The Ubiquitous Red Bean

I've decided that red beans are to Korea what whipped cream is to the United States. When I think of red beans I think of dinner. When Koreans think of red beans they think of dessert. They are found everywhere from doughnut/pastry fillings, to ice cream toppings, to even the topping of Starbucks frappacinos. I suppose it makes sense that whipped cream wouldn't be the go-to dessert topper because  South Korea that doesn't have much land to spare to raise and feed cows, but replacing it with red beans was a bit of a culture shock to me.

Back in 2009 I became accustomed to seeing a red bean paste as a filling of desserts, and even enjoyed a few of them myself. However, walking into a Starbucks in Korea last month and seeing that red beans and moved to a new category and became the topping of the frappacinos led me to be torn between "oh my gosh that is too weird!" and "oh my gosh I have to try that!"  After weeks of looking at it and not getting up the nerve to try the combination, I finally took the leap as I was at the airport getting ready to fly back to the States. Granted, the fact that I was coming down with a cold and a frappacino, with or without red beans, sounded like just the thing to help sooth my throat may have played a part in helping me along.

Would you like some fiber with your coffee?

The overall taste wasn't too bad, but it was a bit strange sucking up a bean through the straw and mixing the bean texture and taste with the coffee frappacino taste. I'm glad I tried it, but I think I will stick to whipped cream from now on.

He Called!

Joe called! It was so nice to be able to hear his voice again after not having talked to him since I left South Korea. We had communicated a few times via text message, but he wasn't able to talk on the phone while he was in the field. He finally got back to his room late Sunday morning and ended up sleeping until late in the afternoon. I don't blame him!  He was out in the field, sleeping in the vehicles when there was time to sleep (which I doubt he had much time to sleep), and it rained the whole time. I also don't blame him because twice this week I've slept until late in the afternoon because my body has no idea what time zone it is in yet.

When he called this morning it was 4am in my time zone and I had only just fallen asleep. I woke up instantly when the phone rang because I knew he would be the only person calling me at that hour and I had been waiting all day to talk to hear his voice. Neither of us are much for talking on the phone (skype is a godsend though) and I have even more trouble keeping a phone conversation going at 4am, so we didn't talk very long. Did I mention that it was so nice to hear his voice again?


Before he left the field he had they guys move the Bradleys together for a photo. Pretty cool if you ask me.

If It Ain't Rainin', We Ain't Trainin'

Recently, Joe took is Troop out to the field for some training. While he was out there he sent a couple pictures to me and I also downloaded some pictures that his 1SG posted on the Troop's Facebook page. In good Army form, it rained the whole time they were out there except the very first day. I felt sorry for Joe and his troop, but he did point out that the rain means they are that much more prepared for fighting in good or bad conditions. 

The first two pictures are from when it was still dry out there. 

The rain began the next day and didn't stop. 

A little rain doesn't phase them.

Fire Support (Fisters) smiling in the rain

More smiles from 2nd Platoon

This may or may not be Joe.  (Labeled on Facebook as Apache 6)

The mortar section staying dry. 

1st Platoon training hard

The HMVEE is normally a green color. 

The Medics joining in on the fun. 

I wish I could give Joe some time off to relax and recover before the next big thing, but he's already off and running...and doing an amazing job!

Why I Don't Throw a Pity Party

There are times like this morning when I am tempted to throw a little pity party for myself because Joe and I are on opposite sides of the world right now. In my dream last night I was about to call him during his lunch hour, but then I woke up right before the phone call and it hit me that not even that was possible. When times like this hit, when I miss Joe so much and wonder why we have to have it so hard, I take a moment and remember people like my friend Jordan and her husband Zack.  Jordan and Zack's story reminds me that Joe and I are in fact the lucky ones. Sure, we are apart right now, but only for a couple months.

