Korean Bank Account / Won Rate

So who would have thought it took 4 hours to open an account at Woori Bank. We liked their baseball team, so why wouldn't be like the bank?
But when there's a language barrier, you have a hard time getting an account open. Koreans don't like to speak English, because it really embarrasses them and they always feel like they doubt their skills. So if a Korean speaks English to you and they don't seem comfortable, they're outside their comfort zone, so you have to be nice. They worry you'll think less of them since they struggle with English. And it is a hard language for them to learn since it's completely illogical. We had help getting things done, but now I have 2 accounts- one that works like a checking account and I can use the ATMs for, and another one that's based on stocks for the interest rate. That's right, in Asia banks own stock- so their economy can tank really fast, but they usually have the government step in a lot faster than ours. But you can also make a ton of money when you allow your banks to own stock.

So they don't send you a monthly statement at these banks. You have passport-sized books that you feed into the ATM and it'll print your amount. At least the website and ATMs are in English, so that's nice. But you have to ask the ATM how much you have in your account and if it's outside of certain hours they charge you 1000 won! And I have this thing that has random numbers on it so I can check my amounts online, but it changes the numbers all the time. It's a pretty cool security feature for that. No one can hack your account that doesn't have the device.

The Won Rate is around 1500 to the dollar again. That's bad for their economy, so we have to do our part by buying more stuff. We got another pan for the tabletop stove and made beef bulgogi tonight and it turned out awesome. I think the Korean cuisine is not a bad way to go. So I'll have to change a few bucks over to won and put it all in my new bank account.

We love our new jackets we got at Osan. I think they look really good. I need to get Julie a helmet that has dragons on it like mine. But I'm also going to get a half helmet like hers- but it won't be pink.

Korean Base Soup - Boo Dae Jigae

http://korean-cuisine.blogspot.com/2008/10/boo-dae-jigae-base-soup.html

I went out to lunch and got a little history lesson at the same time. In the days of the Korean War here, the locals had little to no food. They had been ruled by the Japanese for 30+ years and didn't get very far ahead in that time, not to mention WWII had basically just ended for them and they were somewhat liberated, but with the nation divided at the 38th Parallel, they weren't ready to become a unified productive nation with all those issues. What does that have to do with Base Soup? Scattered all over Korea were many military bases and camps. They all produced garbage from the food services and supplies that were shipped in for the GI's. So if you want to survive, you ate what the soldiers threw away. They threw away hot dogs and cheese and spam, etc. I'm sure there's a lot of people that owe their lives to the people that probably set the food aside for the locals to eat. The place we went to was on the backside of Camp Coiner and there's a few of the joints still around there. Probably goes back to then.

A MiG 15 to Freedom

I finally finished No Kum Suk's autobiographical book about a former North Korean fighter pilot that defected in 1953 with a brand-new MiG-15bis. He landed at Kimpo Airbase (it's an airport now) in the airplane you see in the pictures. I took the picture in 2007 when I was TDY to Wright-Patterson AFB. Chuck Yeager was one of the test-pilots that took it up and flew it around, but was deeply offended when he asked the N Korean pilot, if he'd heard of him. In a country as closed as N Korea, they didn't know he was and they still don't. They don't care around here, either.
He was fortunate enough to get to the US and even got $100,000 for giving the jet to the US. But he didn't really care about the money so much as he just wanted his freedom. He'd grown up under Japanese rule, and had enough of that, but succeeded in becoming a fighter pilot and Communist to escape it. They executed 5 of his friends for his defection. Idiots.
He weighs in on reunification, but I don't see that going too smoothly if it does happen. But he's also blessed to speak as an American on how things should be over here. People in Seoul are too focused on paying the bills to worry about politics and the threat hanging over their heads as much as the Americans with disposable income and total security. But the natives don't want to lose all their money because their disowned neighbors want to come back. And they won't say so as long as that fat idiot KJI is still around. Give me 5 minutes alone with that guy and I'll show you a cure for Communism that is permanent and free.
The other picture is to the Norden Bombsight. As a Navigator/Bombardier, you actually took an oath to defend the thing with your honor and life. Interesting that they did that. Look at the pic to see the oath.

