TGBKA: It All Started on Day 3 in Korea...

It was bound to happen. In fact, I know of a group of friends who were throwing down bets on how long it would take before it would happen. And to be honest, I kind of feel like I deserve that pot of dough because I even shocked myself when I accepted a volunteer leadership position less than a week after arriving in Korea. Here's how it all went down:

Upon first entering Camp Casey, we were greeted with a bombardment of signage on post. Each one had lovely morsels of information about the goings on that would occur over the next couple of months. Not wanting to miss a single thing, I (slightly) annoyed Sweet Baboo as I took iPhone photographs of every sign that grabbed my attention. Then I hounded him for further information with every step deeper into the installation. I swear that at one point, he was about ready to do an about-face (turn around... for you non-military speaking folk out there) and send me back to the airport. But he did the best he could with what little energy he had for my unabating need to get involved with the local community. And then he introduced me to his immediate boss.

Within the first five minutes of the conversation, I had produced my enthusiasm, my starry-eyed love for adventure, and my photographs of every. single. banner. and asked how we could make this happen. Sweet Baboo's boss, we'll call him Mr. Amused, got equally excited and told me that I had his full backing on anything I wanted to sign up for in the name of the office. Sweet Baboo groaned.

It's not that Sweet Baboo minds, per se, that I get involved. It's that my need to be involved is so strong, my love of giving back to the community in which I live is so deep, my admiration of those who have a story to tell and are willing to take the time to tell it is so unwavering that I sometimes (read: every single time) get tunnel vision and forget that other things in life exist. Like eating. And sleeping. And, well... everything. Life's too short (if you ask me) to miss a single thing this world has to offer you, and I only get 2 years to experience this community. So I want to get started now.

These banners are the first thing you see when you walk on Camp Casey. And I was salivating when I saw the magazine they publish monthly!

The first thing on the agenda: Area 1 Christmas Tree Decoration Contest. Sweet Baboo and I had already discussed the electricity situation here, and I had packed enough Christmas lights to make Clark Griswold question my sanity. I didn't have a plan in mind just yet, but I wanted to figure out if Sweet Baboo's company had signed up, and if not could we do so? I asked Mr. Amused. He was disinterested until he read that the winner of the contest won $500 (goes to the unit funds) and Commander's Cup points (don't ask me... I don't pay much attention to those. But I do know that there are some Commanders out there who care.) Mr. Amused asked the CO of their company if we could sign up; a dope deal was made, and I was given the green light.

The next hurdle was to come up with a theme for the tree. I didn't bring any of our breakable ornaments from the States. I opted to have them go into storage. We usually have two trees: one "memory tree" with fragile ornaments that are chosen specifically based on the big things that happened that year, and one "medal tree" that holds all of the finisher's medals and winning medals from the entire family's athletic life. I left the "memory tree" behind, and only brought the medal tree and ornaments. And I didn't want to sacrifice our own tree at home in the name of setting up a tree at the post's club. So I decided to go with a theme. And this is what we came up with:

General Frosty T. Snowman complete with snowflake lights on, around, and under the tree. (That's a Christmas light present down there, too!)

I did my best to keep General Snowman from looking too creepy. I'll admit, his face haunts me. But check out his rank: he's a 1-Snowflake General!

Did you know that Koreans (at least the ones I spoke with... and I spoke with a lot) do not know what mesh ribbon is? I searched over two dozen stores between here and Seoul and could not find a single employee who knew what the heck I was trying to purchase. So we went with lace. It didn't form as well as I had hoped, but it is what it is.

As soon as the CO met me, I mean literally five minutes after meeting me, he asked me to be his FRG Leader. Sweet Baboo was nowhere to be found (he was at his office, working). I was wandering the Company HQ, trying to get my NEO packet completed (more on that later), and he asked me to fill the position. When I hesitated, he asked the girls to talk me into it. So after discussing it with Sweet Baboo over dinner that night, we decided that I should absolutely take the honor that his CO offered me.

And in taking that role on, I took the (unspoken) permission from Sweet Baboo to find half a dozen more projects to get involved in. I found out about these two cultural events because I was "in the know" now that I was an FRG Leader. And I had the full backing from the CO to get his company as involved as I wanted with the happenings on post. So I signed us up for four shifts of gift wrapping at the Camp Casey PX.

