Day 2

Last night, after another dead-to-the-world power nap, a friend of Don's from the AF, Double D, as he's known, came over and we all went for Korean BBQ. Shoes off, sit on the floor, all kinds of side dishes, soup, rice, sauces, and beef that the waitress put on a sunken grill in the center of the table. Very tasty! We then went out and hit a bunch of nightlife spots. There are innumerable bars and clubs, all designed to entertain the Americans. We hit some basic bars, and two dancing clubs, where mostly Phillipinas, seductively dressed, hang out essentially to get the guys to buy drinks. They take turns dancing on a stage with a pole, but it ain't no Sopranos. It's an odd scenario: military boys who've never seen so much live flesh before, let alone had access to it. Women who left home and who are trying to make money to send home, quite possibly led to believe they'd be doing something more artistic. What I saw looked pretty regulated, but you know that there has to be some prostitution. MPs were always a presence at all spots, making sure nothing got unruly. Flower women roam the streets and bars and clubs, aggressively and relentlessly trying to sell flowers to any men near a woman.

The curfew on base is 1am, and at 12:30 Don's friend (who had just gotten back from an assignment in Thailand) got the word that there would be a recall that night--meaning a war drill, essentially. They'd all probably be back working at 1:30 am. Whew. That pretty much killed his buzz.

Other observations: no maps/street names/addresses off of the main thoroughfares. A formal address is something like: this section of town, by the park, across from the big tree. Maps are not to be found. You can't really ask how to get to an address, so you'd better hope that someone knows what place you're talking about and can give you good left-and-right info. I haven't had to ask yet, but it should be interesting whenever it happens! And while you're wandering the streets, don't expect that vehicles will be stopping at red lights or generally following any rules. Especially the mopeds--they compete for street and sidewalk space and will run. you. down. Yikes. And if that isn't scary enough, the sound of an F16 screaming through the sky directly overhead, and not very far overhead, will put the fear of God into you mighty fast. A terrifying noise--you can't help but cover your ears, duck, and hope that your heart will resume beating asap.

As far as language goes, I can now say "my name is Sandy" "It's very nice to meet you" and "thank you." THere are all kinds of dialect variations, and it seems that I memorized a 1-10 that won't get me very far, so I'll have to start again there. The Hangul characters all stand for sounds, not symbols that stand for words or concepts, so that will be relatively easy to learn. More like phoenetics with different symbols.

The plan for the day, whenever Don gets up (I found a trail of Diet Coke cans from the main room to his bedroom this morning... I slept about 6 hours and will surely need another snoozefest), is to go tour base, get some American breakfast, and for him to shop at the commissary for me. Sometime in the afternoon the Hash House Harriers gather to run and drink...or drink, run and drink. Oh, my liver! Speaking of which, the two Korean beers that seem to be the only offerings, are OB and Red Rock. Both lager-y. Neither very exciting. But hey, it's beer!