af ball

. . It was quite an exciting trip to Seoul (the capital city of South Korea/ROK) for the AF Ball this last weekend. We left Kunsan at 0800, which seemed remarkably early for a Saturday morning, and took a bus to Osan. It was my first time at Osan and we browsed the shops just outside the gate. Now I know what they can do and what I need to bring with me next time (like pictures of gowns, pant-suits, shoes, etc). You simply can't find cute shoes larger than a 7, usually a 6... and we all know my feet aren't that tiny *chuckles* but I am excited to find what I did and I have great thoughts for the future :-) In the afternoon we had lunch at Chili's and took another bus to Yongsan and got settled into our hotel just off post, and just in time too...
. . Nicki and I had fun getting ready for the ball while the guys were chillin' in one room, not even starting to get ready until we gave them the 5 min warning. And I think they still beat us :-) The evening was quite eventful, being the only Comm traveling with so many CE Red Devils *chuckles* with lots of pictures with leadership, and I even got coined by the 3-star just for taking a picture of him with all the guys "holding up the pitchfork" :-) I spent a lot of time laughing at them. Above is a picture of Stan and I at the dinner table.
. . After the AF Ball wrapped up (midnight~ish), we changed out and went to this lovely little bar about a block from the hotel. Such ambiance! It was nice to relax after being trussed up like a Thanksgiving goose in those uniforms, however elegant they look. And what wonderful friends! You can see the homey feel of the pub in the picture of Nicki and I below. It was the perfect ending to an exciting day :-)
. . Sunday morning we went back to Yongsan to store our luggage. Most of the group took the express train back, but Stan and I stayed to explore and window shop. There's so much to do in Seoul! Again, I now have a list of things I want to do given the chance to go back, most specifically the Korean War Museum, which would take up a whole day by itself. The train station is a huge mall in and of itself, almost twice the size of the Mall of America if I remember right (9 stories, huge open concert area in the middle) and we also got to watch an IMAX before catching the train back. Even that was exciting, just noting how long it took us to get there by bus (almost all day minus an hour or two in Osan), and it took less than 2 hours to take the express bus and a taxi back to the base the other way. The train was so smooth you didn't even feel like you were moving! I'll never bus it again!