We take gift-wrapping quite seriously!

Wouldn't you want these awesome elves to wrap your Christmas presents?

This is a fundraiser for our FRG funds. In taking over, I was able to find out that the company didn't even have a bank account, let alone any funds for activities. So I needed to get us involved in earning some funds (until I make my way around post and ask the typical organizations to donate money to us).

I got on the battalion FRG Steering Committee. I found out about upcoming training exercises, official Korean holidays that would affect Sweet Baboo's schedule, and upcoming potlucks.

There aren't many families here, but the ones who are happen to have adorable children!

I joined the battalion Spring Ball Steering Committee, where I sit around with a bunch of higher ups (and a couple of awesome wives) and help to plan the spring ball! I'm super excited about this one!

I helped to decorate Sweet Baboo's office for their Christmas party. Again: way too many lights and an exponential electricity bill make for a poor Spunky Soul. So I shared the bounty.

This Christmas is brought to you by your Chain of Command. Keeping it festive!

But the best project I have signed the unit up for so far is the Unit Adopt an Orphan event. It has seriously touched my heart. Any interested unit can sign up to treat a local orphan to an American Christmas dinner, and a night of entertainment (on post). The unit is expected to purchase their orphan a gift, and pay for the orphan's dinner the night of the event. In an effort to "break the ice", there is a "meet and greet" at the orphanage the week before. The girls and I attended the meet and greet, along with a Soldier from the unit, and a KATUSA (Korean Soldier who is attached to a US unit). The KATUSA was our translator.

The group of volunteers who represented their units in the meet-and-greets!

We went to Noah Rehabilitation Center. This particular orphanage specializes in taking in children who are disabled in some way. They say the children are rarely ever adopted, and some children never leave (even when they grow to be adults). 

Meet Ae Jin! 

Ae Jin was very shy at first. I could tell that she wasn't quite comfortable with having five strangers sitting with her, asking her lots of questions. But after about ten minutes, (and one big hug from The Elder), she warmed up to us. Ae Jin is 20 years old, and we are told that she may never leave NRC. She loves to dance, and was even on the orphanage's competition team! They won Nationals last year, which is a very big deal for them.

I am very glad that our KATUSA came with us. He was able to find out which band she liked best so we could shop for her Christmas presents!

Ae Jin's only request for Christmas was a Korean comic book. I'm not sure of the name of the one she particularly wanted, but I took a photo of the cover:

She got very excited when she spoke of her love of reading this book. And it's a book. I had school books that were thinner than this thing! She has the first four books in the series, I'm hoping we raise enough money to get her the final six, though she has only asked for the 5th one.

Our time with her was short, but this visit was only supposed to be for us to break the ice. As we left, Ae Jin gave each of the girls several more hugs, and even gifted me with one! I was touched, and honored that she warmed up to us. She is a very sweet young lady, and I can only hope that she is as excited about Sunday as we are.

As we left, we snapped a few more photos of the orphanage, and headed back to the bus:

Dogs in the woods right next to the orphanage!

The girls and me with our KATUSA. He was a wonderful help!

This was really taken after we got off of the bus and headed to the orphanage. We basically had to hike a mountain to get there. Not really. But it was really steep.

So that's it so far! Today was our 1-month anniversary on Pen, and I'm not slowing down any. Though I guess I should stop long enough to finish my Christmas shopping. More importantly, I hope to have a million photos of the actual Christmas dinner with Ae Jin to share this weekend!

TGBKA: A Cultural Week

On my 32nd birthday, Sweet Baboo had some business to tend to in our Nation's Capital. His parents offered to watch our darling children for the week so I could join him, and I was able to enjoy a (relatively) cheap trip to DC with little stress. Prior to and during that trip, protestors from the international movement Occupy Wall Street had taken up residence in the areas I had planned to explore while Sweet Baboo was at work; as a result, I was given strict orders to "avoid infiltrating, questioning, occupying, photographing, or otherwise acknowledging the existence of" those involved with the movement. Basically, all fun was taken away from me.

