TexasRedRock

JK-PAC / CPT Mercer, When I was stationed on Okinawa, I enjoyed eating TRC. Taco Meat, topped on Rice, and then covered in Chedder cheese. They also have the Orion Beer festival there. I had Army buddies ( I was a Marine on Oki) that said you can get the best electronics in Korea. Make sure you drop by the Armed Forces section, there is an EOD guy that has/was/or still is in Korea, he would be a good info source. Welcome to Active Army, we are allways in need of some good Doc's. SGT Gil / TexasRedRock

HappyCurmudgeon

I was at Osan for a few years myself, absolutely loved it.
~Love those mink blankets, I still have one on my bed and people constantly try to steal it on me. Still got piles of the little bronze/brass trinkets.
~get the wife a nice jewelry box while you are there, there are some great ones to be had cheap, - you'll find out what i mean. The shopping is an experience in and of itself.
~I think it actually snowed where it stuck about 3 times total when i was there (over two winters) but there where days when it was just brutally cold on the flightline, and damned near arctic in the back of a JG.
~Rains like a mo-fo in the deluge season, and you'll swear it'll never stop... then one day BAM it's over and everything is the most beautiful shades of green that you will ever see
~ taking the wife is a good thing in my eyes. I saw a lot of married's end up leaving there divorced. The temptations are pretty strong. (and not worth it imho)
~hike the mountains, they are AWESOME
~make plans to hit Chejudo Island. It's just plain gorgeous. Period. One of the top 5 places i ever was.
~Soju is not your friend, it makes you wake up in ditches, eat crap you would otherwise NEVER stuff under your nose, or come to in places where you will happily gnaw your own arm off to escape undetected.
~Soju is unregulated, and therefor highly unpredictable in it's effects.
~Yakimondu is skanky when your not laced with Soju.
~The aftertaste of that stuff the next morning will take the enamel off your teeth and the paint off the walls.
~the older Koreans are awesome
~the younger ones, 20-30age group, will likely not care much for you.
~blondes are a commodity.
~redheads are the devil.

Mark Doiron

Rosetta Stone? Heh-heh. My first personal computer, which I bought during my last tour there (Guam) had 8K of RAM. If you wanted software, you had to write it yourself. And save it to a cassette tape (no hard drives). And that was my last tour. I did pick up quite a bit of Thai--and my first wife (who now lives in Georgia) was Thai. Never bothered with Tagalog because the Filipinos mostly spoke English. And in Guam everyone speaks English.

Interestingly, my son took two years of Japanese in high school, and is continuing with a self-study program as he enters college this fall.

JK-PAC

Thanks to everyone for the advice
I spent 3-4 hrs last night reading "Army Standards in Korea"....and it does look like it will be a pretty big culture shock. Sounds like I have to get my hands on some mink blankets....lol.

I think one of my buddies is going to have about two-years of JEEP -watching/sitting to do

Freetail_Rubicon

I'll be happy to volunteer

In all seriousness, good luck over there and on behalf of all of us back home, thanks for serving!

JK-PAC

Hey Freetail...thanks for the reply..


Any good spots to wheel in San Antonio? I'll be there from Aug 2nd-October at Fort Sam for OBC with the JK


Thanks,

Chris

Momma T

Good luck, you'll definitely enjoy having someone with you over there. My daughter and son-in-law saw 2 yrs in Osan. They still talk about no one takes pennies over there. So don't take any pennies with you. Everything is rounded up. See some of Seoul, they did like that, but they were on the flight line most of the time so didnt get to see as much as they wanted. Take advantage every chance you get to see the country, definitely a chance of a lifetime. Even tho the kids didnt care for it, I know they will look back later and think about what all they did do and how they did it, just give them time. I cant say enough about the mink blankets, definitely wonderful here in the Midwest, daughter sent me one and I would give up most everything but the husband, son and the JK before the blanket!!

wiredawg_mg

Wow this brings back old and somewhat fuzzy memories.

I was in Kunsan in 94-95 and as many have already mentioned just leave you JK at home. You can drive it around when you are on leave and it will be waiting for you when you get home.

HC is right about the Soju, it is wicked and somehow wonderfulat the same time. There will be a party going on somewhere all the time.

I loved the Yaki both while drunk or sober, it was extra good when you are drinking

My wife was able to visit twice while I was there and we had a great time together,

So good luck to you both and enjoy the culture, just avoid thing with tenticles

JK-PAC

The info has been great so far....thanks to all who have contributed



Chris

nuge

yongsan is the best base in S korea, IMO. i was at camp casey in tong du chon from 98-99. we tried to get to yongsan every chance we got. dont know how to spell it, but e tai won is a blast. the kings club and the kettle house are pretty cool bars. when i went, there were usually russian and german models there, seeing since its by seoul. make sure you go play in the mountains. thanks for your service.


ps. i wheeled a humvee with a .50 cal on it while i was there!