Bryan goes to North Korea

Well not really. I mean technically I DID enter North Korea at one point, but it was only a few feet, and it was inside a building. And I had guards. However, at any moment the communists could have come bursting in. Talk about a close call!

In case you can’t tell I went on the tour up to the North Korean / South Korean Demilitarized Zone. You know, the DMZ, the 38th parallel, the dividing line between the Koreas for the last fifty years, and one of the most heavily armed tracks of land in the world.

I have to admit, I thought it would be slightly more .. sobering. I mean, I realize there is still very much a possibility of conflict here. North Korea has made dozens of raids and aggresive moves in the years since the signing of the Armistice ending open conflict between North and South Korea. They’ve tried to assasinate the South Korean president twice at various points. They’ve killed American and South Korean soldiers without provocation. They even captured an American naval vessel and held it’s crew hostage for a year at one point. All that being said, the entire thing felt very Disney World to me, more like a tourist attraction than a DMZ. It was a good trip though, and well worth the twenty five bucks it cost to sign up for it. If nothing else, it was a chance to see something that I believe will dissapear from the Earth within my lifetime. Plus I got out of Songtan, which is always a good thing.

 Print This Comments (0) Posted in Korea by Bryan

What do Cherry Trees, Work, a BBQ, and Operation Joe have in common?

Nothing, other than they all happened in the same 24 hour period and I took pictures of all of them.

The cherry trees caught my eye as I was walking to work .. they’re booming all over the country and it’s just wicked looking. The work pictures are just that, more helicopter pictures and other random things. The BBQ was, as usual, over on top of the Asia hotel in Songtan, courtesy of our Production Superintendant JD Burns (the guy that resembles a leprecon). And Operation Joe? That was our super secret undercover plot to cover the General’s car in 33rd Rescue Squadron “Green Feet”. This venerable Air Force practice, known as “tagging”, was carried out in the traditional fashion; under the cover of darkness and alcohol. It was a complete success!

On an unrelated note I did some software upgrade to the photo gallery over the last couple of days, which is why the site was down. Not much has changed, although there is now a nifty “rate picture” option under each picture. Fun!

 Print This Comments (0) Posted in Korea,Website by Bryan

The other new phone book is here!

Well he’s here, finally! Aimee has dropped the ball so to speak, the waiting is over, it’s a boy, and he’s a little one; the world’s first Muldrow / LeBaige hybrid weighs in at 6lb 5oz’s. I couldn’t be happier for them, and you are welcome to use the website for pictures if you’d like guys.

It’s been over five years since we had a new addition to the family, so its pretty exciting, especially considering this one has been so long in coming. I can’t wait to see Aimee play Mom. She’s has always been the older sister, the college student, the professional; I think its going to be really fun to watch her take on this new role. She was always great with Brendan, Morgan, and the boys, so I expect we’ll find nothing less than the best here as well.Hrm, that reminds me, I’m going to need to go pick up a baby gift. Hrm, that could be fun!

 Print This Comments (0) Posted in Family,Life by Bryan

Musings

No pictures or anything this time, I’m just typing for the sake of typing. Listening to Bob Dylan all night long tends to get the mind wandering.

I’m planning a trip up to the DZM on the 29th. We were going to go this weekend but the trip was booked solid. I thought it would be pretty easy to setup since they run the same trip up there every Saturday but I guess not. I might also go to a Korean baseball game next weekend depending on various things, so we’ll see. It would be nice to get out of the local area, that’s for sure.

Not much else going on these days. My eight year wedding anniversary is tomorrow. I can’t believe I’ve been married that long. Time has passed so quickly the last few years, I wish I could just slow everything down.

I have alot of quiet moments here, and thus alot of thinking time. I’ve spent alot of that time thinking about my children. It’s almost unbelievable to me how quickly the boys are growing up. The irony is I don’t really feel all that grown up myself. I definately don’t feel like a father of two who has been married for most of a decade.

I think back to my own childhood sometimes, and try to see myself as a father from that perspective. In the end I’m always left with the same feeling; I need to do more. As a father, as a husband, as a lot of things, I’m not measuring up to where I want to be. It’s a good thing though .. I know, based on the last few years, that I have the capacity to change things about myself when I chose to. I’m becoming quite aware of my limitations. More importantly, however, I’m becoming accustomed to facing them and changing them.

I wonder if anyone ever really feels grown up.

 Print This Comments (0) Posted in Family,Life by Bryan

The new phone books are here!

So as many of you know, a couple months back I ordered a television from an online company. I was very excited about the purchase. I had my XBOX 360, I had free time to play with it, everything was perfect. Unfortunately, the television never arrived. Fed up with waiting, I decided to go down to the BX here on base and just buy whatever I could get my hands on, file a dispute with the credit card company for the missing one, and be done with it. Sure, it might not be exactly what I want, but at least it would be here, which is more than I could say for the one I ordered. So that’s exactly what I did.

Afterwords, satisfied with my decision, I partook of some Taco Bell and checked my mail out of habit, like I have done every day for the last two months. In a fitting twist of irony, there was the notification card for an insured shipment. Yes, my television showed up the day I bought it’s replacement. Ironically enough so did the other package that had been missing for the last two months, the one full of Valentines day stuff from Riki and the kids. Why do I have a feeling they’ve actually been here for awhile, shoved away in some corner somewhere, and someone just found them?

Never the less, I now have my entire setup, minus a couple of cables. And games. Can’t forget about that, don’t really have any of them. It doesn’t matter though, I’m happy, my TV is here safe and sound. Woo!

 Print This Comments (1) Posted in Korea by Bryan