The base here is a small, compact community with everything you need (you wouldn’t ever have to travel off base for anything if you didn’t want to). Most everything is within walking distance from our home. The hospital is across the street followed by the community center, the BX (Base Exchange – like a Walmart), fitness center, library, Commissary (groceries), eateries (like Chili’s), the Officer’s Club and more.
Here are some of my initial observations:
Baby Love: The Koreans we saw on base love, love babies. Cooper was oohed and awed at by almost every Korean we saw – no matter their age or gender. Something so foreign (and heartwarming) for a 45 year old man in uniform to turn stop, smile and ooh and awe at Cooper followed by a ‘confirmation of cuteness’ nod to me.
BX: The BX has the basics (and more) but I’m seriously going to miss Target.
Commissary: I always love to go to the culture-specific sections in markets so living in another country is so fun for me. The market on base is of course primarily American but the end caps of food items in all Korea are so exotic – hmm, I wonder if there is an app for reading for quickly reading what they actually say.
Military Families: Everyone here is doing the same thing we are so there is already a sense of camaraderie – a nod on the street speaks a million words. We all get it.
Accidental Housewife: The word housewife makes me panicky – because I’ve always been a working girl with a Master’s degree and a strong sense of independence, because I excel in marketing and branding but not so much in cooking and ironing, because I know it’s hard and new. But just like being a military wife – I will make the best of it. And it’s not all scary – the prospect of spending time with my baby, making my own schedule, fitting workouts in, and focusing on doing all of the fun stuff I can’t do with an 8-5 is very exciting.
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