Several months ago my friend Jana (don't worry, this will not be another Spam blog) ask if I would do a blog on Yongsan. She has never been to a military instillation, which brings me to different topic…..how long have we been friends? TWENTY-SEVEN years Missie, and you have never once visited me. OK, I’m over it. Anyway, it got me thinking about military life. So many things are just “normal” to me. Like seeing this for instance……
Now mind you the first time I ever saw this, I was somewhat shocked. Then after a few times of seeing this it just becomes normal. I see soldiers walking down the street carrying their guns frequently. This day there must have been some sort of exercise going on because they were everywhere. I was going into the PX (Post version of a Wal-Mart) the day I ran into these two guys. I stopped them and ask if I could take their pictures. I'm sure they thought I was a little nutty, or a visitor here. The thing I found amusing about this is, when we enter the PX (Post Exchange) we have to show our ID & Ration cards to enter, the man checking ID's made these 2 soldiers dig into their pockets and pull out their ID cards. I guess being dressed in full uniform with guns isn't enough; they still need to see your ID card!
The picture above is taken from my back yard. The red brick building is on post housing, the one you are looking at looks just like the one I live in. The buildings in the background are apartment buildings in Seoul.
The morning I took these pictures, I was riding my bike around post to get these shots. I tried looking up how big Yongsan is, but gave up after a few minutes as I could not find it. I have heard there are about 1,000 families stationed here, but don't quote me on that. The picture below is of the commissary, where I shop for groceries. The background is Seoul - check out the sun on the right hand side.
In the next picture I am riding down one of our main streets (we have 2). The wall you see on the left side is a wall that encloses Embassy housing. I think at one point the Embassy housing was closed off & you could only go in if you lived there, but now the gate to Embassy housing stays open. The bus in the picture below (you can see the back side of it) is one of the many busses that runs on post. You can catch the bus 2 times an hour and take it anywhere on post. When you first arrive here, you become very familiar with the bus system, as you don't normally get your vehicle for several weeks. Boy 1 rides this bus all the time.
The next photo was taken outside our fire house. Normally the dog has water coming out his hose, but I guess it was too early for him when I took this picture.
The picture below is of Seoul Tower, taken from a bridge here on post. Hazy days are pretty common here this time of year. I have yet to go to the tower, but Hubby rode his bike up this past weekend. He said it was amazingly hard. I won’t be trying that anytime soon, but I will hike it where Hubby’s mom is here in a couple of weeks.
In the picture below, the lower buildings are post, the taller buildings in the background are Seoul.
The building below is our white house, it is where all the really "important" people work. (Notice Seoul tower in the background)
This next building is where the most important person on post works....my Hubby.
There are signs all over post guiding you to different buildings and clinics, this is common at all Army post. I am very thankful for these signs, but don't you think they could be a little prettier? I guess they are for function, not beauty.
And last, a picture of one of the soccer fields my boy plays soccer on. Isn't the background beautiful? I hope you all feel a little closer to us now. I will do a second posting on this subject at a later date, as there are more things I would like to show you around post.