Catastrophic Monday

So, today has just been INSANE. Like there are no words to describe it, so I'll just tell you what happened.


This morning I got up and turned on the bathroom light and somehow that knocked out the power in the whole apartment, but none of our fuses were blown. So, we reset them anyway and nothing happened. J finally walked to the management office and the man had to reset our main breaker outside the apartment. Then, I had to kill a huge spider that was trying to take over the bathroom so I could take a shower, and noticed that my light bulb is blown out from the stupid power going out. And I can't change it because I think it's some special Korean bulb.


A little while after that my stupid satellite went out because the sun was too bright, yet it works just fine during a storm (sigh, only in Korea). So, after that I decided to set the clock in the bathroom and dry my hair. Somehow while setting the clock I set off the alarm to my apartment (how was I supposed to know what the red button does and who knew I had an alarm) and I thought the sound was my tv going crazy.   Finally, I heard the security guard trying to break down my door to come in and save me. It took him 10 minutes to figure out how to shut off the alarm, so the intercom is yelling at me in Korean and beeping or something.


After all of this I make my way to the BX to Christmas shop with a friend, while we're walking in some lady sneezes on me. Seriously?! Cover your mouth. And when I was leaving some jerk stole my cab. Ugh. I'll be glad when this day is over.


Who knew you could have a terrible case of the Mondays when you're unemployed?

Just Horsing Around

Yesterday, we had our big trip with J's unit to a Korean Folk Village, which ironically enough was called Korean Folk Village. I was super stoked for this trip for a few reasons, the main one being that it was free, and the second one being that we could actually meet and hang out with other people he kinda works with. I mean all of our friends have either already left, or will be leaving soon, and with two years to go I see our time here being kinda lonely unless we befriend new people.


So yea, our trip started out kind of rainy, and by that I mean it was pouring out. Luckily once we got on the bus and started heading to our first stop it actually cleared up, and would stay that way until we came home. The first place we stopped at was Pyeongtaek Sea Port, we learned about the shipping industry in Korea, and even got to go on a boat ride. (Doesn't this sound like a school field trip?) Since it had been so rainy earlier they only allowed a few people to go on top of the boat, so you know I had to make sure I was one of them, and all I but pushed J out the door to reach those steps. =) 


After the boat ride we had lunch at a bulgogi house. This place was super cute, and like most Korean restaurants you have to sit on the floor. This place was different than others we had been too since the floor was actually cut out at the bottom so your feet had a place to go so it was like sitting at a table with chairs without actual chairs. Oh, and the bulgogi was amazing, as is typically the case.

Once we were done with lunch we went to a Korean Folk Village. I was so excited to be here because the place just seemed so interesting. Plus, there were horses, and you could ride them. I suppose saying you could ride them is an overstatement because you pay for your ticket and the man leads you around the track on the horse, but whatever, I was on a horse. Unfortunately, I have no actual pictures to commemorate this event because J had decided that his ice cream cone was way more important than me riding a horse, a horse that I named Mister Ed even though she was a female, but she liked her new name, and we bonded. After all of the excitement from the horses, we got to see traditional Korean performances, which included drums, a tightrope walker, and horse stunts. 

I'm On A Boat!!

I've neglected this thing for far too long. I guess I was worried that if I actually took the time to write something it would just turn into whining, but since I posted something complaining about how miserable the heat's been making me I feel confident enough to update my adventures now.


Somehow our Adventure Saturdays have turned into Adventure Sundays (I'm blaming the time difference and the whole being in the future thing) and this past Sunday we headed up to Seoul to ride speed boats on the Han River. Our latest trip was replacing the much anticipated trip to the water park which was rained out the day before. Damn you, Monsoon! So, we picked up two of our friends from the gate and made the trek to the Seoul. Once we parked the car we picked up some snacks and headed to the nearest train station to head to the pier. I'm not even going to lie, I was so nervous about this train thing because the last one we had to get on went UNDER the Han River. Um what? How can the subway go under the river? This thought had completely blown my mind. I mean I know there's one in New York, and there's tunnels and all in the states where you're actually driving under the water, but I just don't understand how it's possible. What happens if there's a leak? You're trapped and you die, that's what. Obviously we arrived at the pier safe and sound since I'm writing this, but still you never know.

