Well I finally got to get out and go see some country side. I went out to Cheonan and to the Korean Independence Hall. Independence Hall chronicles the story of the Korean people's struggle to gain independence from colonial Japan. Independence Hall is actually more like a mall with 7 individual museums which tell the story from beginning to end of the struggles these proud people endured. I ended up getting there late so I was only able to see 2 of the museums but it was really quite interesting. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures I only added about 30 to the album for the sake of time and hopefully I will get to see some more soon. For more info see the Wiki page below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheonan
http://picasaweb.google.com/cwhulke97/CheonanIndependenceHall#
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, November 27, 2009
A Language Lesson
Well I just had my dinner at the chow hall here at Osan AB, it was pretty good. Now I feel incumbent upon me to pass along a little Korean. Don't worry it's nothing fancy just a few words that would help the average person do a little shopping and get around town. I will attempt to type it out phonetically so that everyone can pronounce it correctly. These are just a few things I learned the last time I was here and I hope to learn more. I will put the English translation in parenthesis. Here goes:
An ya hey say yo (Hello)
Come some knee da (Thank you)
Chun man ay yo (You're Welcome)
An ya (Good Bye) May not be totally proper on this one but it was what was taught to me
Odd ah she (Sir or Man)
Aj ji ma (Older Lady or Older Ma'am) either way it is what is said to an older woman if you don't know her name.
Ag a she (Younger Woman)
O ma (How much?)
O ma eem ni ga (How much is this?) A little more proper
Jo goom ka ka joo (Give me your best price)
That is about the extent of what I know. Like I said....I would like to learn more. And I will. I will pick it up the more I get out and about. I try very hard on the correct pronunciation of everything because I don't want to offend anyone by butchering their language, and it's the least I can do being a visitor in their country. Well, that concludes today's lesson and blog. I hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned more to come.
An ya hey say yo (Hello)
Come some knee da (Thank you)
Chun man ay yo (You're Welcome)
An ya (Good Bye) May not be totally proper on this one but it was what was taught to me
Odd ah she (Sir or Man)
Aj ji ma (Older Lady or Older Ma'am) either way it is what is said to an older woman if you don't know her name.
Ag a she (Younger Woman)
O ma (How much?)
O ma eem ni ga (How much is this?) A little more proper
Jo goom ka ka joo (Give me your best price)
That is about the extent of what I know. Like I said....I would like to learn more. And I will. I will pick it up the more I get out and about. I try very hard on the correct pronunciation of everything because I don't want to offend anyone by butchering their language, and it's the least I can do being a visitor in their country. Well, that concludes today's lesson and blog. I hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned more to come.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A Songtan Thanksgiving
Well today was a beautiful day here in Songtan City, South Korea. It wasn't too cold and wasn't overly warm...but one of those nice cool fall days. I went over to some friends house for some turkey and beans with hamhock and some good old fashioned greens as well as a host of other fixings. It was a very good dinner. My friend lives on top of a hill in Songtan which allowed me to get some really nice shots of the city from high up...at night that is. Then I took a little walk around down town and as promised I took some night life pictures of the Sinjang Shopping district at night. Surprisingly it was not overly busy downtown and the drinking was nowhere near what it used to be 10 years ago. So I hope everyone enjoys the pictures at night. I got myself a couple of tours I am looking into. The first of which is Gongju City...that holds the Tomb of King Muryeong-Wang as well as the Magoksa Temple. There are a couple other tours I plan on doing and I will post their names once it gets a little closer to going. It all looks really promising and I will for sure be taking a ton of pictures. Well, enjoy everyone and Happy Thanksgiving from South Korea!
http://picasaweb.google.com/cwhulke97/ASongtanThanksgiving#
http://picasaweb.google.com/cwhulke97/ASongtanThanksgiving#
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Painted Picture
Well today wasn't very exciting. I spent nearly 12 hours at work...and I am really tired. So what I intend to do here is paint you a picture of what Osan AB/Songtan City was like 10 years ago the last time I was here. First, let me start off by saying that 10 years ago Songtan City was nothing like it is today. You had vendors everywhere which sold virtually anything you could think of, and if you couldn't find it...you could get it made for you. All at very reasonable prices. Now, there are still vendors but, from what I can tell many of the old ones have went out of business due to more western businesses moving in.
The night life in Songtan City the last time I was here was very exciting. You had approximately 175 bars in the Sinjang shopping district ranging in size from large closets to large master bedrooms you would find in the average American household. The streets glistened with the neon lights of all the bars which played virtually any kind of music you wanted to hear. Nearly every bar that was here was considered a juicy bar. Juicy bars are essentially clubs that had several women of varying nationalities, most of whom were either Filipino or Russian however there were some Korean women as well. These women's jobs were essentially to sit with the male patrons and get them to buy them a drink called a "juice" which cost around $10 U.S. of which the bar made around $8 and the woman made about $2 of the cost of the drink. (Kinda crappy huh?) The worst treated of these women were the Russians. They would come to the country and lose their passports and visas...be forced to live with a host family in a room just large enough to hold a bed and a vanity dresser with approximately 6 to 7 other women. They were made to be home within 1 hour of the bar closing and could not leave until 1 hour prior to bar opening. Essentially they were slaves. The Filipino women weren't treated nearly as bad but had similar restrictions. Their other duty as bar mistresses was to try and get men to "bar fine" them...this was essentially what the woman was believed to be worth in one night to the bar...usually around $200 to $300. The man "bar fining" could then take the woman out of the bar and the women were "strongly encouraged" to go have sex with the man. (Organized Prostitution) all of which was ran by the Korean mafia. Nowadays there seem to be only Filipino women and there are considerably fewer bars...maybe around 50 to 75 now. Not nearly as lively as it once was. I'm not advocating the old ways but, just posting it as an observation.
The streets are still littered at night with the vendors who sell the Korean foods to the drunk and hungry men and women as they come out of the bars. Mostly, Yak i Man Du or chicken on a stick or maybe a Miss Kim burger. All of which are very tasty when drunk! But, I don't recommend them if you have a weak or intolerant stomach...especially to oils and greases. And...especially the Miss Kim's burgers. These are the most unchanged of everything that I can remember from my last visit...the street vendors at night. From my dorm I can smell the street vendors cooking their wares. All of which is home made and a definitive taste (in my opinion) of what life in South Korea is like. I will try to take some pictures of the night life on my next trip down town at night to show everyone.
The night life in Songtan City the last time I was here was very exciting. You had approximately 175 bars in the Sinjang shopping district ranging in size from large closets to large master bedrooms you would find in the average American household. The streets glistened with the neon lights of all the bars which played virtually any kind of music you wanted to hear. Nearly every bar that was here was considered a juicy bar. Juicy bars are essentially clubs that had several women of varying nationalities, most of whom were either Filipino or Russian however there were some Korean women as well. These women's jobs were essentially to sit with the male patrons and get them to buy them a drink called a "juice" which cost around $10 U.S. of which the bar made around $8 and the woman made about $2 of the cost of the drink. (Kinda crappy huh?) The worst treated of these women were the Russians. They would come to the country and lose their passports and visas...be forced to live with a host family in a room just large enough to hold a bed and a vanity dresser with approximately 6 to 7 other women. They were made to be home within 1 hour of the bar closing and could not leave until 1 hour prior to bar opening. Essentially they were slaves. The Filipino women weren't treated nearly as bad but had similar restrictions. Their other duty as bar mistresses was to try and get men to "bar fine" them...this was essentially what the woman was believed to be worth in one night to the bar...usually around $200 to $300. The man "bar fining" could then take the woman out of the bar and the women were "strongly encouraged" to go have sex with the man. (Organized Prostitution) all of which was ran by the Korean mafia. Nowadays there seem to be only Filipino women and there are considerably fewer bars...maybe around 50 to 75 now. Not nearly as lively as it once was. I'm not advocating the old ways but, just posting it as an observation.
The streets are still littered at night with the vendors who sell the Korean foods to the drunk and hungry men and women as they come out of the bars. Mostly, Yak i Man Du or chicken on a stick or maybe a Miss Kim burger. All of which are very tasty when drunk! But, I don't recommend them if you have a weak or intolerant stomach...especially to oils and greases. And...especially the Miss Kim's burgers. These are the most unchanged of everything that I can remember from my last visit...the street vendors at night. From my dorm I can smell the street vendors cooking their wares. All of which is home made and a definitive taste (in my opinion) of what life in South Korea is like. I will try to take some pictures of the night life on my next trip down town at night to show everyone.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
A walking trip through Sinjang Shopping Mall in Songtan City.
Well I took a little walk today down to Songtan city for a little shopping. I've been really busy with work so I am sorry I haven't updated this in a while, but I am sure I will be able to update more frequently as time goes on. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. I will post more from the true country side as soon as I can get out into it. Enjoy! O.K. well apparently there is an issue with the Java script for uploading the pictures here on Blogger so go to this site:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cwhulke97/WalkingTripThroughSinjangShoppingDistrictInSongtanCity?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/cwhulke97/WalkingTripThroughSinjangShoppingDistrictInSongtanCity?feat=directlink
Saturday, November 7, 2009
I landed safely....more to follow
Well, I landed safely at Incheon International Airport last night. That was one long freaking flight! After traveling for nearly 24hrs to get here...my boss wanted to take me out for drinks and to meet my fellow shop personnel. So I went....had a couple of drinks and then came back to my hotel room and got some sleep...It is now 8:24 A.M. Sunday morning (Korea Time). I will most likely be posting in the evening time here on most work days but I felt I needed to update it today. I will probably start taking pictures today and start posting them after edits sometime tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned as I have a lot of neat stuff to show everyone over the next year and I hope everyone enjoys!
Cheers!
Cheers!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Leaving on a Jet Plane I don't know when I'll be back again......
Well I leave tomorrow morning bright and early. I'm not looking forward to the flight...it's a long one. Nearly 24hrs of travel time in all...counting layovers and what not. I'm already missing my family but everything will be fine...I have faith. Well I'm signing off for the next 24hrs or so.....I will post again after my arrival and check in to the TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility for those non-military folks) lodge at my new base.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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