Tag Archive for Korea

The Brown’s 1st Adventure of the New Year

Elgin, OK Shadow Ridge

On 3 January we struck out across the west on the plains of Missouri and Oklahoma.  My oldest daughter and I drove our “hot-rod” Dodge Charger and my Wife and our two younger kids (a boy and another girl) + the family pet (a cat) in our trusty SUV drove all day with few stops because of our excitement to arrive at our new destination.

In the early evening we arrived at Fort Sill and checked into our hotel suite.  We unloaded only the neccesities and had a light supper before relaxing a little bit before getting some well deserved rest for the night.

The next day I checked in with the housing office to see if on base housing was available however, it was not.  There was at least a week long wait before I would be able to move the family into a home that would fit us and all of our belongings and we would have to squeeze my two daughters into one room (not something I recommend to anyone).

With that situation understood we linked up with a local realtor named Barbara Clark who is a brilliant woman and really restored my faith in realtors everywhere.  We looked at homes until early evening, took a break and resumed our search again the next day.

Our home search was not what I expected at all and it was a challenge to find all the right characteristics regarding what we all wanted and what we really needed.  For example, a swimming pool would have been really cool to have however that did not work out.  I really like neighborhoods with sidewalks and yet again, that did not work out either.

What it all came down to was a home in a school district where our kids would be educated with care and quality plus a home with enough room to grow with a storm shelter to ride out those nasty tornados and storms that come through this area of the country.

To make a long story short we found the right home, with allot of help from Barbara.  We now live in a small community that in not far from Fort Sill and a picture of our home is below, (our sub-division is called “Shadow Ridge” ~ pictured above)
Brown Family Home
We don’t have a spare bedroom but your welcome to pay us a visit and one of the kid’s will lend you their room for a night or two.  Please call first so we can ensure you have a clean room to stay in!

We don’t have all of our belongings yet, one shipment is being delivered on Thursday and I am still expecting my military belongings that I shipped from Korea.

The kids are in school and adjusting well, I just started in-processing at Fort Sill and my wife (Kim) is keeping us all in line and behaving appropriately :-)

Leave me a comment and let me know how your New Year is starting, I hope it’s been a good one so far and look forward to reading what you have to share so please comment below.

Mark

Mark Edward Brown’s Christmas Update

Mark Edward Brown's Christmas Gift

It’s been a couple days since my last post and it is Christmas so I wanted to make a blog post to tell all of my family and friends what the heck has been going on.

This holiday story goes back a couple of months so bear with me; when I discovered that my friend and collegue in the Army was coming to Korea to assume command of the unit that I was scheduled to leave I was thrilled.  My boss even agreed to allow me to leave early so that I could suprise and celebrate the Holiday’s with my family.

Originally I was scheduled to leave Korea around the 7th of January 2012 however because there was a smooth transition and I was done commanding early I was able to leave Korea around the 19th of December.  The month leading up to the day of my departure was really hectic and I had to watch what I said and did when I spoke with my wife and kids.  I even had to monitor what I put on Facebook and such because I didn’t want word of my suprise to get out before I made it home, which would have spoiled the suprise.

To make a long story short; 40 hours of flying and late in the evening of a weary 2 days of traveling I was knocking lightly on the front door of my home.  The kids were all in bed and asleep and my wife had just retired to bed about 20 minutes before I arrived on our doorstep via a taxi ride from the airport.

When she turned on the light and saw me there was a look of disbelief mixed with joy and then a “what in the heck are you trying pull here” look came across her face.  It was priceless and worth the travel time and preparation along with all the anxiety and tight lipped secrecy as well.

The bottom line is both my wife and I experienced the best Christmas gift we could have shared with each other.  My kids might say the same thing however they scored some really sweet gifts from santy claus so I’m not sure what they would say about the whole ordeal, after all they did have to go to a half a day of school before they could get back home to spend some long overdue time with me for their holiday break.

Now that I am back in the USA I will post more as we have a big New Years adventure ahead of us with our pending move to Fort Sill.

Merry Christmas and leave me a comment to tell me how your Christmas went?

Mark Edward Brown

P.S. ~ I miss my Soldiers, Friends and Fellow Leaders from Korea, leaving was bittersweet yet I know they all understood that it was my time to move on.

Mark Edward Brown visits The Independence Hall of Korea

TheIndependenceHallofKorea     I recently visited The Independence Hall of Korea which is an another incredible and “must see” place to visit and experience when you visit Korea.  The Independence Hall was established in August of 1987 and is comprised of 68 buildings on 4 million square meters that chronicles the origins of the Korean people and it’s culture throughout it’s occupation by Japan up to today’s times and challenges.

This visit lasted all day and was one of the most memorable and educational day trips that I have experienced so far during my assignment here in Korea.  The Independence Hall is near Cheonon, I arrived on a bus and an orientation briefing was scheduled from 10:00am to 11:00am, we then toured 7 exhibition halls that were all breathtaking in their display of history and demonstration of enginuity.  We then had luch from 12:30am to 1:30pm and then went to the 4D theater which was very entertaining, I wont spoil the secret however I will tell you that I prefer the 4D experience vs. a 3D experience any day.

From 2:00pm to 4:00pm we toured and learned about what a day in the life of the Independence Army was like and then we closed out the day with the ringing of the Unification Bell which was a seriously humbling time.  The bell is located in an outdoor amplitheater like monument that is spectacular, the bell is rung with the intention and desire for the peaceful unification of Korea.

Despite the day spent at the Hall, I still was not able to see and experience all of the displays and granduer of this breathtaking location. I look forward to a return trip to learn and see more of Korea’s history and it’s culture.

Leave a comment and tell me about your experience at the Indpendence Hall or about any other great places I should visit while in Korea?

With my best regards always,

Mark Edward Brown