Walking to the pier.

View from the pier.

So, once we made it to the pier we paid our 10,000 won each (which is roughly $8.48 thanks to my won to dollars app on the Bb for allowing to me calculate that so quickly) suited up in our little life vests and we were off on the boat. OhMyGoodness whipping around on that boat was so much fun. I wasn't worried about falling overboard and drowning one bit, that's probably more due to the fact that I'm a great swimmer. What I was worried about, though, was falling into that nasty ass water and heaven forbid that shit get in my mouth and on my face and whatever else. No ma'am, I was not feelin that. I'm not even sure how polluted the water is actually, but it's the fact that it's a river, I can't see the bottom of it, and it's in a city. I mean Korea has pollution from China rolling on in when the wind blows just right, so who knows. I'm just saying, I didn't avoid any and all contact with water from the Neuse River back home, to come to Korea and suddenly grow a third arm from a splash of water reaching me over the sides of the boat, and if said water got on my body, I was fully prepared to bathe in Bleach anywhere surface cleaner when I got home. Just kidding..or am I? On a similar note, I also managed to successfully avoid the Tar River in Greenville, during several Ecology labs back in the day.


So after our spin on the speed boat the guys that came with us decided they were going to go out on the jet skis. Obviously, I wasn't feeling that idea for myself since we just saw a girl return from her ride and she was soaked from head to toe. As it turns out, you couldn't actually drive the jest skis yourself, so you would be at the total mercy of the driver, and if he wanted to soak you he could. After waiting around for their turns, the driver (would they be called drivers, maybe operator?) of the jet ski set up another one at the end of the dock and just as one of our friends was about to hop on the back, the guy realizes he doesn't have the key. Unfortunately for him he was a little too late in his discovery as he started to drift further and further out into the river. 

Still searching for that key.

After a brief rescue mission by two of the guy's co-workers that was quite comical our friends finally got their rides and we headed to KFC. It definitely wasn't an American KFC, there was no mac and cheese, and no snacker. I did have a tasty bulgogi chicken sandwich, that reminded me of the bulgogi burger from Mcdonald's, except you know this was chicken.

Hot and Bothered

After walking around all day in the sweltering heat (maybe it wasn't all day) and coming home to this hot ass apartment, I've come the conclusion that my life somewhat resembles a Miss Goldilocks, from The Three Bears (I really hope that the name of that story). Only, there's no wildlife here, aside from Theodore, but there sure is a whole magnitude of weather that I feel I'm just not equipped to deal with. 


Remember, when I first got here and I complained about how freaking cold it was. And how being so cold is completely unnecessary and I don't know how people in Alaska deal with it on the regular. Oh wait, I do, apparently they hunt moose out of helicopters in order to avoid the cold just like that woman who was nominated to be Vice President (I refuse to to put her name on here). All I have to say is winter is too cold.


Fast forward to spring. Oh, spring, I used to love you. The weather was starting to warm up, cherry blossoms were in bloom, and yellow sand was in the air.  Ugh, yellow sand. I am not missing that insanity. I didn't think I was going to survive it. I thought for sure I was going to stop breathing in the middle of the night from how congested my nose, and even my lungs felt. I still don't think I'm breathing as clear as I used to now. All I'm saying now, is spring has too many allergens.


