It's been a while since my last entry, and that is mostly because there really hasn't been a lot to report. I have now been in Korea for almost three months, and I feel as though I have finally established a routine that I enjoy and allows for a sense of normalcy.

Most of January was spent running around trying to accomplish all kinds of trainings that are necessary to allow me to cover the variety of responsibilities that I may have to take on to supplement my office and fellow colleagues. For example, I spent a week down at Yongsan taking a tax course so I can be the Executive Officer of the Tax Center here in Area I. Then shortly after that tax course, I had an additional week of Tax Classes to certify me as a VITA volunteer, which is a program created by the IRS that allows me to file tax returns for soldiers here in Area I. So now that the training is over, my Tax Officer in Charge (OIC) and I have a small group of 16 soldiers who have been filing tax returns for the thousands of soldiers in Area I, and they are doing an excellent job. This now means that I get to return to my office and enjoy seeing clients again, and helping them with the myriad of issues that they face on a regular basis.

Other trainings concern other command staff responsibilities that JAGs play. I can't exactly elaborate because much of these trainings require a "secret" security clearance and are thus confidential. Though that last statement might make these trainings sound really cool, they really aren't that awesome, rather they're kind of tedious. However, should I ever have to use them, it will be nice to be fully versed in the ways and means of accomplishing my mission.

But, like I said, these trainings are finally done and I'm back to seeing clients which is the routine that I enjoy. Beyond my work schedule, which as a legal assistance attorney is pretty routine and predictable, life here at Camp Casey is nothing too exciting, its just life on an Army post. I made two new years resolutions, the first is to get at least one workout in every day, and the second is to cook for myself and stay away from the PX as much as possible. I haven't been perfect with these goals, but I'm about 90% compliant.

A couple of the weekends since I last wrote have been spent down in Seoul continuing to explore that city. Each time I visit I always find myself in a new adventure. Recently, we've been exploring new areas of town and just enjoying the unique experiences that they offer, whether it be food, nightlife, or cultural sights. However, most weekends are spent running errands and completing left over tasks here on Casey. One bit of excitement over the last couple weeks was a visit from Montgomery Gentry, the country-western band. They performed for 2ID on Camp Casey, and they were awesome.

The most exciting thing in the last couple weeks is the promotion that all of my 182nd Active Duty classmates received. The promotions started as early as January 7th (well done Lady Lucht, I believe she was one of the first) and they finished on January 28th. For me and my two classmates that are here with me with 2ID, we had one big promotion ceremony on January 27th at the Casey Courtroom. It wasn't a huge affair, but the vast majority of the office showed up for it, and it was a cool little event. So, though my promotion orders were for January 21st, I officially pinned on my Captain's bars January 27th. Not a lot has changed, but I do feel as though I get called "sir" a little more often around post.

The next couple weeks here in Korea are going to be amazing. This weekend, Super Bowl Weekend, we have a 4-day weekend, then next weekend is a three day weekend (leaving a three-day work week for us) and then the following weekend is a four-day as well for President's Day. Apparently, February in 2ID is a great month because I don't think we have an entire 5 day work week the entire month. I have received a pass to go to the Islands of Thailand on President's Day weekend, but I'm having serious trouble arranging decent airfare, so I hope I can get that figured out, because I want to take advantage of all this time off.

Even with all this time off, I feel as though I have plenty of work to do, and inevitably, I will have soldiers coming by the next three day work week and will undoubtedly have plenty of work to keep me busy. I am excited about our Monday off to watch the Super Bowl. I have to admit I'm pushing for the Packers, even though I really don't care, I'm just excited for some commercials.

I realize this entry is really just a stream of conscious thought, but there really isn't a lot of excitement around here now that North and South Korea seem to be playing nicely together. I'm sorry for not having more, but I hope you enjoy it.