Korea anyone??It seems to us that if we're going to be a military family and make the sacrifices that come with that, why not strive to enjoy the more unique experiences the Air Force has to offer us? I mean, why commit yourself to 20 years of....New Jersey? When you could be in Italy or Germany or Japan or who knows what other fantastic, adventurous places! We want to go somewhere cool! really reeeeeelly cool! Somewhere that offers an entirely different culture, language, food....Oh you know- all the bells and whistles. We're ready for something new!
Yeah, there's only one problem with that. It's not like we exactly get to choose where we get stationed. We'll get stationed where they need *J* to work. And that could very well be Jersey for the next 11 years.
So as we were talking this over (totally hypothetically of course) *J* kept coming back to how unfortunate it was that we weren't able to take advantage of our "base of preference" perk after he did his remote tour in Korea. In most cases, after an airmen has done his 1 year unaccompanied tour in South Korea he's pretty much able to hand pick his next base. Sometimes it doesn't work out- nothing is ever guaranteed. Obviously they cant station you somewhere that doesn't even offer positions in your career field for example. But for the most part it's kind of a shoe-in that you'll get one of the top choices on your "dream sheet". *J*'s closest buddies from Korea are now in Italy, Hawaii, Alaska and Germany. *Nice!* (Well, maybe not so much Alaska for me since I hate snow and the dark of winter. But it was that guys first choice so it worked out well for him, lol)
We gave up our base of preference option when Dillon became ill. We knew we needed to be near a state of the art children's cancer center for 4 years after *J* returned home. There's a world renowned pediatric cancer hospital in Philly- just 45 minutes away from this base, so New Jersey was it for us. And that's working out beautifully :)
But 4 years from now I know we'll be ready to move on. How are we gonna get out of here? (haha)
Yes, we can always put in for new orders. We'll be due for a change of station. But usually then people get sent somewhere totally random. Like North Dakota.
We could just wait and hope they send us somewhere new. But most SatComm guys stay here forever! Like, 6, 8, 12 years solid. Booooo! (No offense to you born and bred Jersey guys and gals! But we'd prefer not to live here for the rest of our lives.)
~Or~
*J* could volunteer to go back to Korea. They pretty much take anyone who volunteers to go to Korea. (Mostly because no one with a family ever wants to go.) Then he'd have his base of preference opportunity once again.
Bwahahaha! We laughed that off right away. Korea was horrible for us. I'd venture to say it almost ruined our marriage. Long story- but it was rough people. I would never want to go through that again- not by choice. I told *J* as much and said that the only way I would ever consider that would be if we were able to come with him.....And he thought that was a brilliant idea!
I guess *technically* you can go with your husband to Korea. If you foot the bill for moving all your stuff there and live off base.
Uhhhhhh....
I told him I wouldn't do that for a just a year. A year goes by so fast. Why go to all that trouble when just as you're getting settled you have to pack up and move- again.
"But we could stay for 2 years," he replies."And the second year they pay you a few extra 100 dollars per month for staying on".
Uhhhhh....Really?
Can you believe I'm actually considering this? I must be totally whacked out of my skull. But it seems kind of exciting. And fun. And adventurous. And terrifying. But still cool.
I must be crazy.
I don't even know how all of this would work. From talking to other women on message boards and such I've found out that the Air Force will continue to pay BAH (or OHA) for your area if the family chooses to move to Korea with the service member. But what about schools? Where exactly would we live if we aren't allowed to be on base? And how much does it cost to move your household to the other side of the planet? Cripe- we'd probably have to save for a year to make that happen. And isn't it kind of, you know, dangerous over there with North Korea's insane dictator and all those little, mundane details?
But still, it seems like such an interesting idea. I mean, the food is awesome! And *J*'s pictures of the country side are breathtaking. He loved the people there....And maybe this is wrong to think about- but 2 years in Korea would mean 2 years safe from Iraq and Afghanistan.
It probably wont ever happen. But IF we somehow stumbled upon information that made it seem in any way doable...Well then, I could live in Korea for 2 years. And not just for the follow on assignment. I honestly think it would be fascinating in it's own right.
I have two requests to throw out to my faithful readers:
1- If anyone out there in blogland knows of a family that's ever done this successfully I'd love to hear all about it. I know officers can get the OK to accompany to Korea- but *J*'s enlisted so that makes it much more complicated :(
2- If this is just absolutely absurd, someone please tell me so. I think I might need a little shock back to reality tonight, lol. I get a little carried away sometimes...