And now, here we are in summer. It's so unbearably hot. Korea needs to invest in cheaper forms of air conditioning, and that shit needs to be throughout the house. None of this single stand up unit mess. I need cold air in every room. And don't even get me started on monsoon season. It started raining last Thursday morning and finally tapered off around 2 am Sunday morning. I had never seen so much rain before, let alone that much rain without any thunder. It was so strange and so humid. The humidity was so bad, it felt like I was camping. Everything had an extra damp feel going on, and it was not pleasant. Let's just say our single ac unit has been getting a work out these past few days. I can't wait for summer to be over, I know back in the states I wouldn't be saying such things. My time would be spent lounging around the pool working on my tan and enjoying the sunshine. If it were ever completely sunny here I'm sure I could motivate myself to do take up this lovely activity, but alas that is hardly ever the case. Damn you, monsoon season! Can I just say, that summer is too hot, or would that be too redundant?


I'm really hoping that fall is going to be good. Here's to hoping for a cooler autumn, one that will be juuuussst right.

Love Locked

Saturday marked the first day of our four day weekend, so J and I decided that there was no other way to start it off than to take our Adventure Saturday trip up to Seoul. I had been dying to go to Seoul Tower since I first got here, and since our trip to the zoo was kind of rocky we decided from now on we would drive ourselves so we could do our own thing. Luckily for us someone had told J about a bus you could catch that would take you to some of the best tourist spots in Seoul. For 10,000 won (a little less than $10) you could ride the bus all day and visit whatever it is you want and catch another bus later on.


We immediately decided that our first stop was going to be Seoul Tower. Once we reached our stop we pretty much have to climb a mountain to get to the tower. I'm saying this hill is so steep, it was more like climbing up the wrong side of a slide. Once we were at the top we bought our tickets and headed inside to take the elevator up. I got completely distracted by this Hello Kitty game, so J decided to make himself useful and buy some snacks while I dug around for change to play. The game looked like one of those crane machines that you can find in Walmart that has all of the stuffed animals inside except it has the cute little Hello Kitty prizes sitting on shelves and you're supposed to knock them down with a stick. So yea, not like the crane machine at all actually. In the end I couldn't find any change so I could only stare at the machine in awe and try to knock down the cute little Hello Kitty prizes using my telekinetic powers. If only I really had them, I could've gone all Carrie on that thing; minus the pig blood, of course.

After I gave up on the game, we took the elevator up to the observation tower. The view from the top was incredible. It would've been a million times better if it wasn't so hazy out. I've come to realize that blue skies are a complete rarity around here, and it's an amazing thing when you actually see one. After we saw all there was to see, we headed back down to the second floor observation deck.

On the second floor viewing deck there's a fence that's set up around the perimeter, and this fence is covered with "Love Padlocks." This is why I so excited to visit the tower. There has to be thousands of locks hanging on this fence. Like any kind of lock you could imagine, padlocks, combination locks, bike locks.  The locks are linked together, and then locked to the fence to symbolize a couple's eternal love. After they're locked you're supposed to throw away the key, and they actually have specific places for you to throw them out, since metal keys aren't such a good thing for birds. J had joked that people who used combination locks wanted to keep their options opened, so if things didn't work out they were coming back to take their lock down. That boy is so optimistic. Ever since I found out about it, it's been my mission for us to put up our own locks, and so we did. =)

Our initials (of course someone had to have camo)

Our wedding date 1-1-09 (painted with nail polish)

It's Raining..It's Pouring

And it has been for the past three days. It's not even like a thunder storm kind of thing. It's just rain, rain, and more rain. Sometimes it comes in HUGE downpours and other times it's just that annoying drizzle kind of thing. But, that doesn't change the fact that it's been three days of this. I thought monsoon season didn't start until the end of June? And I don't know why, but every time I hear the word monsoon I always picture that big wave of water coming after Jack and Rose in Titanic. Stupid Rose, if she would've sat up on that board Jack didn't have to die. Just saying.


On the bright side, the rain seems to have taken care of that pesky yellow sand. That whole thing has become super ridiculous. I have to mop the floors every other day, and Swiffer in between moppings because that stuff covers everything. It just floats right in through the open windows and coats the tables, counters, and everything else. I almost forget what it's like to breathe clearly. 


