I'm a Seoul Man

Hey, Wayne in the comment section, Woody wants to know which Wayne you are!!

We began our day here in Korea with a hearty breakfast consisting of jelly donuts, muffin and a sausage croissant, found in the bakery downstairs at the hotel.

While standing in line we met the business manager of the hotel, who was interested in where we were from, what brought us here and questions about our trip. We told him about the time we had getting on base. He steered us in the right direction and within 15 minutes of breakfast, Woody had been electronically fingerprinted, had his picture taken and was in the system.

We were not sure what we wanted to do so we took the Seoul City Tour bus. This was much like a Grayline Tour in the US. We were able to get on and off at many stops. We were very disappointed, though, that many of the stops were closed due to a holiday. I think the girls were relieved that we did not have to go to all the temples and shrines.

We will try to visit one palace today if we can figure out the subway system.








Breakfast at the hotel










our transportation for the day





Ellie and her sausage croissant




Mrs. Didi, Emma is getting a lesson in moving
the decimal point. We've gone from yen to won
and having to move the decimal over three places
now.





Woodman waiting for the bus










Koreans love baseball too!























Traditional Korean folk dress



Seoul Tower. It was a hazy look out


But the ice cream was great!!


Strawberry for me



















Green Tea Ice Cream


Hey, the have locust shells here too!!




Three peas in a pod. Again waiting for the bus






a back alleyway in Insadong, a quiet neighborhood.





More of Insadong. It had lots of little quaint shops





How Great Thou Art!!!
So glad to see that God is alive
in this country.


Teamwork. Moving trash out of a house under construction.


















BR-549

Emma had never been in a phone booth before. It's hard to believe that there are any left today since everyone has a cell phone.




Sculpture in Insadong





Lunch on the street was less than appetizing. The sites and smells of Korean food did not tickle our senses. We opted for the Colonel instead.

















This sweet lady stopped Emma and wanted to feel
her skin. She kept saying, "Beautiful." When Ellie rounded
the corner, I said, "Mine too." She said, "Oh, beautiful also. Then she pointed to Emma and said, "Ma-mah," and then pointed to Ellie and said, "Pa-pah," and grinned. I acknowledged that yes, that's the case of who they look like.



Woody reading the international
paper while waiting on the bus to arrive.


Market at Namdaemun. Shops galore.


















Fruitcake lady



What's a shopkeeper to do if he has
not customers? Why, shave, of course.





Giving Woody a shave too.




















Shirt salesman - better than 90% off at
Dirt Cheap.




Oh where, oh where has my little
dog gone. Don't think theses guys
will end up in a bowl of noodles



Waitress on the streets.





















Another shirt salesman - or saleswoman??


Emma and her suitcase. Pink roller bags
were the rage at the Tokyo airport. She just
had to have one. I was too afraid to ask what all this stuff was.




Wildflowers outside gate at base Dragon Hill Lodge - our home for now

Welcome to the DMZ!!

We had such an uneventful day up until about 4:30 p.m. Smooth sailing from Okinawa back to Toyko - wonderful sushi in Tokyo airport, which I will post pictures of tomorrow.

Got luggage from Nippon Airlines, went through Immigration, rechecked through Korean Air, went through Immigration again and got through security with absolutely no problems.

While waiting for our flight, Emma began to hold her head. She gets migraines every so often, and I knew by looking at her that we might be headed in that direction. I gave her a Tylenol and tried to keep her mind on other things.

Flight was uneventful and she seemed to do well. I had gotten instructions from our hotel - which is a military-sponsored hotel - on how to get from the airport there.

We were to take a city bus from the airport to the Capital hotel and then take a cab to the Dragon Hill Lodge, which is actually located on a base in the middle of Seoul. (This tidbit will come in handy later on as I did not realize that it was on base. I thought it was "free world" like we had been in Toyko).

En route on the bus, Emma's head began to hurt again and the heavy breathing started. I just started praying that God would see us through to the hotel before she started throwing up.

We arrived at the Capitol Hotel and tried to get a cab. The bell captain told us that we have to have a special cab to take us on base, to go inside and use the phone by the bell stand. Emma accompanied me and we splashed her face with water and went into the restaurant and got some water and took another Tylenol.

I called the cab and the dispatcher told us to wait outside and a cab would be there in 15 minutes. The girls think that 15 minutes has passed after about three minutes and are beginning to doubt what we have gotten us into.

Finally a very nice man in a big car arrives and we are headed on our way to the hotel.

We pull into the gate and the driver asks us for our military ID. This is where it begins to unravel. See, I had only grabbed my little magic wallet that Gina gave me for my birthday that holds credit cards and has a place for dollar bills. I left my big wallet at home, which had my military ID.

Now we had been on four different bases last week in Okinawa and nobody had said "boo" to me. I had driven on base, through the gate, handed them Woody's ID and they saluted us on through.

The sentry at the gate said that we would have to go over to the office and sign me in under my sponsor (Woody). This is where we have the "lawd have mercy, help me Jesus" moment.

Woody presents his ID card to the guards - who happen to be civilian Korean rent a cops. They scan the card and it flashes up in yellow and black. "ID is not registered in BIDS system."

The guard says, "I'm sorry, but you cannot come on base because you are not in the system." Ellie is starting to hyperventilate, Emma's head is pounding worse, and I'm wondering where we're going to sleep tonight. It's 9:30 at night and we're in the middle of Seoul, South Korea, without a valid ID.

Woody asks them to get someone on the phone. While they are speaking in Korean, people are coming and going through the gate - Americans, Koreans, adults, children, grandmas and grandpas. All are presenting IDs and there's no problem.

