The View

Well hello everyone! I attached a couple of pictures from my room on the ninth floor of my building. So far it has certainly been a journey. If you have been keeping up with the blog, I will start where Guinny left off.

So work is slowly coming to be. In-processing has been a bit lengthy and slightly troubling. K-16 is such a small facility that I have to actually go to another post to get groceries for food or equipment needed for in-processing. Well that might be fine and dandy in the states, however over here its a pain! Let me start off by saying I don't have a car or maybe I should say I don't have a "hooptie" yet. The good news is soldiers sell them to one another for a few hundred bucks when leaving for the states. When I say a few hundred I mean just that. These cars are so ugly and worn out I don't think a junk yard would take them in the states! But it has four wheels a seat belt and can get you from point A to point B when need be. With Guinnny's approval I will be purchasing a car in the next few weeks. I will follow up with pictures once the transaction is complete. But I must warn you, not to view while drinking any sort of beverage. Due to the fact it may come shooting out of your nose! Okay we will move on from the car deal.

At the office it is busy like all get out. A shortage of pilots keeps the boys flying non stop. Once I am RL progressed to the max, I will soon be busy myself. I have a follow on responsibility of running the company ALSE shop. To keep from boring you on the specifics I will let you know that it to will keep me super busy. So work looks good, and should make the time here fly! No pun intended;)

The good news is Guinn can come and visit when ever she feels like. She is able to stay as much as 90 days! Haha but really its no prob for her to come and visit for as long as her schedule will allow. She is permitted to stay in my little one bedroom apt on post, so no cost is incurred during her stay. I like that mucho!

I did have the opportunity to go out with the guys from work last Friday. It was great to actually be "off the clock" and get to know the guys. I had a great time and the guys (though some are leaving) have been exceptionally helpful in trying to prepare me for flight line. We went to Hooters of all places in Seoul. We went to the rich district of Seoul that closely resembles Manhattan NY. All the females and males alike were very fashion oriented even though I'm probably the last person that should be giving fashion tips:) We rode the subway to our destination. Let me start off by saying I was a freak show on the ride for sure. Not as if the people were paying to get a ride home as much as seeing the super tall American hanging out in their subway car. Needless to say we were so packed in that thing that some Koreans literally had their face pushed up against the glass. That being said they all still wanted to point, smile, and laugh at me as I uncomfortably tried to blend into their culture. Not happening! Some of the boys wanted to make a night of it so my boss and headed home by grabbing a taxi outside of hooters. Thank god Scott knew a little Korean otherwise I probably would have ended up in China if it were up to me. But we made it home safely, and yes we made it well in time for curfew. That was my segway...

Military personnel have curfew's over here. Week nights we have to be back on post and in our buildings by midnight mon-thurs. On the weekends its 0300 hrs. That's 3:00 am Lynn just in case you were wondering;) Haha but its no joke! The MP's will bust you if you don't follow the rules, and they are out on the town with you! So if you get out of line they will scoop you up and take you back to post and throw you in the slammer quick, fast, and in a hurry. But that has been my only night life experience since my arrival.

But all in all it has been going really well. Keep your eyes peeled as time continues and I will keep yall up to date on flying and keep the pictures coming. Keep checking in with Guinny and Bailey, as they both will always have the "up and up" on the scoop. Miss everyone, look forward to hearing from you!

And of course I miss my beautiful wife and love her dearly. Her support along with all of you will make this experience a great one. Stay tuned. Oh and be a good dog Bailey... BEEEZ!

*Clayton*

K-16

A lot has happened since the last post.  Sorry I have not been more punctual with keeping our blog up to date.  

Since the last post Clayton found out that he will no longer be station at Camp Humphreys.  He is now stationed at K-16 which is located near Yongsan and a short subway ride to Seoul.  Poor Clayton he went from thinking he was going to be living in "Wonderland" (called that because Humphrey's is a large post with many amenities) to now live on an airfield with a few buildings.  He was fortunate to get the last remaining officers quarters.  He is living in a nice one bedroom apartment on the 9th floor.  Apparently it is the room to have according to guys in his company.

