All I know is the taxi drivers here make you pray for your life.. and I thought I drove like a maniac I think we topped out somewhere at 100 on the way from the airport. We're at the dragon hill lodge right now. DD did very well on the airplane a LOT better than I had thought. I brought coloring books, little playing cards, the PSP and any other toys I could think of, you really can never have enough. As far as Korean Air.. Never met an american airline that could be that friendly.

We got here last night and DD and I fell asleep at about 9pm. I'm sure I'm jetlagged but was up for about 24hrs once I got here from the time I got up to catch the plane until I landed here and got to the room, because you know how much I hate planes, I didn't sleep at all, but once again didn't feel much turbulence and DD was taking my mind off the majority of it. I took the car seat but on the first flight to atlanta, she was miserable in it . The 2nd flight from atlanta to seoul she seemed much better in just the seat with the belt.

I don't think it's a culture shock yet. I guess because when we went to Cancun last year, it feels kinda like that. Some people speaking english and some not.... So that hasn't really bothered me yet. LOL

Looking forward to our 2 year tour here. So far, it seems pretty cool.

__________________

Ah, yes they drive like super maniacs here. I hate driving here but sometimes I have to. I feel like a target in our little bitty Kia Capital. I am used to driving a van and a truck, big and high up.

A target? LMAO You crack me up. I'm SO glad we didn't bring the VW over here.... wow.

We need to find a way to meet up soon

__________________

Let me know us know how eveything else went.

Welcome to Korea!

__________________
Have a Blessed Day!

Michelle

Girl20racer,

We will arrive in Korea on 15 May. I've contacted Yongsan housing office last month and it seems that my wife and son will reside in Hannam Village unless we get approval from the housing chief. Let me know how your housing experience in Yongsan turns out.

Well, we will fly from Europe to LA (14 hours) then again to Korea (11 hours). I wish my 4 month-old son stay calm throughout the flight.

Enjoy your stay in Korea!

Welcome to Korea! If you're experiencing jet-lag, you might want to get your hands on some melatonine for bedtime. Try to get out in the sunshine during the day and don't take naps. Jet-lag can be very brutal. Hang in there!

Believe it or not, taxis are much slower than they were 11 years ago. Yes, they're still terrifying, but there have been a few improvements over the years. They're the "best-worst drivers" in the world"!!

Take care and play hard!

__________________
A girl came off of the golf course complaining that she had been stung by a bee. The golf pro asked her where did it sting you? She said between the first and second holes. And the golf pro replied: well I can tell you right now that your stance is too wide!

Kinky Friedman

That road going from the airport into Seoul is one of the very few where you can really get up some speed and fly along. It's pretty much only used to get to and from the airport, so there isn't a lot of traffic on it (relatively speaking). Cops aren't really in the business of pulling people over for speeding in Korea - they leave that up to the speed trap cameras. Since the taxi drivers all know where the speed trap cameras are located on that road - they don't have to worry too much about getting busted for speeding.

After months of nothing but stop and go traffic in Seoul - it feels good to cruise along at a decent clip on those occasional trips to the airport.

Give it a few months...and you'll know exactly what I mean.

WOW, I am SO sorry you're trip is that long, dang I guess I should count my blessings. I hope your son sleeps through the majority of it, but it probably won't be too fun. I am not living on Yongsan. We're working on getting an apt in Uijongbu so that I will be able to see my husband more than on the weekends. However what I've learned about Yongsan is awesome, not so sure about the housing, but the post seems pretty well american... and lots to do.



Gotcha, thanks! Seems the jet-lag has worn off tremendously, yesterday I was still feeling it pretty hard.

We didn't bring a POV, however were authorized to. i will probably stick to subways and buses if need be, or obviously walking/bike. I miss my car already.

__________________

I live in Hannam and so far so good I am liking it and we have been here 14 months. We were in housing one week after arriving but that just could have been good timing. My husband is an E-7 so we live in one of the low rises. What is your rank? Yongsan is very top heavy and officers may have to wait longer than enlisted. "I" building which is a high rise is for E-8 and below, I always thought it was for E-6 and below but according to the Army housing website it's E-8 and below. The low rises are seperated that A, B, and C are officer housing and D, E, F are for E-7 and above but if you have more than 2 kids and below E-7 you can get in one of the low rises that has 4 bedrooms.
Here is a link to my photo album of our house the day we moved in. The kitchens in the lowrises are huge and some of the 3 BR units are bigger then ours and some are smaller. Some have realliy tiny master bedrooms, though. The bigger units have huge master bedrooms because my friend that lives in the same building as me lives in a bigger 3 BR unit and the master bedroom is just huge. I wish I had a unit like hers! Anyway, it will give you an idea what the low rises look like, I have no pics of inside I building but those units are kind of small and the kitchen is really tiny with a washer and drier unit next to the fridge, we had seen one unit when we were choosing. We were apparently lucky to have 3 units to choose from, some people don't get a choice like my friend but if she did I am sure she would have chosen her huge unit anyway.
http://picasaweb.google.com/burgwinj/Home