On one particular night, Sweet Baboo knew that he would be working exceptionally later than normal, and I told him that I had plans to "get lost via the subway, explore more, and eventually find my way back to the hotel". I'm an adventurous girl, and I'm a resourceful girl. Sweet Baboo knows that I'll honor his requests, and he generally has very few. On this particular night he had two: continue to leave the Occupy protestors alone (that struggle was real!) and be back on the subway (and know where I was supposed to be going) before the sun kissed the horizon. I was only successful at one of those directives; I got sidetracked at the Capitol Building.

I was walking toward the nearest subway entrance, I swear! But suddenly, I heard the most heavenly music coming from a few blocks away. My curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to beg for forgiveness as I followed the lovely melodies. By the time I found the source of the songs, I realized that I was watching Army Soldiers in dress uniform playing music for a crowd on the lawn of the Capitol Building. I stood on the outside of the fence staring, freezing, wishing I could find a way to be one of the insiders who got to sit on the lawn and listen. There was no real difference between my geographical location and theirs other than the fact that I had to view the scene with a big gate in the way. I looked around and saw a police officer who told me how to get access to the lawn: clear security. No special invitation needed!

It. Was. Magnificent! I was moved to tears, I was dancing in my seat, I was doing more than listening to the music... I was experiencing it! And as I begged for forgiveness from Sweet Baboo for disrespecting his simple wishes that evening, I also begged one more thing from him: every year for my birthday, I wanted to seek out the closest Army Band holiday concert and attend it. So we have. And every year around my birthday I am moved to tears, and I dance in my seat, and I laugh heartily because the emotions I experience when listening to Christmas music coming from their instruments cannot be contained.

This year, for my 35th birthday, we were treated to an exceptionally special treat: the 8th Army Band played alongside the ROKA Band (Republic of Korea's Army Band). They played traditional American Christmas music, and they played traditional Korean dance music. They had some music that was all instrumental, and other songs that had the most amazing vocals to accompany the instruments. There was one point where I had tears streaming down my face, but I was dancing in my seat and laughing out loud. My sweet children didn't know what to do... but Sweet Baboo beamed as he realized that he had absolutely made my birthday a special one by ensuring we attend this amazing event.

This concert was free for those who attended, and we got some amazing seats!

Every year that I get to spend with this amazing man is a great year for me!

My sweet Elder, who loved every minute of the concert as well!

I was pretty bashful about photographing and videoing the performance until I saw the CSM behind me using her iPad to take videos. Then it was game-on!

After the 8th Army Band and the ROKA Band finished their set, we were treated to a performance by the Uijeongbu City Children's Choir. They were fantastic!

They performed very old timey American songs like "Sugartime". The choreography was just as cute as their costumes (which you can't really appreciate in this photo).

Finally we got to see a performance by Son Sonnet, a Korean pop star. She sang a cover of Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing", and was on point in her performance. She sang other songs as well, and I was again moved to tears. I have some of her songs in my wish list on iTunes.

As an encore, Son Sonnet came back on stage with the 8th Army Band and the ROKA Band and together they performed "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen. Sweet Baboo leaned over to me at one point and said, "You know a song has become the anthem to an entire generation when a Korean pop star is capable of getting Soldiers from two armies to sing along with her. Especially when that song comes from a Disney movie!" It was true, too. She stopped singing into the mic at one point, looked out to the audience, and every Soldier that I could see was singing along! Some were even shouting along at the top of their lungs. It was amazing!

Its rare to get the four of us in the same photo. This was the perfect end to a wonderful birthday... or so I thought!

There are many cultural differences between the US Army and the ROK Army. But they both have women in their ranks, and this particular Soldier was a badass. I had to ask her for a selfie with me. She was more than happy to oblige!

I didn't get a selfie with The Wee in the concert hall, so we opted to get one with Frosty.

I didn't think the week could get any better. But then we woke up the next day to prove me wrong. After spending a morning doing some school work, we put the books away and headed to Shinsegae Department Store to participate in Uijeongbu's Culture and Book Festival. We had to rsvp to this event so we could have seats, and had no idea of what to expect. It was humbling, encouraging, and motivating at the same time!

When we arrived, we were handed headsets because the entire festival was to be in Korean. Not all of the festival was going to be translated for us, but the two speakers would have translators so we could know what was being said. This made me think of all of the times I have heard people in America say "You're in America, speak English!" I was grateful that the Koreans haven't taken that stance with us, but have gone out of their way to accommodate us and ensure we are able to enjoy the festivities as well.

