My Crazy But Awesome Aunts

So I went to the mailroom on post here today to check my mailbox knowing that the chances of there being anything in there not very likely since I only sent my address home about a week ago. Add that with the speed of mailing things overseas and I figured the chances of me getting anything within at least a month not very likely. Imagine my surprise when I opened my box and there was something there. I pulled out the slip of paper only to find out that I had a package waiting for me. I received my package and looked at the address and found out that it came from ....

Yes it's true, they  are wild and crazy. I walked up the stairs to my room wondering the whole way what they could have sent me. I got up to my room and opened the package up and pulled out this . . .

I couldn't help but wondering why in the world would my aunts send me a stuffed animal. Upon reading the tag attached to it I realized the purpose.

Ah. If only I had this while I was still in Virginia. It would have gotten a lot of use there. Included in the package was an assortment of other papers and pictures.

I read the included information and laughed a lot. It is a common thing for lots of laughs to be included with letters from aunt Karla and Diane.

Thank you aunt Karla and aunt Diane. I really love it. I really appreciate the thought that you put into these things and all the letters you sent me throughout AIT. Thank you for all the laughs that you provide me. Just thinking about some of the things written about in the letter makes me laugh whenever I think about it. Thanks

Hope you all have a great day.

Andy

Korean Phrases

Some of you have asked me if I have been learning to speak Korean. Well I have only really learned a few phrases. I figured I would post some of them for you and let you try to learn them as well.

1. An-nyeong-ha-se-yo. . . . . . . . .Hello

2. Kam-sa-ham-ni-da. . . . . . . . . .Thank you

3. Mi-an-ham-ni-da. . . . . . . . . . . I'm sorry

4. Sil-leh-ham-ni-da. . . . . . . . . . .Excuse me

5. Do-wa-ju-se-yo . . . . . . . . . . . .Help me

6. Wha-jangsil-e-odi-yeyo . . . . . . .Where is the restroom?

7. Jooseyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Please give me _______

8.  Eol-ma-ye-yo . . . . . . . . . . . . .How much is this?

9. Bee-ssa-yo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  It is expensive

10. Ggagga-jooseyo . . . . . . . . . . Give me a discount

11. Yogi, Chogi . . . . . . . . . . . . . Here, There

12. Oh-run-jok, When-jok . . . . . . Right, Left

13. Ne, Aniyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes, No

There you have it. You can now say you can speak Korean. Hope you all have a great day.

Andy

Memorial Day

So today is memorial day. I have to admit that in years past I never really thought about the true meaning of this holiday. I thought about it more as a day off from school and work. This year however, this holiday had taken on a new meaning for me. I realized just a portion of what it takes to be deployed and be away from your family for several months. I am so much more thankful for those that have gone before me and provided those freedoms so that others don't.

The Medal of Honor is our nations highest award for military valor. It is reserved for those soldiers whose actions are so extraordinary, risky and above and beyond the call of duty that nobody would have criticized them for choosing to do something else instead. There has only been 3,459 of these medal ever awarded since it's creation during the civil war. Here are two examples of soldiers that got awarded the Medal of Honor.   

The first being that of Marine Corporal Jason Dunham. Cpl. Dunham was on a patrol in Iraq on April 14, 2004 when an Iraqi insurgent jumped out of a car and grabbed him around the neck. They began fighting in hand to hand combat when  Cpl. Dunham saw the insurgent drop a hand grenade. Instead of moving away from it and saving his life Cpl. Dunham realized the risk to the rest of the Marines in his squad and instantly placed his own helmet over the grenade and laid on top of the helmet, in the hope of containing his blast and protecting his men. Cpl. Dunham succeeded in protecting his men but lost his own life while doing it.

The second is Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith. SFC Smith was leading his helping to construct a enemy POW holding area near Baghdad international airport on April 4, 2003 when his task force was attacked by a large group of insurgents. Fearing his men would be overrun SFC Smith moved under withering enemy fire to a disabled armored personal carrier to man a .50 caliber machine gun. In total disregard for his life he maintained this exposed position in order to engage the enemy. It was during this that SFC Smith was killed. His courageous actions resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed and the safe withdraw of numerous wounded American soldiers. 

I have one simple request of everyone now. I ask that you take one minute of your day and remember the soldiers who have died, the soldiers still fighting all over the world, and all the families who have lost a loved one in battle.

Andy

Not Much Going On

So as you all should know, Monday is memorial day. Since this is a federal holiday most every military post should be having a four day weekend. That means I have Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off. I know I am going to hear about how much of a slacker I am too. But let me say I am looking forward to two days without PT. I don't mean to brag but I am actually very proud of this but on Friday for PT we ran 4 miles without stopping. In total this week I ran about 10 miles. That is something I never thought I would be able to say, so I am quite proud of myself.

Anyway, today some of my friends and I decided to go down to Yongson today to pick up some things that Camp Eagle doesn't have. Our primary goal was to take advantage of a free cell phone offer to all incoming soldiers in Korea. This however turned out to be a big letdown because you would still have to go into a contract with them which would go past your one year in country, plus you had to return the phone at the end of your time in country. So in essence I would be back in the states paying for a phone I didn't have anymore.

I had my camera with me today but only took three pictures and they are all boring but oh well.

This is a large tower near Yongson. I don't really know what it is but I believe it is another observatory.

Some random buildings on the post in Yongson.

This will take some explanation. If you zoom in you will see this is a "crossing guard". On AFN(armed forces network) there is a very cheesy commercial which features this guy telling people to be safe. When I saw this I couldn't resist taking a picture of a real TV star.

The best part of the day however was something that happened on the bus ride to Yongson. We passed by a park where I happened to see children circumvolving by body wrestling! It was one of the funniest things I've seen here.

That's about it for now. Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Andy

A HUGE Thank You

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who posted a comment wishing me a happy birthday. I was amazed when I got on on today and saw that there was over 30 comments.

It really helped to improve my day. I will admit that when I woke up on Wednesday I was a little depressed. I have had those moments of homesickness since I got to Korea but for the most part I have been pretty good. However it really hit me when I realized that I wasn't going to see my family that day except for through webcam.

I am so blessed that God gave me the wonderful family that I have. They stay up late every night so that they can talk to me online during my lunch break. They have never hesitated to do anything for me or send me things that I may need and they have been extremely supportive over the last several months. I thank God every day for my family.

I have also received some comments asking questions about things over here so I figured I would take a moment to answer some of them.

First off, yes there are three guys that were in my class in AIT that are now with me here in Korea. One of them was one the flight over here with me and the other two came a week after me.

Second, yes aunt Cheri there is stuff on TV that is in English. There is a group of channels that is the Armed Forces Network which has ESPN, movies, regular shows etc. also we get certain HBO channels and a few Korean channels. The best part is through AFN we don't have to pay for any pay-per-view events that are on. Which means that I can watch all the UFC events that I want. Yesssss!

Third, my roommate is a good guy. He has been in country for a couple months so he knows the goings on around here and has been very helpful when I need to know anything.

I guess those are the main three. If you have any more questions feel free to ask them I will do my best to try and answer them.

Once again thank you to every one for wishing me a happy birthday and to everyone who prays for me and all the other soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. I truly appreciate it.

Andy