I can see my building.  I suspect it, and/or Starbuck's, will be my first stop on my way to work each morning.

I can already see that, once I get accustomed to breathing water laced with oxygen (having become used to Colorado's dry and oxygen free air), I'll be in extremely good shape inside of 6 months. Walking everywhere will do that easily.  I am told that one can even walk out the main gate and into the ville of Songtan anytime.  Can't wait to do that.

So, apparently, I landed in Korea on the first day of monsoon season; it has rained constantly since then, and I am told that a typhoon may arrive this weekend. Lovely. Fortunately, I have lived in North Carolina, so the winds and lashing rains won't be a surprise.  Walking to work in the storm - well, I'll report on that afterwards!

My 'apartment', although small and filled with temporary "modular" furniture, will become comfortable once my belongings arrive in July.  It has two small windows, one in each room. I'll need to use many lamps to brighten it up; fortunately, I packed several from home.  While in Bellingham, I visited my friend Rebecca, and where I bought two of her stained glass pieces. You can see one in the photo at left. The other is in the bedroom window.

I need to figure out how to make it warmer, however. The a/c is controlled by someone, somewhere, somehow, and blows incessantly ... cold ... loud.  I actually need a jacket while in my rooms, and am looking forward to the arrival of my down comforter!

Walking into the fromt door, on the immediate right is the bathroom, tiled and with two huge mirrors. It currently has a 40 watt bulb in the ceiling ... must work on that.  Next to the bathroom is the bedroom.  I can see that once my queen sleigh bed arrives, it will be the one and only item in the room.  The closet is a separate walk-in room. Nice. The kitchen is just to the left as I walk into the 'apartment'. It's almost a full kitchen, and one in which I can spend many happy hours cooking. I suspect I'll make lots of friends since I'll need willing gamblers to consume what comes out of the oven!

        






I remember, from my last tour in Korea, that the civic bonds between Korea and the United States remain quite strong.  Older Koreans, contrary to much of the rest of the world, have not forgotten the reason for their current freedoms.  One can find monuments to the sacrifices of Americans in most, if not all, Korean cities.  Here is no exception.

Just outside the Turumi Lodge, is a new memorial to all Air Force personnel killed in the line of duty during the Korean War.  It's a very striking structure ... but the other pieces are even more moving. Behind the two "flights" are several  display cases containing graphics of the patches of each squadron that served here during the war.

But the most beautiful piece of this memorial stands just to the left of it on a pedestal.  It is a book, made of metal pages. On each page is engraved the names of every airman who was killed in action during the Korean war. It's beautiful and stands as a permanent reminder that Freedom is most definitely not Free!

If you would like me to find someone you may know in this book, let me know and I'll gladly take a photo of the name for you.

And, just in case we forget that the Korean peninsula is still in a dangerous and volatile situation, we have these reminders posted in each of our rooms: