Today Victoria and I went off to the U.S. Airforce base at Pyeongtaek. Victoria has her veteran's card, and we were going to go to the post office, lunch at Chili's, and try to get into the BX to do some shopping. We got to the base and ran into some people from the new teacher orientation (remember, where I was food poisoned???).
Dini and James were presenters at orientation, and they remembered me (I'm hard to forget). We mentioned what we were doing there, and when we mentioned lunch at Chili's they told us that we were at the wrong base. We needed to go to the Osan base, located in Songtan. They gave us a ride.
Victoria found out that she couldn't get onto the base. Annoying. Dini got us into the base with her card (her husband James is a retired military guy). Anyway, they took us around the base. I was able to mail some packages home at a nice cheap price. We did some shopping at a convenience store, where we were able to buy great U.S. products. These included pepto bismol, nyquil, bologna, nachos, salsa, whoppers (the candy), corned beef hash, taco fixins. A total coup.
Dini and James took us to a free lunch held by the Veteran's support people. So, for lunch we didn't have Chili's. Instead we had New York strip steak, real salad with real dressing, corn bread, baked potatoe, sour cream, and chocolate cake. For free! This was the biggest piece of beef that I've seen in Korea. They do this every saturday!
Dini and James were a great help to us. They live only one town away, and have offered to help us out with anything that we need, including more trips to the base. On top of everything, they're super nice people. James is a tall and big guy, so he knows where I can get shoes and clothes and things. So, it's good to have connections that have been here for 5 years. A great day.
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2 comments:
i'm glad you found a source of comfort food!
Yay, you found pepto bismol!
I love whoppers (crunch) i could eat them them by the cartonfull!
Just want to let you know I've been reading your posts for months now (stumbled onto it via blog surfing) and I'm hooked. Didn't post before because I didn't sign up but now I'm officially a Blogspot member.
I love your insight into S. Korean society!
You are a strong person and you have a good sense of humor....I don't know that I could deal with some of the things you've had to....everything from lack of normal over-the-counter meds, unappetizing food choices, to not knowing the language and being so far away from close friends and family. You are doing really well for being totally immersed in a strange new environment.
Keep up the great posting.... people are reading!!!!
PS I love the engrish.com site.
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