Jordan was a classmate of mine at West Point, and Zack was a year ahead of us. I'm not sure when Jordan and Zack started dating, but it was prior to his graduating. They survived a long distance relationship while she continued on for her final year at West Point and he went to his officer basic course and follow on training. They married July 4th, 2005, just over a month after Jordan graduated West Point (Jordan will never let me forget the fact that I skipped attending their wedding in Rhode Island because I was driving to Ft Huachuca, AZ to report on July 5th for my officer basic course). Zack was already assigned to the 4th Infantry Division in Ft Hood, TX, and they were not able to take a honeymoon because he had to report back to work right after the wedding. They had a month together at Ft. Hood before Jordan had to  report to Ft Huachuca, AZ for her four-month long officer basic course. While she was stationed in AZ and Zack was in TX they were only able to see each other a couple of times. While Jordan was in AZ, Zack was busy preparing to deploy to Iraq. Zack took his couple weeks of block leave prior to the deployment to stay with Jordan while she was still in AZ. She was busy from 0530-1700 (that is 5:30 am to 5:00 pm) most days with class, so they would only really get time together in the evenings. After his 2-3 weeks of visiting Jordan in AZ, Zack had to report back to Ft Hood, Texas. He deployed to Iraq on November 30, 2005, before Jordan had even graduated her basic course.

After graduation, Jordan was also stationed at Fort Hood, Texas with the 4th Infantry Division. However, she was assigned to a different brigade then Zack. That meant that when Jordan deployed to Iraq in January 2006, she was stationed at Camp Taji while Zack was further South in Iraq. They were in the same country, but not able to see each other. The only time they were able to see each other that deployment was during there two weeks of Environmental Moral Leave mid-tour back to the United States.

Zack arrived home from the deployment a couple months earlier than Jordan due to his brigade deploying earlier, and Jordan made it home in December 2006. After being married for over 1.5 years, they finally were able to start living together for a short while. Both of their brigades were set to deploy in a year or less, and so even though they were stationed together at Ft Hood both of them were often out on week or month long field exercises at opposite times. Zack was set to transfer into Jordan's brigade which would allow them to be on the same deployment cycle and probably the same location, when, at the last minute, he was pulled up to Division staff. Zack ended up deploying to Iraq for a second time in December 2007, where as Jordan and her brigade didn't deploy again until March 2008. Zack was stationed at Camp Liberty with the division staff, while Jordan was located at Forward Operating Base Falcon with 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.

Around the time of their 2-year anniversary, Jordan was allowed to transfer to Division Staff and to Camp Liberty. Due to Jordan and Zack being married, they were able to live together in one tiny trailer room on the camp. Even though they shared the same room, both worked long shifts (15 hours days on average) and often worked opposite shifts at their respective jobs.

They both arrived back to the United States in December 2009, and a few months later Zack finished up his active duty commitment and decided to leave active duty. Jordan, however, still had a year left of her active duty commitment. Shortly after returning from her second deployment, Jordan was notified that her unit would be deploying to Iraq again in a little over a year. While she once again went through all of the train up and field exercises, Zack started seminary to become a pastor.  In October 2010, Jordan deployed for the 3rd time to Iraq, this time leaving Zack back in the United States. Save for her two weeks of Environmental Moral Leave, she and Zack were once again separated for a year.

Jordan and Zack celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary this past 4th of July and attended Joe's and my wedding a couple of days later. Though I am certain that Jordan would make General one day if she decided to stay in, she decided to leave active duty and a few weeks after the wedding she started terminal leave.

Whenever I start to feel sorry myself I think of Jordan and Zack. There marriage has already been through so much, yet they are still going strong. Both are very strong Christians, committed to putting Christ at the center of their lives and relationship, and also strive to honor each other in what they say and do. I am sure they have their arguments and rough patches, but they don't let those define them or their relationship. Thank you Jordan and Zack for being role models for me.

Jordan and I at Camp Liberty, Iraq in 2008

Mt. Soyosan

The weekend before I headed back to the United States Joe and I finally made it over to Mt. Soyosan. According to the Offical Site of Korea Tourism, Mt. Soyosan is the most treasured mountain north of the Hangang River. It's also a very popular hiking and mountain biking destination. We arrived to late in the afternoon to hike the mountain, but we wanted to at least get a glimpse of the area.  