Oh well, if it keeps raining like this I suppose I won't have to worry about breathing, I'll have to worry about drowning instead.


P.S. I definitely just noticed how to label these posts. 

An American Girl in Korea

So, I've decided to do a little name change around here. Partly because I've been watching Sex and the City in preparation for the new movie coming out at the end of the month, and the last two episodes of the series were called 'An American Girl in Paris'. It seems quite fitting. Well, except for the whole Paris part, since I'm not living in Paris, but Korea. So yea, now the title is An American Girl in Korea =)

Seoul Grand Park Zoo

Last week J and I decided that we were finally going to sign up for one of the ITT tours, so we broke out the huge list that has every trip for the entire month listed on it, and we finally decided on the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. Heading to the zoo has become somewhat of a tradition for us, it's something that we would do every couple of years usually during spring break and it was typically us and his whole family. There's just something nice about actually getting to spend time with people you care about, and getting to see some of the cutest animals ever. Animals you would never get the chance to see unless you could afford a trip Africa to go on safari, or to the south pole to see penguins. I love going to the zoo, even if I really stop and think about how sad the animals must be to live in captivity they still have to have a great life knowing that nothing could really harm them. At least that's what I tell myself to not get down on the whole experience.


So, Saturday was the big day. We woke up at 6:30 in order to get ready, and have breakfast before we had to catch the bus at 8:45. No big deal, we made it to the bus on time and as we were sitting and waiting for the tour guide to take our bus tickets, I'm looking at our camera and notice the memory card isn't in there. Dun..dun..dun.. J was deleting old pictures off of it earlier and forgot to put it back in before we left the house. Luckily, we keep a camera in the car in case we have some sort of incident with the car and we can take pictures of it. So obviously, I make him run back to the car to get that SD card, and he gets back on the bus just in time for her to collect our ticket.  It's so sad, nothing ever goes as planned on our adventures.


Our tour guide was super cute. Apparently, there's a zipper factory not too far from where we live. Check your pants, if it says YKK it was made here. (It's the building with smoke coming out of it in the background, I forgot about it when we drove by. It turns out I have the attention span of a fly).

So, about an hour later we were at Seoul Grand Park. How excited was I to see a KFC across the parking lot? If you guessed super, you would be correct. It really is the little things that get me. Buying our admission tickets proved to be a little tricky. They had all of these different packages you could purchase to take a tram to the entrance or the sky lift. I'm not too sure what we bought, but there's a strong possibility we bought both. Who knows? But, we did take the tram up to the entrance. 

Once we were there, we got in another line to buy tickets to the dolphin show. That was the thing I was looking forward to the most, hands down. All of those years I lived in Florida, and I never once made it to Sea World, so here was my chance to kinda make up for it. I mean, you can always see lions, and tigers, and bears (Oh my) how often do you get to see sea mammals doing tricks? So, after an hour of walking around and seeing those cuties I like to call elephants, it was time to make our way to the Dolphin Theatre.

As, we were waiting for the show to begin they had some little cartoon thing talking to the audience, and then people started clapping. You know, that slow clap that turns into a rhythmic masterpiece. And then it hit me, we're not going to have a clue what's going on, because it's going to be Korean. Oh, well. The sea lions and dolphins were amazing nonetheless. So, I really can't complain. I can be confused about the snacks they were selling though, such as the corn on the cob on a stick. It was quite interesting. It wasn't until J pointed out later on, that people ate the WHOLE thing. The middle part included. Crazy stuff, I tell ya.  I think by far the greatest snack of the day was the waffle with honey, or the double ice cream cone thing. After the dolphin show was over, we wandered around the zoo for the rest of day. And not too long after that our camera ran out of memory. I was really sad about that because there was a baby animal nursery that had a lot of cuties in there. All in all, I'd have to say it was a successful trip.

