Has anyone ever taken a taxi from Yongsan to Osan before? Did you take a base or downtown taxi? How much did it cost? Was it hard to find someone to take you?

I am about 37 weeks pregnant and can't stay at the Storks Nest at Yongsan because I have 2 kids at home. That would just not work for us. So, we are just planning on taking a taxi when I go into labor. I don't really see any other options! Maj. Throop was pretty rude about me not staying down there, but who is going to watch my kids down there when I go into labor? Where are the kids going to sleep/play/etc? Seriously-- do they think this works for people with kids? Anyway... any info on the taxi would be great!

Sounds like you need a lot of questions answered. There is daycare on both ends, but i'd guess you need a real friend in Yongsan! ASAP!
If you should get a taxi you'd better get a midwife to go with you, sometime traffic is a big problem, even if you got a base taxi, which is your only option since you want to be able to go right through the gate at Yongsan and directly to ER.

I guess I would suggest you contact these folks and see if better arrangements can't be made:
Army Community Services at Yongsan.
Red Cross at Yongsan.
Wives Clubs at Osan & Yongsan.
Most ladies get a relative or a housegirl to help with the kids at home.
If you don't get better suggestions from the folks listed above, I'd be surprised. Keep me posted.

Bri,

Is your husband not going to be able to maybe talk to his First Shirt, or someone there in his unit,and take leave, even chargeable leave while you're in labour? He and the kids may be able to stay in the Stork's Nest with you, or even at the Dragon Hill , so it might be like a vacation?

Another resource you might try checking into is Family Support, see if they have any help they can offer you?

I'd offer to try to help you myself, but we're going out of country very shortly..midtour..woohoo..and will probably not be back until after you've delivered

Dee

Dee-- We are still in the negative with Matt's leave because of some issues we had when we left our last base. So, we can't really afford to take more than a few days when the baby is born, if that. Living up there with the kids is just not going to work. My kids have been uprooted so much since we leave ND in December and I HATE to try to do that to them again. They don't sleep well without routine. When they don't sleep well, Mommy doesn't sleep well. :) I don't need omre stress. Besides that-- they expect me to go up there at 38 weeks and stay until I deliver-- which could be until 42 weeks. A month up there? That isn't going to work. They've pretty much spelled out my options for me. I either go up there early and stay, or stay here and go up there when I go into labor. I have a few people who will watch the kids when I go into labor. So, that is taken care of. I really don't see how much help anyone else could offer. I do not trust strangers to take care of my kids for weeks at a time. I am just praying that everything goes well and I make it up there in time. :) IF not-- its my third baby. I do it naturally. Matt can "catch" the baby if need be. haha

Oh, and he'll be taking leave when I go into labor. That isn't a problem. He'll be with me. But, I'll still need a ride up there. :) The hospital has said that they'll send an ambulance for me if I don't think I can make it up to Yongsan, but I don't want it to have to come to that.

MAtt's commander isn't very supportive of family members being here. I'm not too sure about his first shirt, I think he is just kind of in the middle. But, this really isn't an issue of CS or NCS. If I were here CS they'd still expect me to go up there and I'd still have issues with that.

Well i guess being in S. Korea has its disadvantages..

Im not being negative, but this is one familys situation, imagine all the others that are not CS also that commanders are dealing with...

I haven't asked the commander for one thing since getting here-- this situation included. Its not his responsiblity, and I'm not going to make it his. Even if I wanted to, this commander isn't exactly someone you can go to for help. Any commander that compares missing his mommy to airmen missing their wives and children, or complaining about not seeing his kids every day during an exercise to airmen who are away from their kids for a year is not someone I wish to deal with. My husband and I are pretty responsible and do our best to take care of things ourselves. He isn't some young E-1, E-2 that brought his family here. My husband is an E-6 that brought his family over because I'm pregnant and had pretty much no help back in the states. Might as well come here and have a little help from my husband. I'm frustrated with the situation because the military docs are completely uninterested in helping anyone. They have their set way of doing things and if you don't fit in, then who cares. I've dealt with the same stuff at every military hospital I've been to.

Sounds like you are pretty set in what you want to do. I see that you really are stubborn enough to do it your way, come Hell or High water.

Here is my last suggestion: Take a taxi to the Osan Medical facility and tell them when you feel you are in labor.
Then they will be "sharing" in the responsibility of the life of your child and your own health. At that time, depending on YOUR attitude, they will have an opportunuity to offer their ambulance to Yongsan or have the baby there.
Or you could refuse, and do it your way! Good luck!

Well I have experience here, The Dragon will NOT work with you. I had my son with me at the front desk and telling them that my wife was going into a major surgery, is there anything that you (the Dragon) can do to free up a room for a week or so? The answer was I'm sorry we are full. I also recieved the same answer from people that did not work at the front desk.

The Dragon is not for the military and is not there to help the Soldier....

__________________
CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

Todd,

Yes, you are definitely right, there are some disadvantages to being in S. Korea.. no one here has ever denied that, although some of us prefer to look at those disadvantages as challenges or opportunities to overcome. However, all in all, the advantages to being here far outweigh the disadvantages..

And I have to say, in response to your comment, that I seriously doubt that NCS families are the severe burden that you portray them to be...

As far as Brianna's situation goes, she is an exception to the rule, even among the spouses here, simply due to her *personal* choice, not to go to the stork's nest to deliver. For every one case such as Brianna's , there are probably 10 or so cases that are "normal", by procedural definition....10 or more cases that Commanders -never- hear about at all.

And Brianna, hon, please don't think that's meant as any slight to you, it definitely isn't. :) I'm only saying that your case is a little different than normal, and shouldn't be used as some sort of justification to say that NCS spouses create an undue burden on the military here.

