Blogs from Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea, Asia - page 2

Dear Blog Readers, Last week’s blog can only be described as material for toilet reading, so I feel that this blog should start where we left off. I’ve not commented much about the toilet situation in Korea for two reasons. Firstly, they really aren’t that interesting. Secondly, I’ve experienced some of the worst toilets in India so the initial culture shock which would normally hit me upon first site of a squatter has become obsolete. However, I should now make some sort of comment. Like everywhere in Asia, it is not common to have toilet paper so you have to remember to bring your own. This means having the daunting task of predicting the amount of toilet paper you are about to us. Risks cannot be taken. Furthermore, there are squatters, and nobody really knows which ... read more

It was the last week of Snow when my sister and mom went to Seoul, South Korea. It was my first time there and did not know what to expect but I really had fun in my 5 day trip to Seoul. We had a hard time in finding our hotel there because Koreans can't speak English. Some of the Natives were friendly but they cannot speak English. My advise for you is to print out a brochure of the name of your hotel in Korean so you will not have a hard to time in looking for it. We stayed at Hyundai Residence Seoul. It was a very cheap and affordable hotel and has a very nice location. We took a city tour of Seoul on our first day. The best way you can ... read more

Ah Saint Patrick’s Day. A day to celebrate all that is good and green in this world. A time for old friends and family alike to come together and recount the good times spent from days long past. A time for new friends to rally up with one another and create new memories for the ages. A time… to attempt to consume as many alcoholic beverages (preferably whiskey, bailey’s, Guinness, or green beer) possible without totally losing all sense of self and inhibition. This truly is one of my favorite and most celebrated holiday’s of the entire year, and each year, the day becomes a little bit more special to me. However, before moving on to discuss the events that transpired for me on this holiest of days, I first must recount an event that completely ... read more

Hi, Axel here. I was ordered to Korea to support bilateral exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian from 12-29AUG. While I didn’t get to do a lot of tourism, here are a few pictures of what I saw and did. I was assigned to the staff of U.S. Forces Korea for the duration of the exercise and learned a LOT about Army operations. This was my first experience in Joint operations. Despite the global economic crisis, Korea has prospered enormously in recent years. I took advantage of every opportunity to get off base and experience the local culture. Being assigned to Yongsan Garrison in downtown Seoul made it easy to get around using Seoul’s exceptional mass transit. For my last night in Korea I decided that I didn't like having to walk to the latrine or sweat in ... read more

For some reason I was really apprehensive about this week. It was going to be a busy week with the end of the Spring term; I had classes in the evening, workshops in the afternoon and I also agreed to train new instructors in the mornings. I started to feel the effects of the week on Wednesday, but I was determined to finish the week. It was raining on Thursday and the day started off crappy. Bad things always happen when it rains. I got an email from my trainee that morning saying that her and her boyfriend had to go back for another medical exam because they found some spots on his lung x-ray. And I started to think about what they might be going through. I left my house early that morning because I ... read more