Spring has Sprung

Finally, some decent weather around here. It's been in the 60's almost the whole week. I've actually had the windows open and have been enjoying the almost sunny weather. I just hope it lasts. Yesterday, I wore my flip flops for the very first time since getting to Korea. Even if it was on the way to the gym and not some great outing, it's better than nothing. Unfortunately, there is rain the forecast for today, maybe it will wash away some of that yellow sand. Oh, yea, in addition to pollen we get pollutants and dust and sand from China. Fun times.


I really need a tan =/

Here's a little tree growing outside our window. 

See how quickly it changes. Back to the low 50's on Tuesday.

Adventure Saturday, Korea Edition

Last Saturday, J and I decided to venture up to Yongsan (which is in Seoul), we had free bus tickets and the weather was actually nice, and by nice I mean the sun was out. The temperature was hovering somewhere around 55 degrees but with the crazy wind that blows around here it can feel significantly cooler. Oh, how I long for flip flop weather, and a decent tan. 


The bus trip wasn't so bad. I mean it almost never fails that wherever I'm at a screaming child will be sure to follow. Thankfully, I had my ipod fully charged and a good book to read. The hour went by fairly quick, and before I knew it, it was time to get off the bus. We quickly decided that our first stop was going to be the War Memorial of Korea. This was another place that has been on my to-do list since getting to Korea, and since a large portion of the memorial is outside, good weather is a definite must. 


When you actually get down to it the memorial is more of a museum, and it is within walking distance from one of the gates at Yongsan. It's also near a wedding museum, but I'm not so sure if that means the place shows different weddings throughout history or if it's an actual wedding site. Either way when we were leaving we did get to see a wedding take place, behind the memorial. Well, at least the whole set up and guests arriving part. I didn't want to be too much of a creeper and watch the whole thing.

Anyway, the memorial is broken up into all of the different wars that have taken place in Korean history, and it's all really interesting. Especially since you get to see the different armors and weapons that from way back when. When you actually get to the Korean war there's a whole floor dedicated to it and all of the other countries that fought during the war. And outside they have different monuments/statues in the front of the building and around the back/side they have all different types of helicopters, planes, and tanks. There's even a tank that that rotates and makes sounds like it's shooting.

After we left the memorial we decided to just walk around the surrounding area. We didn't wander too far so we wouldn't get lost. Plus, I was really eager to get to the food court on post so I could finally have some American Chinese food. Out in the ville, they have real Chinese food, and that stuff's amazing, but I was really missing some sweet and sour chicken. Lunch was all that I hoped it would be. I'm really glad, because it would've been disappointing to remember it better than it actually is. 


From there we just wandered around the PX since the one there is bigger than the one here at Osan. They also have a whole separate shop set up for toys and outdoor stuff. While we were there I bought these super cute candle holders from one of the concessionaires. She was Thai, so obviously I had to buy something from her. After that purchase, a scoop of ice cream from baskin robbins and watching some kids chase the pigeons at the bus stop for almost an hour and a half, we were finally on our way home.

The Coex and Aquarium, Oh My

On Sunday, we braved the cold and public transportation and took a trip to Seoul to visit the Coex, which is this huge underground shopping mall. It has just about everything you can think of in it, including some American restaurants and an aquarium. It was a nice change of pace to explore somewhere other than the Ville, and the aquarium has been on my to-do list since I first got here. Plus it was nice to hang out with some of the people J works with.


Now, we all know I don't do the cold. So, the fact that I was out in it was somewhat amazing on its own, but add in the fact that we were taking public transportation instead of our car is another amazing feat. Songtan station was hard to find, mainly because we've never had to use the train station before, and the only one that we had ever passed was the Jinwi station which is on the way to E-mart. Parking was even harder to find, but once we did we bought out tickets and boarded the train. So, here's the thing about the train, you're not allowed to sit unless you're pregnant or old, and there's always someone trying to sell something. On our way to the Coex there was a blind man walking through the cars trying to collect money. He definitely hit my foot with his cane and he was way too close for comfort. That's a terrible thing to say, but it's true.