I personally have never gone to my commander, my hubby's 1st, or his flight chief, for that matter, for -anything- save to ask if there was something I could volunteer to do to help them, or to deliver some homemade baked goods to them. Quite honestly, I've never actually known an NCS spouse who did go to their husband's commander to ask for any sort of special consideration or with problems..although I do know of several who have made it completely on their own with no help or request from help at all (Michelle P. You are awesome! :) )

And just as a point of reference, my question/suggestion about her husband talking to his first shirt, or commander *isn't* something that is unique to their presence here at Osan, I would have made the same comment no matter where she was stationed, as I personally believe that Fathers should be able to be present and help with pre-labor,and delivery arrangements, and taking leave to do so, and sometimes asking for special considerations due to family situations *isn't* location specific , occuring only at Osan. Basically, if you look at complications that come up during pregnancy as a burden to commanders, then you might as well say that spouses as a whole, anywhere, everywhere, are a burden... because as long as their are dependants there are going to be situations that come up...and those situations are *not* exclusive to S. Korea.

Let's flip this discussion, however,just for the sake of argument and information...

Let's look at the -contributions- and -benefits- that commanders are getting from NCS families here...

During the recent, March 8 Town Hall meeting, one of major accomplishments spoken of about the base was the impressive number of volunteer hours contributed by members of Team Osan. Who performed those hours? Not only AD members, not only CS spouses, but NCS spouses as well.

I -personally- have contributed a major amount of volunteer hours in the 6 months or so that I've been here, having volunteered at OAES,in the classroom, with the nurse,and with PTO activities, in chapel activities including the Awana and Awana JV programs, community service activities such as the Pearl S. Buck Christmas Party,and recent orphanage visits. I've also coordinated a book drive with a church back in the states that provided
over 300 children's books in English to an orphanage so that the kids there could utilize them in learning English.

And I'm only -one- of many NCS spouses here making a difference in the military community..at *one* base... and there are many that are making far more significant contributions.

Our own Mrs. Barnes not Noble is providing an -awesome- service to the Osan community with her service in the protestant parish here on base, and I know she puts in a great number of hours every week, doing a job that- guess what- hadn't been done before she arrived here! Thanks to her service (and this is just -one- of her many accomplishments, btw), the chapel is able to insure that background checks are done so that the children served here in Osan are kept safe.

Another one of my NCS friends at Osan, Alex, recently coordinated the Field Day for OAES... arranging activities, gathering and overseeing volunteers, running the games, making sure that everything ran smoothly.. in addition to her regular activities with volunteering in her classroom,etc.

JJ Kim, another former poster on this board (haven't seen her for awhile, JJ, if you still check in,drop me a note and say hi, I miss you! :)) stepped in and served as the volunteer coordinator for the Hospital, as an NCS spouse, as well as working with her child's classroom at OAES on a regular basis.

Michelle P., at Camp Humphreys, helps her husband with the NEO program there. She and her husband work together to help make certain that in the event of emergency, the spouses of those very commanders you say we are burdens to get off the peninsula safely.

Chuck's wife, Renee, works in the school there at Camp Humphreys, and makes a considerable contribution to her community by doing so.

And those are just a few that I know personally.. there are so many more unsung heroes out there making so many contributions to their communities.

Now,let's take a look at just how valuable NCS spouses contributions are financially to the overall welfare of the bases.. let's take my situation alone. Hmmm...1000 hours ( a conservative number, btw), x 8 bucks ( a paltry sum, and unrealistic, really, given the current gs pay system..it should probably be higher), that's at least $8,000 I've contributed to Osan, and it's command, not to mention hours that have been *directly* credited to my hubby's squadron, giving his commander excellent hours of community service that make the squadron as a whole look good. Now, add in all the other contributions made by NCS spouses...and I'd wager you're looking at a figure of *hundreds* of thousands of dollars of value in in-kind contributions to the military community here in Korea, as well as countless service hours that not only enrich the bases we live on, but show our best side to our Korean hosts.
Oh, and we can't forget to add in the financial incentive rewards that are afforded to bases in response to their volunteer hours.. I'm betting there's probably another couple of thousand dollars in there,too.

Now, let's look at some -intangible- benefits. AD members with NCS spouses present here are far more likely to have higher morale than those who are here unaccompanied.. and higher morale usually means higher productivity. I can tell you, my husband is far more likely to complain less about working long hours when he knows he's coming home to me, even if it's late, than he would be if he had nothing but a dorm to come to..and he's much better company to those he works with as well..so let's add a more pleasant work environment in there,too.

Hmm...how much time as a whole do Commanders, First Shirts, and Flight Chiefs have to devote to disciplining their troops? How many problems can arise from airmen breaking curfew, getting drunk, etc.? Quite a bit,and quite a few no doubt. Now, how many of those disciplinary hours involve AD members with NCS spouses? Relatively few , I'd wager, as most men who have their spouses here are far more likely to be engaging in more family oriented things, than prowling the streets and getting into trouble late at night. So, I'd say we save the command a bit of time and heartache in that aspect, too.

All in all, I'd say the military...and commanders are getting a pretty good deal overall with us NCS spouses. :)

It all depends on if you look at the glass as half-full, or half empty. :)

Dee :)

P.S. To all the ladies of this board, the ones in our community who *do* go out there and make a difference every day with what you do, *THANK YOU*, you are amazing, wonderful,and I appreciate you so very much!

That sounds like a pretty good idea to me. :)

(Wow, only a one line post...Mr. Joe, you've acheived a miracle! :) LOL :)