The first Spring'ish weekend in Korea

First let me start by giving you a little bit of background on who Stacy is and how it is that we are both here in the Southern tip of South Korea.

Stacy and I were both a part of the Challenge Day community in 98-99. She was one of the many blessings that came from my time with Challenge Day. We lived together in a house in Martinez and eventually ended up renting a sail boat in Alameda and lived on it together for about six months. We both drifted away from the Challenge Day community in the Bay Area, but I was blessed by the relationships that I made and have kept in touch with a handful of people from Challenge Day, Stacy being one of them. We have stayed in contact with each other through email and facebook over the years even though we have both moved all over. Stacy's brother-in-law is stationed here in Jinhae, South Korea and about eight months ago Stacy came over here to help her sister with her nieces. Beth (Stacy's sister) has two little girls and is pregnant with baby number three, due in June.

When I decided to look into coming to South Korea I got in touch with Stacy to find out more about her experience here so far. I knew that being so far away from all of the comforts of home would be tough, and that having the ability and opportunity to have a friend from home here would make things bearable when things seemed unbearable. Stacy was a big part of the reason that I chose the location that I did in Changwon, because I knew that it was only about 20-30 minutes from Jinhae and the US Navy base. There are a lot of people that are put off by the Navy or the military in general, but I personally feel very at home and welcome, especially with the Navy.

So, getting on with my point...Stacy was away on vacation for the first month that I was here, so I didn't get a chance to come see her until this weekend. The first weekend of April, also Easter weekend. It wasn't planned that way originally but it was very nice to be able to be surrounded by American's for my first holiday overseas. Today we went and had Easter brunch, played with kids in a jump house and jump slide and then did an adult Easter Egg hunt. It was a fun day and nice to have some of the comforts of home, even if it was just for the weekend. Their house is very westernized, so it was nice to have a shower with a shower curtain, a bath tub, being able to have a TV with stations that I know from home, having food from home, things that you can't find here...like sour cream, diet coke, Ruffles potato chips and Bryer's Ice Cream. It's amazing the little things that can almost bring you to tears even just by seeing it.

It has been really nice to be here and I am hoping that I will be invited to come back and spend more time with Stacy and her family and the other people here on base. They all see to be very nice and are all very welcoming since they know that I am here in a foreign country.

This has been the first nice spring weekend. Jinhae is known for it's Cherry Blossom Festival but the rain and cold weather has postponed the actual blooming of the cherry blossoms. They are hoping that they will be open by next weekend. Jinhae is the home of both the US Navy base and the ROK (Republic of Korea) Navy Base. This week an ROK ship was lost at sea and at last count 50 sailors are still missing, presumed dead, so the entire city of Jinhae is in mourning so things are a bit mellower that was I was told it would be like. But I am hoping to come back next weekend and see the Cherry Blossom trees in bloom. It should be really pretty.

The other side of the weather getting better and all the flowers and trees opening up is the pollen. I have never had allergies in the states but I have spent the last almost two weeks with what Stacy calls the Korean Crud....which is a very fitting name, due to the cough and mucas that has left me feeling like a walking head cold. My medical insurance is suppose to go into effect this week and I am looking forward to getting on some sort of allergy med that will help get rid of whatever this is.

I am going to continue to watch a movie with Stacy and enjoy the rest of my Easter Sunday here in Jinhae.

I hope that you all have a great Easter and remember to be grateful for the people that you are sharing your day with.