Heart and Seoul

I have to keep reminding myself how fortunate I am to be able to make this trip with my husband, which isn't hard after hearing the stories of separation from the other wives I've met. According to one wife, this is one of those posts that many husbands in JAG choose to take for a year without their wives; consequently, there are few of us around. However, that doesn't make me miss my husband any less.

It's no big secret around here that many of the soldiers are on a military exercise, which keeps them away and pretty busy. I can't complain much because I do still get to chat with him whenever he's free, but after being separated for two months while he was here and I was back in the states, I'm really yearning for some cuddle time and a chance to get into a normal, married couple routine of some sort.  

I keep myself busy most days with learning my way around, meeting people, and taking care of necessary tasks to settle in. Today was the first day I got the nudge from the hubby to venture to places off post. I have to say that it was on my agenda but the extra push was nice. Itaewon has a lot to offer and I'm planning to offer it something back very soon--I'll keep you posted on that. 

For now, I'm going to soak up all this culture and take the advice of a Korean gentleman I met today on post while waiting for the bus. As fate would have it, he used to be a professor at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He spoke slowly and very articulately about how he could tell that I was very new here and how he regret that I arrived at a time of year when the weather was so uncomfortable that I couldn't fully enjoy everything Seoul had to offer. 

Then, he assured me that if I waited just a little while, the Fall would come and I would have the opportunity to experience this country to the fullest capacity allowed by a "human existence". Finally, he told me that in order to fully and completely absorb the culture, I must learn to speak the language in order to interact with native Koreans the way he had learned English to absorb the culture in America while he was teaching at Calvin. I told him that I hoped to do so; to which he replied, "it is not a matter of hope, but a matter of determination." 

And so I'm off with a heart full of determination to explore more today and maybe get lost and maybe find my way in Seoul.