One of Clayton's first duties is to run the ALSE shop for his company.  He will have two "KATUSA's" and a civilian working for him.  Katusa's are Korean army guys that work for the US Army.  There are not a lot of pilots where he is so he should be able to rack up on the flight hours. 

Clayton is settling into his apartment the best he can right now.  His household goods from the states have not arrived yet.  He does however have internet and a mailing address.  Just e-mail us if you are interest in the address.  

His first day of work is Monday so I am sure there will be more stories to tell soon.

Out on the Town

Well holy hannah we went out on the town today.  It was just five officers that were allowed to go.  The rest of the privates took a bus back to Incheon to look at pottery.  So we were allowed to hit the town!  We took a cab about two miles into the city here next to Camp Stanley and ate lunch.  Not a single thing was in english and needless to say it was a bit challenging to order. 

 

By the end of the order all the locals were laughing at us because we had ordered a TON of food!  It cost 32,000 thousand (won) for my dinner alone.  Roughly about $20 bones.  This was a more upscale place but it was awesome!  All the food was wonderful, minus the kimchi (sp?).  I have to say I'm not really a big fan.  Guinny everything is super spicy so you might have a rough time.  Its not like American spicy though, its kinda hot going down but doesn't continue to burn your mouth afterwords.  All in all a wonderful experience.

 

After lunch we walked around and looked at the shops and checked out the local scenery.  Surprisingly clean everywhere we went.  All the Koreans have been super nice.  I attached a couple photos of me feeding my face.  I miss and love everyone! 

Beach Bum

So I got thinking, Why should this only be about Clayton's year? I'm in this too, so here is a little about what I have been up to.  

One week down!! It gets a little easier as each day goes by.  This weekend was a blast on Tybee.  Friday night was the annual Beach Bum Parade.  It is a huge island wide water fight and everything is fair game except no water balloons, no hitting the cops, and no opening people door and squirting water in, however if their door or window is already open

ed it's fair play.  Needless to say Amber, Zach and I were soaking wet before we eve

n got to the festivities.  It was the

 craziest thing I had ever been apart of.  People young and old took part.  I'm not lying, there was a couple that could be my grandparents running (slowly) around and shooting people.  But don't worry we had on helmets!! I have not laughed that hard in a long time.  Next year everyone needs to come and experience Beach Bum.  Who doesn't like a water fight?

Camp Stanley

I have only had this blog for 4 day and I am already slacking off.  Sorry guys!  Clayton made it to Camp Stanley Tuesday, our Monday!  I have been thankful to talk to him twice a day.  My 6 a.m. when he is getting ready for bed and my 5 p.m. when he is waking up in the morning.  They have all been very brief but it is nice to hear one another's voice.  Clayton tried to post a blog himself but the internet will not work on his computer yet.  He went to the library to check his e-mail and try to write a blog but the font was in Korean so needless to say he didn't get very far.

Clayton will be at Camp Stanley for a few weeks while he is in processing.  In processing will take 5 days and then he has to complete a 5 day junior leadership course that will start next Thursday.  He will not be able to complete the course in 4 consecutive days since next weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, thus making his time at Stanley longer.  Once he leaves Camp Stanley he is off to Camp Humphreys and his permanent room.  

Clayton said so far everything is going smoothly.  He will be allowed 30 days leave while over there which he will probably take when I come visit so we can do the sight seeing thing and act like tourist and to spend more time together of course.  Well it is almost time for him to be calling again so I better go get my phone.  As soon as I know more you'll know more!!

Clayton has landed!

Clayton survived the 14 hour flight and has made it to Korea in one piece.  I missed his first call, bummer, but woke up when the voicemail went through around 3 am Tybee Time. Luckily I was able to Skype him around 6 am.  He had just got to his hotel room at the Dragon Hill Lodge and I was getting ready to go to work.  There is a 13 hour time difference if you live in the Eastern time zone so getting in touch with one another should be interesting.  I was able to speak with Clayton again at 4:30, so far I think I'm pretty lucky to have talked to him twice in one day. It was 5:30 am in Korea and he was just about to begin a day full of in processing. Hopefully we will have our questions answered.  It is unclear when I will hear from him again as he is not sure where he is going today and for how long.  I, along with Clayton will try to keep you as up to date as possible as this year long journey apart begins.