In the spring of 2009, my husband called me from Iraq and asked what I thought about an overseas PCS—to Korea. He explained that they had just opened command sponsorship to families, so our family would be able to go for two years, maybe longer. He had already served two tours in Korea, one before we were married and one when our girls were very small. There had been no command sponsorship then, but he loved it.
I immediately said yes.
A few months ago, my husband I found out he was going to PCS to Korea. (You can read a little bit more about that here.) We struggled with whether or not I should go with him or stay behind. After all, if you go to Korea with your spouse and are able to get command sponsorship, your time there extends from one year to two (or longer). Though if you go non-command sponsored you are there for just a year, but it is a much more expensive choice.
My husband has been in the Army nearly 10 years. Sometimes I can’t believe he’s already this far into his career or that so much time has passed so quickly. Throughout the years, we’ve lived in various places across America: Hawaii, Virginia, Washington. Aside from Hawaii, he has managed to avoid an OCONUS assignment—until now. Do I stay, or do I go?
Okay, so I wrote about my top 10 things I’ll miss about Korea. What a lovely reflection of our three-year tour. It’s only fair that I write about the 10 things I’ve missed about America, in no particular order. Why 10? Because I don’t have the time to write a top 100 list right now.
I pride myself on being a woman of my word. If I say I am going to do something, I’ll do it.
(Unless it’s something I am telling myself I should do, and in that case, my word means nothing. Refer to: Diet, Start My.)
Quite often, I get the following statement from strangers I meet: “You have got to be from the South!” I grin, nod, and proudly admit with a natural twang that both my husband and I are from the Bluegrass State of Kentucky. Needless to say, we stuck out at our first duty assignment as the Army sent us far away from home, over the Atlantic, and landed us in beautiful Germany (K-town for all of you that have shared the Germany experience). Although we were geographically displaced from family and friends, we couldn’t help but fall in love with all of Germany’s splendor: green rolling hills, pristine gardens, tasty wine, fresh bread and vegetables, friendly neighbors…
It felt like home.
The entire month of March, to say the least, was a journey for me. As much as I hate to use that word (most likely thanks to its glaring overuse on ABC’s The Bachelor), it has been.
Living in South Korea has its challenges, and calling them “challenges” shows a lot of restraint on my part and a testament to my will power. The past 15 months have been a learning experience unlike any other; however, I am thankful my family is together, regardless of the growing pains encountered due to living in a foreign country. It got me thinking about the misconceptions people have of South Korea.
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