My tabletop stove

It's been awhile since I've posted on here. But the kids have a lot of homework on the weekends, so we can't really go anywhere. About 3PM, we give up and head to the base pool and swim indoors to burn out the kids. Then they usually sleep a little better. A few weeks ago, we went down to Osan and got fitted for matching leather custom-made motorcycle jackets. We'll have to post a pic of them. I didn't get anything put on the back of them. Maybe I'll get a Korean dragon embroidered on it or something, who knows. I haven't found anything that suits my fancy yet.
We've been playing a little "Rock Band and Guitar Hero" here, but I'm happy to say we don't play the Wii as much as I thought we would.
Here's a pic of my new table top stove. I have no idea what they're called, but in the local joints, they have burners in the tables you cook on as you eat. So I got some pork and we cooked it and ate it with rice. The burner was 30,000 won ($22 USD) and takes these aerosol cans of propane or butane or whatever. I don't know if you can get them in the States, but you can't get a Coleman stove for $20 this nice. I need to get the soup pan and the bulgogi pan so I can make those things.
They sell this stuff around here called "Base Soup" and the Korean name escapes me. But it hails from the early days of the ROK (1948ish) when the locals basically ate out of the GIs' garbage cans. They'd take the cheese, milk, hot dogs, meats, and vegetables and throw it all in a pot with lots of spices and heat it up to boiling. The spice and heat would kill the bacteria so they could eat it. I'm sure there's a few people out there that are grateful to Uncle Sam for the extra food they got. Which brings me to my next point. They are so competative around here (driving/NOT waiting in line, etc.) because back then, you snooze, you lose. So they just grabbed what they needed and ran. Like today, I ran a stoplight in front of a cop and they didn't stop me. They sit at intersections and talk or sleep with their roof lights on. So if they're going to give away their position like that and sit out in the open, then I'm going to run the lights. It's much more important here to keep traffic moving than to sit at a light if there's no one coming. They cautioned us at the Experienced Rider's Course for the motorcycle that you need to be aware of how the drivers expect you to act. Motorcycles here are considered pedestrians, so you can get away with murder on a bike- and I take full advantage of it, too. I can get to work really fast, because I'm passing all the cars that are sitting still. People tell me someone will open a door on me, but they'll lose that door, because 900 pounds of Harley with 165 pounds of me on it will not be stopped by a Daewoo or Chairman door for that matter, and it's 100% their fault, since I'm the pedestrian. There's Long Guns pipes on the bike, so they'll hear me coming long before they see anything or the door gets knocked off.
I feel the inspiration for another post coming on.

Guitar Hero / Rock Band on the Wii

I played Rock Band while waiting to deploy to the Sandbox last year about this time. It was a lot of fun. So we got our Wii this last Christmas and wanted to get some games we could play together. So we've tried to do that while the weather is cold here.
I've waited a month for this picture.

Tuberculosis and Korea

OK, so 2 kids have now popped positive for TB exposure. I'm the one coughing 3 weeks straight with bronchitis, but Spencer got exposed about 4 years ago or so, and now little Violet (the recessive one) is showing up as exposed to it. Thanks Korea! But it's not like it's not all over the world- there's someone from Church that got exposed in Hawaii. She's not the type to hang out in houses of ill repute, but Violet I'm not so sure about. She gets really moody and grumpy, and I think it's the crazy lifestyle talking- like she's the 2 year old version of Courtney Love or something.
In any case, TB kills a lot of people worldwide, but in the US, it's like 5% of the population have to worry about it. Time to beat the odds. Spencer has been on his double antibiotic regimen for about 5 months and has 3 or 4 more to go. You're not supposed to miss one dose, ever. I get nervous about missing a dose with him- and what the heck will we do if he's still on meds when we go to the USA? How do I time that??? We had to take him to Samsung Hospital a few times, because they thought they had spots on his lungs- just what we need. I thought Samsung made stereos. I was worried they'd prescribe an MP3 player or a picture tube changeout. Turns out he's OK, and they're just giving him the meds to keep the bacterium latent and hopefully kill it all. I think he'll always pop positive for it.
Violet is a different story. They give her a syrup and she manages to get most of it down and the rest on everything around her. I guess for the peace of mind, it's good we're doing this, but it's sure a pain in the keister. I want medical care to be a walk-through portal that just scans your body and then a nice mist you just breathe in with all your meds- everything needs to be completely non-invasive, unlike today's medical care. It's cheap over here, but if we went to the hospital on the Korean economy, they'd probably just give us a mask and tell him not to cough on people.
You see a LOT of people here wearing masks, so either they all have TB or they're trying to keep the cruddy air out of their lungs. My Korean counterpart was wearing his mask for allergies and I went up to him and said "We're ready to operate doctor" and he laughed. He understands Americans since he went to college in the US. Lucky guy- he flies the F-4 (I didn't think anyone flew those old dogs any more!) and I need to get a ride on one. He is really cool and we've already taught him some good slang- but for the record, I use the term "slacker" not "douche-bag" like the other guy taught him!
So there's the lightening in the cloud with the silver lining. You come over here and get fevers and TB. No wonder the people that go to the US never want to come back! But it's also the US attitude they pick up. We're a lot more independent in the US, and we don't accept our fate as easily when we don't like it. There's a lot of people driving cabs that could probably have gone to medical school- but for whatever reason (had a bad day on "TEST DAY", learned something too late in life...) are now driving a cab and they're probably OK with it. You don't accept your fate that easily in the US if you want something bad enough. And we have Korean soldiers that come back to Korea to fulfill their military obligation (EVERY male has to be in the military for 2 years) and they work for people that treat them poorly, don't have a clue about life outside Korea and don't speak very good English. One of our guys can't wait to get back to NYC and finish his degree- he speaks perfect English and Korean and is Corporal in the ROK Marines. He'll meet his full potential when he gets OUT of Korea..... so this place oppresses a few people, too.
I'm amazed that they're doing as well as they are. It's an "Asian Miracle" that this place as backwards as it was after being occupied and divided by war is as prosperous as it is. They had a lot of riots and problems, but they've really come a long way in a short time. Hardworking people that just take life as it comes. They don't hold doors for people or things like that, so they look so brutish but they only like to do and have things that are useful.
I'll have to post the whole story, but I'm reading "Korea's Place in the Sun" and it's really a good book.