Path up to the hiking entrance

It was another hot and humid day and the river bed alongside the main path was full of Korean families lounging around and little kids playing in the puddles of water. 

There were plenty of sites to see on the way to the entrance of the hiking trails. 

We had about a 20 minute walk from our car to the entrance of the hiking trail, and on the return trip we stopped at a Korean convenience store. The store was small and jam packed with goods, which is the way almost all convenience stores are in Korea. Joe was adventurous and bought a cheese stick to try. We each took a bite of it and determined that it was more rubber than cheese. I went the safer route of an ice cream cone. 

Even though I have two decent cameras, almost picture on this blog has been taken with either Joe's or my iPhone. Oh well. 

Driving Range Fun

As much as Joe and I look forward to the weekends, we also struggle with coming up with ideas of things to do during the day in the Camp Casey area at times, especially given the heat wave that has gripped South Korea recently. We keep planning to go hike Mt. Soyosan, but the mixture of sweltering heat and humidity have kept us from achieving that goal. I'd love to go to the pool or a water park, but they are so jam-packed that they lose the appeal. Instead, Joe and I have spent a lot of our free time at home watching TV in the very air-conditioned apartment.

After spending almost all of Saturday inside, both Joe and I were ready for a change of scenery on Sunday. Though it would mean braving the heat outside, we decided to head to the driving range after church on Sunday afternoon. We had gone once before and really enjoyed it, so it was easy to talk each other into going back despite the heat.

The best male golfer there (and only male golfer there)

The great thing about the Camp Casey driving range is that a bucket of ball is only $3 and there is no charge for borrowing golf clubs. Joe has his own set of clubs, but I don't have a set over here to use. We had the driving range to ourselves for our first two buckets of balls each, but by the time we each finished our third bucket the range had at least half the lanes filled.

Happy to be out of the room

Just in time to watch Joe have an awesome drive, and right after I fumbled mine, one of the course golf instructors showed up and started talking to us and giving us a few tips on our swings. He is a retired Command Sergeant Major and one of the two golf instructors at the golf course. What a great way to enjoy retirement! He also told us about the free golf lessons available on Saturday afternoons. Maybe next summer Joe and I will be able to take advantage of the free lessons.

By the time Joe and I left we were both soaked in sweat, but we both had fun and it beat sitting in the room watching TV.

Pro career ahead?

Phillips vs Phillips Bowling

One lesson that I am glad I learned long ago in the Army is that plans are never set in stone. After an extremely busy week at work both Joe and I were looking forward to the upcoming 3.5-day weekend he had ahead of him and we talked about going to Osan Air Base for at least one day of it. Since Osan is about a four-hour bus ride away, going down there is a mini-vacation.

Joe had a meeting on Thursday and possibly had work to do on Saturday, so we planned on Friday being our day away. Unfortunately, due to a few tragic accidents involving US Soldiers in Korea over the preceding week, Joe was notified Thursday night that all passes and leaves on the Peninsula were canceled and all Soldiers had to report back to work Friday morning for safety briefings. It was pretty disappointing, but understandable given the circumstances, so we decided to make the best of what time we could find to relax together over the weekend. First up, bowling.

Awesome Bowler Joe

I'm not superior bowler, but ended up being the most improved player on my bowling team back in 2010 when I was stationed at Camp Red Cloud. Of course, it's not to hard to become the most improved when you start out with an average score of 40 or 50. Joe, on the other had, seems to be a much more reliable bowler. I managed to win the first game with a score of 115 to 99, but that was my only win. 

A little worried after the 1st game

Joe promptly told me that the first game is just a warm-up and doesn't really count. I'd argue that only the first game matters, but that may or may not be because of the scores of the next three games. 

2nd Game...Joe Won

3rd Game...He won again.

Happy with the scores

I'd like to say the final game was close, but that would probably be a lie.  At least I had one win in there...and of course the first game is the only one that really counts.   

The Champion