Two transfers later and we were there. Our first stop was TGI Fridays, and let's just say it's expensive to eat at an American chain restaurant off base. Almost all of the meat is imported, and the back of the menu tells you where everything comes from, which is good to know. 

After lunch we wandered around the Coex (there's like a million different places to eat, an Apple store and tons of other electronics and clothing stores) for a while and then we decided that we were going to find the aquarium. Somehow we kept going upstairs when the aquarium is downstairs. It's actually underground, so that was pretty neat.


The aquarium turned out to be everything I thought it would be and more. It was like a mini zoo. They had manatees, seals, penguins and prairie dogs there. And tons of displays that you wouldn't normally find fish in. 

 

 The journey through the aquarium took a couple hours, so by the time we were done with that we decided to catch the train home. The ride home was and adventure all on its own. I mean it was easy enough to find the train we needed and to buy our passes, so who would've thought it would turn into an episode of The Twilght Zone. As soon as we got on the train we noticed that there really wasn't anyone else in the car with us, or on the train for that matter. I mean no big deal, I mean trains are empty all the time right? Ok, maybe not, but we start moving along and going through a tunnel and the train stops, and we're just sitting there. I'm just saying that has to be one of the scariest things, what if there was serial killer on the train, and he was so excited because he lured some stupid American tourists onto a train and he decided he was going to stop in the tunnel so he could kill us all. Clearly, I have an overactive imagination as this was not the case (Korea is actually very safe, and I have yet to see anyone that I would deem a creeper) and the train was no longer running our route and was actually in the process of changing tracks. When the train pulled back into the station it dropped us off directly across from where we had boarded so we walked back and waited for the next train. 

So, the next train comes and we get on, only to notice once again, that there isn't anyone on this train either. What are the odds of getting on two trains that aren't going anywhere? This time we definitely sat in the tunnel a lot longer than before. Once the train dropped us off again, we walked across and waited for the next one. This time a whole bunch of people boarded with us and we were on our way. Two transfers later, and what is supposed to be our stop, we notice that at some point in time the train ended up switching tracks and we are now once again going in the wrong direction. So, we had to switch trains, again. By some small miracle, we actually made it home that night. But, I don't know if I'll be taking the train again. I think I'll stick to the bus. 

Tv Land

Obviously, I'm a big fan of television since this is my second post dedicated to the topic. But, I just wanted to share the greatness that is posted in the comments section on Eonline.


So, those of us that watch Grey's Anatomy on the regular know about the off screen drama with Katherine Heigl who plays Izzie. She's been wanting off the show for forever now, and last season we weren't so sure if she would be back since both Izzie and George flatlined during the season finale (which was amazing by the way). Anyways *spoiler alert* she made it and has appeared sporadically at best throughout the season. So now she's just confirmed that she is in fact leaving Grey's and her last episode aired back in January. And down in the comment section was there was this gem:

And Isaiah Washington, as we all know, played Dr. Burke, and was kicked off the show a few seasons back after an altercation with with the actor who played George (who is also no longer on the show). I just love the fact that someone was posting as him. It's the little things that amuse me.  

Korean TV

I've recently become a huge fan of Korean television. All of my favorite shows from back home air on various channels at different times of day, and some (not all) are even the current season. I mean who doesn't love House, Sex and the City, and Glee. Even my all time favorite Gilmore Girls comes on. And those that aren't on the air I can always catch online just not on the American sites since all they want to tell me is that I'm not in the states. Even Hulu wants to turn me down, and now Mtv is trying to play me too. For weeks I've been able to watch all the dramas of teen pregnancy and the exploits of the Jersey Shore, and now I get nothing. I don't know how they could do this to me. It's times like this that make me wish I lived in base housing. At least there the internet still acts like you're stateside.


