Mark Edward Brown's Blog

  This is just a quick update to let everyone know that all is well for me in Korea.  I have been quite busy actually, since my last post I have moved out of the hotel I was staying in.  I am now in a smaller room in a building that is much closer to where I work.  I am one block from the main shopping area and the gym as well so that is good.

I have been able to get out and see the countryside due to some recent trips to some training events that I assisted with.  It is still very cold over here so much of the plants, trees and grass do not have allot of color, I suspect that as it warms up and springs comes a calling it will get much nicer.

I do not take command of my next outfit until early summer so I am staying where I am at until the beginning of April when I will move to my new assignment.  I am looking forward to better lodging accomodations and commanding soldiers again

I have no phone and not t.v. however they are distractions for the most part.  I do have my computer and have internet access which I consider a neccessity.  For the two days that I was without it I thought I was going to go crazy, just kidding, in all actuality I read allot.

This week I have the commander’s course so that should be interesting, I heard we may visit the “DMZ’ so that could be interesting, I will keep you posted.

Until next time, leave your comments and keep those e-mails coming,

Mark

At the time of this writing I am safely in the heart of Seoul, Korea.  Last week was spent doing administrative duties that take place whenever one begins a new assignment.  Here is a picture of the hotel that I am staying in: 
    
     I have been here now for just over one week and I am being told that I may stay for a couple more weeks.  The reason for the delay is that my boss had to return the the U.S. for an emergency so for the time being I will be helping out in the operations section of the battalion that I am assigned to.

     I am over the jet lag that plagued me for most of last week and back in the gym working out and running on the treadmill.  I did gain a couple pounds over the holidays due to no one’s fault but my own.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by good cooks and wonderful women who enjoy cooking for me; my wife, my moms, my aunts etc…  I miss them and their cooking talents already

I have not been very ambitious as I mentioned above however a good friend of mine paid me a visit over the weekend and he took me on a tour of Seoul that was top notch.  We went on a walking tour which was fine by me because I needed the excercise.  In the morning we went to the Seoul Tower which you can see on the right.

The Seoul Tower is visible from almost anywhere in Seoul and serves as an excellent landmark.  The tower is built on a 262 meter peak in Namsan Park and it rises 480 meters above sea level.  You can virtually see the entire city and surrounding area from this exhilerating location.  The journey through the small streets and hills was quite interesting and the jaunt up the hill to the tower was no joke however the trip back down was wonderous, I was amazed to see people of all ages to include elderly men and women working out in a fitness park.  Keep in mind it was in the high twenties and maybe low thirty degrees yet here we were taking in the sites and there they were working out much like they have always done.

Once we returned to the hotel we had lunch and then went to the Itaewon Shopping district, it’s also one of the spots where the nightclubs are located and I am told that the “freaks” come out at night there.  I am also told that the military police still patrol there along with Korean military police as well.  I am glad that I was there during the day to see the shopping area, Ithink I am too old for nightclubs and the like.

I said so long to my friend in the early afternoon and am quite happy to have seen a friend in this new place, this was an adventure that wont be forgotten.

All the best,

Mark Edward Brown