Korea, here I come!

I found out today that by October 2007, I will be moving to Yong San Army Garrison in Seoul, S. Korea. I will be assigned to a small Air Force unit there at the army installation, the 303rd Intelligence Squadron.

I will be leaving Italy in September of 2006. This is when I plan on taking a trip back to the states to see all my friends and family for a few weeks before I head back to Korea for my second tour there.

I have mixed feelings about this. I love Italy. I requested to stay here longer but my request was denied.

There are lots of things I'm going to miss about this country. I've grown accustomed to driving past vineyards to get to work, not skyscrapers. I learned how to snowboard here. I skydived here. I learned a little about wine. I can look outside anytime and see the peaks of the Alps. In 45 minutes I can be in the mountains or at the beach. In 5 hours, I can be in 5 or 6 different countries.

Then of course there are things I won't miss. Life in Italy can be pretty inconvenient at times. You can't go shopping whenever you want, you can't get food anytime you want, and you can't even get gas for your car anytime you want. 'Open 24 hours' is not understood in Italy!!!

Maybe you can't find a store that's open between noon and 4 pm, or on Sunday, or on some other random days of the week. Maybe you'll have to wait weeks just to get you're internet connected. Maybe you have to hunt a waitress down to get your check. Things here are just more relaxed. More laid back. The customer is NOT always right. More often than not, the customer is a nuisance.

But to me, the positives far outweigh the negatives. The irony of Italy is this: The things that make life challenging are the same things that make it great. There is no doubt this is a beautiful country. The landscape, the architecture, the culture, the people (well, most of the people).

So as I look back at my tour here I can say that I've done pretty good at seeing Europe. And as I look ahead to next year I plan to be travelling every weekend possible. You can bet I'll continue to post stories and pics here.

And again, if you want to come visit Susan and I here, the door is always open, but now the clock is ticking!

Coming soon: Pics from Oktoberest 2006 in Munich!!!