A few snapshots from *J*'s year in Korea:
One of the many ancient temples dotting the countryside.
Seoul at it's finest.
Ancient culture, modern city= fascinating!
Mmmmmm.....Bulgogi!And one more just for fun:
Can any of you spot the mistake in this sign? You get bonus points if you can catch their mess up!*J* says he had to walk past this sign almost everyday but was never able to stop laughing at it.
We really ought to send it to Jay Leno for his "headlines" segment ;)
¨Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.¨
Mark Twain
11 comments:
ROFL! Nothing like the United States of AFRICA!
And, well, as a girl whose really, REALLY hoping for an overseas tour next year, I totally hear ya on this one. I would think about it, too, if Korea was one of those things a Navy guy does. My biggest questions (after how much does it REALLY cost to move overseas - yikes!) are does the family still have support while there, even though they can't live on base (as in, you can use translaters, etc. that are available on an accompanied tour, and also use the housing office to help find some housing off-base) and what is the average cost of living there - what BAH will be paid? The last duty station? I'm guessing COLA wouldn't be part of the deal, which could be bad since the dollar has taken such a dive-bomb, but in four years, who knows.
So, yeah, lots of tough questions, and I'd guess it would be a very uphill battle to do it, but I definitely don't think you're crazy for looking into it. I once tutored a woman from Korea and she often invited me to stay for dinner. Korean food is FANTASTIC!
Love that sign...hysterical. :)
The Air Force might be different, but (according to my husband) there are several places you can be stationed - in the Army - in Korea where you can take your family with you. Not many, but some. In the very far south. We talked about it a little, but we're happy with Germany for now. :) It sure would be an interesting experience, though..
I don't know much about Korea excpet my sisters were born in Pusan and thats where my parents met.
I have heard that you need to bring a crap load of DVDs unless you want to watch korean soap operas all day long.
But you only live once, so I'd say go for it
For the record, I also don't think you're crazy. But I don't personally know the logistics of how it would work on unaccompanied orders -- I just know it's done more than people realize. Do they homeschool the kids? Dunno. I will email you the info of an acquaintance (air force spouse) who's there now with her hubby (on orders) and maybe she will answer some questions.
I DO know that you're household goods weight allowance is seriously curtailed, even on orders. Most people either sell their stuff or put it in storage. Then you could save some money to buy furniture there which is very affordable (I've heard) or possibly get a furnished apt? Then just mail yourself boxes of essentials, etc. (Ahead of time, space available.)
And Ana got it on the United States of Africa. TOO funny.
I'd do it in a second. Seriously. The logistics... well, you'd figure them out. The moving yourself, with three small children - that would just plain suck, but you'd live. Oh, I'd jump on that train so fast!
I believe it's common to employ a housekeeper while living there. I'd be all over that! Wouldn't that be lovely?!
-Andrea
Ok, you might not like this, but if it were me, I'd say no way. I mean, I don't know the first thing about military life. But I do know what it's like to move to a foreign country. England was suprisingly difficult to adjust to. But we had loads of built in friends already because we were part of the school. Moving to Korea... if there aren't any other families there (American ones), I think it would get really lonely. And the adjustment to the foods, the culture, the language would be extremely difficult, especially with small children. That's juts my opinion!
I have to agree with the above poster - a friend of mine did a tour in the UK, his family didn't even make it a year. His kids wanted to come home, his daughter didn't get along well with the other kids and cried every night. He has to finish his stint alone. BUT you might not have that situation - so good luck in your choice!!
MY husband is Korean and would LOVE to go back there! As for me and the KIDS....I have no idea but he has family there since he was born in Seoul...so I guess for me it would be different than your situation. Good luck!
I linked to your post in my current PCS post because you pretty much summed up what we too have been considering. I continue to be amazed at how similar our military lives seem. Its crazy I tell you, crazy! Hmm, maybe its the comm. thing?
Korea actually looks beautiful... but once again.. why would you EVER want to leave Jersey,LOL.
Hubby actually wants to go overseas and work in the Belgium Naval Hospital.( I think that's where he said) He talks it up all the time...but we'll see about that.
Our friends are leaving on a two year tour to Korea next week. He voluneteered for the two year tour and his fmaily was able to move with him. Everything is paid for. The one year you would have to pay but the two year is another story. I feel with you on the four year thing, at two years we usually get the itch to move. I think going to Korea would be a wonderful experience. You get what you make out of it and once again it's not permenant...2 years that's it and then it's over. One would be so lucky to have and experience like that. Good luck figuring out what you want to do next. From one af wife to another.
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