Oh well, if it weren't for living off base I wouldn't be able to have experienced the greatness of Korean commercials. So of course I'm going to share these.


The best I can tell is that this one is about a money exchange place. And it's always on.



And this one is for some lame cell phone. (All cell phones are lame if they aren't Blackberries or iPhones).



There's even a commercial that's set up like The Wizard of Oz, unfortunately I have no idea what it's about so I can't seem to find it. But, rest assured, I'm on the hunt.

Gyming

Why yes, I did just use gym as a verb. That's my favorite way to describe the act of going to the gym and actually doing things there. In all honesty, I've never been one to partake in physical activities. When I was in school PE was always my least favorite class. I mean who really enjoys participating in group sports when it's demanded of you, especially when you're not good at them. Anything that I actually needed to put forth any effort in I wasn't really a fan. I mean Avon and I (she's always been my number one gym partner) would walk to the line in dodge ball so we could be tapped out and walk around the gym instead of actually participating. Plus having a ball thrown at you when you know the intentions are for it to actually hit you is not something I'm ok with, those things hurt. Don't get me wrong, I loved going to the park and swinging on the swing sets, and playing on the little merry go round thing. I mean I still like to swing now, and I'm not ashamed. These are the types of activities I could get behind, not this whole running mess.


However, you can stick my butt on an elliptical and as long as I have something to look at and listen to I'm good to go. That's probably part of the reason why I don't mind going to the gym here so much, the ellipticals and treadmills all have tv screens attached to them and they're brand new. That's probably the reason behind a little incident that took place at the gym today. I had been on the elliptical for fifteen minutes and I felt like I was going to die. The whole time all I could think about was how not going for a week really must have slowed me down, or how I must be ridiculously out of shape even though I had no issues two weeks ago. Then my lovely husband looks over at me and starts to tell me to stop being lazy and to suck it up for four more minutes (thanks J), when he notices that my elliptical is set to a level 13 resistance. Apparently instead of turning up the volume on the tv I was slowly killing myself, but I didn't notice because I was listening to my iPod while watching Wheel of Fortune. At least I know I can still solve the puzzles before the contestants, even if I'm about to pass out. 

The Hair Salon

There are few things I enjoy more than getting my hair done. To me, there's nothing like going in looking one way and coming out looking slightly improved. I love to change it up with different color combinations and back home I would just set up an appointment and let my stylist just play as she would put it. Before I would know it I would look like a walking antenna, I would have so much foil in my hair, but it was great. And I was worried that I wouldn't be able to have that here.  I mean 1) I don't know where to go and 2) there's that whole language barrier thing.


Ok, so the not knowing where to go issue is kind of silly when it comes down to it. There's at least ten hair salons between our house and the base, and some of them even have signs written in English. Unfortunately, one of the first things we found out is that if a place speaks English or advertises in English they'll usually charge you an arm and a leg for whatever their services are. Plus you have to be extra careful about how many barber polls are spinning outside a shop because apparently those things indicate the "extra" services a shop or salon includes, and quite a few of those things are of the illegal nature. 

So, it was with this knowledge that I made the decision to just hit up the beauty shop in the BX. The fact that I was going here somewhat saddened me. I'm not really sure why. I mean I guess it has something to do with the fact that I've only gone to stand alone establishments, or that I was somewhat frightened that  they might not actually do a good job but people only go there because it's convenient. Either way, I was being completely ridiculous. The lady that did my hair was amazing. Her name was Ms Kim and her name alone immediately made me think of Lane's mom on Gilmore Girls. Not to mention she wasn't nearly as heavy handed as most Asians when it comes to brushing someone's hair. When I was a kid I always thought I was going to get whiplash when my mom would fix my hair. Plus, I finally got to experience that Curly Sue moment, where you have two people drying your hair at the same time. It was heavenly. And my hair came out even better than I expected. 


Ignore J looking blind in this one, but you can really see the blonde in it.

And in this one you can see the lowlights.