As an American comes through the gate, I stop him and say, "Hey, can you tell me what the BIDS system is?" He said, "Yeah, it's biological ID system." I said, "Well, they won't let us in because we're not in the system." He shrugs his shouldersg and keeps on walking.

They finally put Woody on the phone to a guy at a desk somewhere else on base. He is telling him something in English with a Korean accent. Woody keeps telling him that we have a reservation at the hotel and he's not going off to war and they will not need to identify him on the battlefield. He only wants to check into the hotel and go to sleep.

Emma is constantly poking on my arm and saying, "Mama, tell him to be nice."

Between chemo brain and hearing loss as a result of chemo, Woody is getting more and more frustrated. He finally says, "Here's my wife. Talk to her."

They guy keeps saying, "Have you been on post before?" I keep telling him not this base, but we were on four different ones last week in Okinawa. I said, "We've shopped in the exchange, eaten at restaurants and we even went to the movie." I'm getting nowhere. I finally say, "Let me talk to your supervisor." He places me on hold and comes back to say his supervisor is outside but will be back in just a minute. When he comes back on the line, I hear a guy talking in perfect English saying, "They just need two forms of ID." At that point, the guy asks me if we have ID - Woody had already told him we had passports - and says to put the guard back on the line.

We were finally admitted. The sweet cab driver waited 30 minutes on us only to take us 200 yards inside the gate to the hotel.

It is a beautiful hotel with everything imaginable located within the walls. I told Woody that I'm thinking at this point we'll just hang out at the pool as I'm afraid to walk outside the gates of this base for fear I'll never get back in.

I've also decided after tonight I WILL NOT take a chance going to the DMZ!!

Here's what I found on the Internet on BIDS: Too bad we didn't know about it BEFORE we tried to get on base in Korea:

"As a result of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, installation security has become the number one priority for American organizations worldwide, especially within the U.S. military. Within the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) theater of operations, BIDS has been fielded and operational for a little over 6 months. Since its inception in May 2001, BIDS in Korea has been recognized as a successful force-protection-enhancement initiative. In light of the recent increased security, BIDS has established itself as a valuable tool by assisting with verifying personal identity to determine who is granted access to U.S. military installations in Korea. Our recent increase in force protection conditions (FPCON) has provided the perfect test bed for the system, therefore, solidifying its command value."

Lazy Sunday, Getting Ready for Monday Monday

Today we slept in, read the paper, learned how to French braid hair and just enjoyed lazing around. We laughed about funny things that have happened to us.

Woody reminded us all that he's the only one that has gotten a compliment since we've been here. I had forgotten about our visit to the O Club. He was concerned that we could not go in the dining room because he had shorts on.

We stopped at the desk where a beautiful young blonde girl was seated. She was obviously not Japanese. When he inquired whether he could go in with shorts on, she responded in a very British accent, "I do not think it should be a problem - besides you have such nice legs." The girls thought that was so funny. I told them if I had a quarter for every time a woman had commented on their daddy's legs, I'd be able to quit work!!

I still laugh about our first night here in Okinawa. Once again we had another strange toilet. I heard water running for a bit and I thought that someone must be taking a shower. Emma comes out a minute later soaking wet. She finally asked, "Mama, what's a bid - ette?" I said , "What?" She said, "A bid - ette." I could not imagine what she was talking about. She finally said, "There's a button on this potty that says b-i-d-e-t and it sprayed water all over me."

Fast forward 30 minutes later. I think I hear Woody getting a shower. He comes out soaking wet. I said, "Did that bid - ette get you?" He laughed and said, "Is that what it was?" I couldn't figure out how to flush the thing without my glasses. I just started pushing buttons." We all had a good laugh.

We wandered out about 1 p.m. looking for an open-air market that I had read about. We found the area and parked. Turns out the parking garage was for yet another department store. We all said that Miss Beverly would go crazy. It was like Wal-Mart times 10. Four floors with everything from groceries to a 100 yen store (exactly like Everything's a Dollar). One stop shopping for sure. They even have a food court.

Finally found someone who speaks English and he told us that the street vendors did not get out until about 5 p.m.

So.... that left us nothing else to do but eat. We all decided that we were ready for a true American meal so we opted for Chili's on base. It was delicious!!

We next decided to go to the movie and see Hairspray. Woody especially liked it seeing as he loved American Bandstand. The girls thought it was cute also.

We are heading to bed as we have to catch the shuttle bus to the airport at 9 a.m.

Will be broadcasting live from Seoul tomorrow night!!

Here are a few shots from today



Hotel "jammies" - meant to be worn
outside your room also. Many people wore
them down for dinner. Don't quite get it. Emma taking a little rest



Outside of our hotel. Driving up at 11 p.m. at night on the first evening with all these temple dogs lit up was a little frightening.



One of the attendants!!









Our landmark to turn on Gate 2 Street into the base. We called it the music Christmas Tree. Not sure it's purpose, but we were certainly glad it was there.














The sentry - our best friend. Can you tell us where the ___ is?







Sega Game store




View from the parking deck of the 4-story
department store.
















I told the lady at Chili's that Emma wanted
Pasta Alfredo.....





But she actually wanted Pasta Marinara






And what in the world was I thinking?????















Woody and Ellie had Quesadillas




One of the many tatoo parlors geared toward
servicemen - and now women!!





Another landmark for driving. This marks the area where many young people hang out. Must be a club as there are always people going in and out.












There goes Mr. Boatner again. I've decided that these people have it right. A vehicle should just be something to get you from point A to point B. No frills. We've gone four days on about $5 worth of gas.





Post movie snack of fries .......




..... and a root beer.



















Ellie's new hat!!











I certainly hope this moon is watching over you tonight!! It was so pretty