Its been nearly three weeks since I last blogged, and other then my family and my grandmother, I'm sure most everyone hasn't really noticed. But I'm back, and have a lot to catch up on.

With much anticipation, and some level of anxiety the Holidays arrived in Korea and with some level of relief and a few great memories they have now passed. To be honest, I wasn't sure how it was going to be, spending the holidays away from my family and friends for the first time, and on top of that in Korea where I know few people, and the Army limits my ability to socialize with so many others given that I am an officer (fraternization policies). So, I didn't know what to think or expect. However, the Holiday season ended up being very nice here, the community around me, namely my JAG colleagues who have been here for the last year, and the friends they know, really took me under their wings and made sure we were taken care of. On top of that, I received a TON of gifts, food, and cards from family and friends back in the states, which always helps to show you you're both missed and loved.

The Holidays started with a Christmas Eve Eve celebration with all the JAGs from my class in C'Ville who are now here (six in total, we were missing 1LT Nisbet). We all met in Seoul for an awesome night out in the town. The always gracious 1LT Kumar played host for us, and I think we did just about everything there is to do in the city. On a side note, for anyone who didn't know, I was clearly being sarcastic when I said that 1LT Kumar made me do all the heavy lifting when he was moving into his new apartment, and I was certainly not actually "fuming" about his place at all. If anything, I did zero lifting, because when you move anywhere in the Army, a civilian contractor moving company does everything for you, from packing the boxes at your home in the states, lifting them into the trucks, shipping them, and then when you arrive at your new home (in this case Korea) they carry everything up and unpack it for you. At no point do you lift an arm to help, they wont let you. So, for those who think I was abused by my friend 1LT Kumar, rest assured I most certainly wasn't, I just had to amend the record on that last post, apparently sarcasm is not easy to detect over the blog.

Anyways, so Christmas Eve Eve was an amazing night. We had a great Korean dinner, then we went out and enjoyed our first taste of makkolli (Korean rice wine), which took us into Noraebong (sp?) which is the Korean name for Karaoke. Noraebong is so much fun because your group gets its own room, so you don't have to worry about being terrible, you just get to go nuts, I think it is much better then the giant bar setting where you're intimidated by singing because so many people you don't know are watching you. After that, we at a ridiculous amount of the local street food, which is REALLY awesome, before calling it a night.

Christmas day was spent at the home of a friend of the JAGs here at Casey, Joe and Nicole. Each Christmas they take all of us wayward soldiers into their home and feed us the most amazing Christmas dinner of Prime Rib and potatoes imaginable. That dinner turns into a night out, so where I thought I might be cooking for myself on Christmas or worse having Taco Bell from the PX, I ended up having an amazing time.

The next couple days were standard days in the office, minus the fact that they were half-days. That is until 30 December when I flew to Bangkok, Thailand for the New Years. I was so excited to get out of the country and the cold for a couple days and into the warm whether or Southeast Asia. Travel from Korea is very easy if you time it right. I took a "limo" bus from just outside Camp Casey ($11) that landed me right at the main terminal at Incheon Airport. The process of getting on the plane was simple enough, and I was off to Bangkok. When I got into the city, I took a taxi to my hotel and immediately set out on the town. I found some great street food, namely soups and pad thai, and it was delicious. That night I made friends with a couple of ex-pats and we made a night of it. I even got to try the ubiquitous "fried bugs" that you always hear about on the travel channel (Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdaine), and they weren't half bad, some were terrible.

The next couple days weren't quite as awesome though. The next two days I spent out checking the sites of Bangkok, and it was more difficult then I expected to travel around the city, but more frustrating was the feeling that I had a GIANT target on my back everywhere I went. Whether it was street vendors, "tourist officers," or members of the ever present "sex trade" in Bangkok, I was constantly getting harassed from the time I stepped out of my hotel to the time I retired to bed. I expected this to some extent, but the fact that I was NEVER left in peace really became exhausting. I was able to see a number of temples, which were stunningly beautiful, and I did get to the big weekend Market (JJ Market) which was awesome, and I caught a Muay Thai fight as well. New Years Eve was simply hectic in Bangkok, and after a day of being harassed I was just too tired to really make a night of it, so I treated myself to a great nighs sleep to start the new year, it was a good choice.

I left Bangkok on a Saturday, and was not sad to do so at all. That is a city I've seen and experienced, and have now crossed off my list. Lessons learned; don't travel alone, always have a battle buddy, this one experience (though I shouldn't generalize) showed me its harder to travel alone in Asia then in Europe.

Once back in Korea, I spent the entire first week of the New Year traveling down to Yongsan (Seoul) for a tax course and then traveling all the way back to Casey, 5 hours a day on a bus. The unit had spent all of its TDY money sending the Tax OIC (which isn't me) to C'Ville for the tax course, so I was left to commute instead of being able to stay in Yongsan for the week. It was worth it though. I now know all about my taxes and what to do when filing, and I am now the Executive Officer (XO) of the tax office for 2ID. I don't know what that means, but it should mean I'll be busy and it will definitely be a good experience.

Now, I'm enjoying my weekend with nothing to do, and it is so nice. Sorry for the delay in writing, I'll try to be better, but I really haven't had the time or energy. Its time for me to go and get a workout in, and then I think I might go for a hike, its a beautiful, sunny, not-so-cold, day.... Thanks for reading....