Lana and I spent our Valentine's Day weekend in Seoul together enjoying some Korean culture and good food. On Friday around noon we caught the high speed train from Iksan (a town about 30 minuets from Kunsan) to Seoul, which took about 1 hour 45 min...there were times when the train reached 300 km/hr helping the trip to go quickly. After arriving, we took a cab to the Yongsan Army Base to pick up our Fiat Bravo we had shipped from Italy about 2 months ago. We also spent our nights at The Dragon Hill on base which is right in Seoul city with easy access to the subway. After resting a bit Lana and I met up with a couple, Josh and Sabine, we briefly met the weekend before while at Osan Air Base for some dinner. They are in the Navy and Josh flies the F-18 Hornet. I had a flight scheduled with him earlier last week for some 1 vs 1 BFM, but sadly it was cancelled. It worked out we both had plans to stay at The Dragon Hill for the weekend and after enjoying a great Jordanian meal and a couple drinks in Itaewon, we called in a night.
The next day Lana and I wanted to see a palace and decided on Changdeokgung, a traditional Korean palace preserved in the heart of Seoul. Parts of this palace were actually used up until the mid 1990s. When you think of a palace, we're used to envisioning one huge single building or castle. In Korea, and probably across Asia in general, their palaces consisted of many different buildings to form more of a palace "grounds". Changdoekgung spans 110 acres of land, has 41 different buildings and pavilions and also has a garden with small lakes. Lana and I thought it was very interesting and felt we were walking in a completely different world. After our tour of the palace we spent some time in Insadong, a well known shopping area in Seoul, before making our way back to Itaewon for some Indian food this time. One of our favorite foods is Indian...great curry and nan bread makes my belly happy! After dinner we went to the base theater for a movie to wrap up our Valentine's Day. Sadly, Lana flew back to Munich today, but as long as her flying schedule works out she'll be back to Korea in three weeks! It was great having her here over the past couple of weeks and she's slowly getting adjusted to our new living situation...although, it'll never be easy. She knew one of the wives here visiting her husband, so it made the transition here a little easier.
The flying has been going well and I'm now back to flight lead status after a few rides. I've led a few flights to different parts of the RoK and am feeling confident again being on the "pointy" end as lead. I'm also getting more involved with the new job in OGV, especially since the chief has been gone on leave the past couple of weeks. Lots of responsibility, but I'm up for the new challenges ahead. Five weeks have passed already, and it seemed to go fast...I won't complain if it continues that way! Until the next time, fly safe and check six!
More Pictures:
Korea - Jan/Feb 2009
More Pictures:
Korea - Jan/Feb 2009