The festival was basically performances on a stage as the audience sat in theater-style seats. The first act was musical, and the girls and I enjoyed listening to more live music. None of us recognized the tunes, but that didn't stop us from wanting to dance in the aisles. Then, the band leader stood up and asked (in Korean) if any children wanted to come on stage to try out the instruments. A wonderful woman sitting next to me (who happens to work on post) translated the man's question to us and the girls excitedly volunteered. They were the first on stage, but started a long line of excited kids who wanted to "blow that horn".

The stage wasn't huge, but the performances on it were fantastic!

The girls were excited to try out the instruments!

Usually The Wee is very bashful with strangers, but she overcame her nerves and tried to understand the musician!

Of course, he was giving instructions in Korean so there was a language barrier...

But in the end they figured things out!

The Elder took to the trombone like a fish to water. 

She loved trying it out, but didn't ask if she could do it more... at home... in our apartment complex... (thank you, Lord!)

After the musical part of the festival was over, a guest speaker took to the stage to talk about his expertise: translating American movies to Korean. He is the only person in South Korea who performs this job, and he takes it quite seriously. His movies include Shrek and Saving Private Ryan (along with literally thousands of others). He talked about how he chooses which movies to translate, and the difficulties he sometimes has with translating English idioms into Korean sayings that make sense, but are equally enticing. I found his talk fascinating; the girls were (understandably) bored. But they endured!

The Book/Movie talk portion was fantastic!

 During the opening lines of his speech, the speaker took a few minutes to honor the American Armed Forces in Korea. He said that without American Soldiers, South Korea would not enjoy the freedoms they do today. Then he turned to the girls and me and asked the audience to thank us for a moment. They stopped what they were doing, put their things in their laps, and applauded us loudly and with excitement. The translation was lagging behind real-time events, so the girls and I didn't know what was happening at first. But then I heard what the speaker said (via the translation) and was humbled. He specifically said, "We have only one American family at this festival today, and I can see that they are happy to be here. Won't you take a moment to honor them as they support an American Soldier who works to keep us free?" I am still not sure I deserve the praise we received from the audience that day.

Shortly after I took this photo, he gave an announcement for everybody to stop photographing/videoing his speech (including the media). It has something to do with his contracts, etc. etc. This is all I have of his portion.

After the guest speaker finished, the Mayor of Uijeongbu sat in the seats right in front of us. He turned around and shook the girls' and my hands and welcomed us to Korea. He personally thanked us for supporting an American Soldier, and for being at the Culture Festival. Then he took the stage. In his opening remarks, he pointed us out (he came late to the festival, and I'm not sure he realized we were already pointed out) to the rest of the audience and asked that they offer us their "most sincere thanks" for being honored guests in Uijeongbu. The audience was more than happy to oblige once again, and the girls and I were humbled once again.

The mayor spoke of the importance of reading. He discussed how other cultures regarded reading so highly that they would wake at 1:00 am to get a head start on their reading. He said that he would not have been able to pursue his higher education (he has a Ph.D) had he not started his love of reading as a child. Then he offered encouragement to those who were "still looking for their love of reading": keep looking. You will one day find that love, and will not regret the time you spend reading. Then he sat in front of us again and shook our hands once more.

Finally, a dance group took to the stage to offer us some final entertainment. This was The Elder's favorite part, and at one point she literally danced in the aisles. It was glorious! I'll let the photos speak for themselves here:

At the end of the festival, the girls and I were asked if we wanted a photo on the stage. I loved the idea!

We had a great time!

The media came to interview us, and ask how we liked the event. The girls were a little shy, but did excitedly say that they would love to come to another event if they planned it again. I was asked if we minded being the only American family in the audience and answered honestly: absolutely not! I thanked the organizers for taking the time to hire translators so we could understand the guest speaker and the Mayor, and thanked the Shinsegae General Manager for hosting the event. We left, but not without a couple more photos:

That is a Christmas tree made out of books!

We took the train back to our local station and started to walk back to the apartment. We were happy, we were humbled, and we were honored to have received such a warm and genuine welcome from the city of Uijeongbu. My goodness, our adventures absolutely ROK!

Heading back home, the girls love this sidewalk because they can follow the zig zags.