Songtan & Seoul

Still busy here, but no longer suffering without linens. I got a couple chances this weekend to go off base: to the strip outside the gate in Songtan and Seoul. The strip here is quite a trip: bars, clubs, restaurants, stores, and so on -- all catered to the airmen here. The local beer Hite is good and only $3 a bottle. It's less than a mile from my apartment (which is right next to the hospital I work at).
Seoul is 1 1/2 hours by the train/subway. It costs about a dollar each way. 45 minutes away when you drive. A local friend showed me around, which made it relaxed and easy. Seoul is huge and has everything you could want. Traffic and the sidewalks weren't too busy, but it was a Sunday, which most Koreans have off from work. About 1/3 are Christian. The English speaking church service I went to reminded me of my church when I was in highschool. Kind of 90's vinyard style.

Accomplished and not

Got smallpox and anthrax vaccines
Obtained chemical warfare gear and flight suit
Bought groceries
Bunches of boring items....

To do:
Buy bedding
Get a phone
Call family
Get Korean driver's lisence
Find someone in the apartment building that will share wi-fi with me
Finish my computer based aerospace medicine training
etc. etc. etc.

Drinking from the fire hydrant

Sheesh, sheesh, sheesh... I've got stacks of paperwork to fill out, checklists of things to do, equipment to get, commanders and pilots to meet, tests to take, and over 80 hours of computer-based training. I'm feeling quite overwhelmed, but luckily I have 2 weeks to get it all accomplished. Not only am I jumping into the specialty of Aerospace Medicine, but also leaping into the Air Force and their millions of acronyms, forms, procedures, and headaches. This is going to be a sweet job, but I've got an extremely steep learning curve.

I don't have much time to do much else. Like I still have no bed sheets. So I slept on the couch in my clothes with a towel for a sheet.... didn't work well. Little did I know, but even when you turn "off" your A/C, the Air Force still deems it fit to blast in A/C air from somewhere. I tried closing the vents, so hopefully tonight will be warmer. And tomorrow, I'll get my sheets. I don't have any food in the house (and the hospital doesn't have a cafeteria). I have no car to go out and purchase any of this stuff. Plus I have no internet, telephone, or cell phone coverage. So I'm at the library, trying to catch up on things... Well, enough of the complaining. It'll be a good year.

Well, I'm in Korea now, but this blogger website is in Korean, and I can't figure out how to switch it to English. Let's see if I can guess which is the "Publish" button...

Seoul is way expensive!

My mom just informed me that Seoul is the 3rd most expensive city in the world for Americans to live in. Considering housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment, Seoul is 22% more expensive than New York City. Only Moscow (#1) and London (#2) were more expensive. But I'm not too worried, because the only areas eating my bills will be transportation (gas over there is nearly $6.50 per gallon), food, and entertainment. Clothes over there are CHEAP.
Here's the original article.

Viagra

I read they caught the "viagra spammer". I've also noticed an absence of viagra spam in my spambox now. Amazing that one guy can have such an effect over the whole world. He hijacked bunches of computers, and turned them into "zombies" that worked for him. I guess he's being charged with identity theft or something like that. Now only if they can catch some of these new ones that are coming out. It doesn't bother me too much, because GMail's filters do an awesome job putting them all in my spambox.

Sponsor kids!

Everyone must sponsor a kid. One of the best ways to give to the needy or to invest in the future is to give to kids. They're innocent yet suffering; just born into unfortunate circumstances. By giving them education, nutrition, and healthcare, you are making a huge difference for the rest of their life. You will also keep them out of worse situations. For example, kids are sometimes sold into slavery by a family that cannot afford to feed them, believing the kid would receive better care. Sponsorship can eliminate this!

What's a good way to give? Compassion International. It is highly rated by independent organizations such BBB Wise Giving Alliance which concluded that "Compassion International Inc. (CI) meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability" and Charity Navigator which gave Compassion its highest rating of 4 stars.

It costs just $1 a day ($32 a month), and it goes so far. I've visited 2 sponsorship sites, and the difference in these kids lives is amazing. Here's an article about one of my visits and a highlight of my life.

Me in the news. http://www.llu.edu/news/today/nov2003/sm.html

Such a sweet experience.

And for y'all that believe in the Bible, may I remind you our responsibility to widows and orphans.

Googling Andrew Barnett

So guess what... when you search "Andrew Barnett" on google, you get "Andrew Barnett, M.D."'s website! Sweet, I'm number one! Wait... this isn't me

Andrew Barnett, M.D. 's website

Hope this doesn't cause problems down the road. I can just imagine, meeting someone, whether it be a patient or a date, and they decided to google me later. Boy will they be surprised.
I also found out that Andrew Barnett is a wigmaker and a culinary coffee authority. Well, I have roasted my own coffee in the past. I bought a few pounds of green coffee in Ethiopia, roasted them on the stove at home, and served it right up, super fresh.

F-16's !!!

I just found out I'm being assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron at Osan Air Base, South Korea. I'll be working with F-16 pilots, and I'm excited, hoping I'll get some good flight time with them. The F-16 has a 2-seat trainer, which I could ride shotgun. Hopefully Osan has at least one of these. The F-16 was my favorite fighter when a kid. I wanted to be a fighter pilot till my eyes went bad in Junior High.

Taj Mahal

First the highlight of the trip: the Taj. The Taj Majal is a tomb/memorial a king make for his wife that died in childbirth. Many call it the most magnificent monument built out of love.


Actually it's built out of pure marble, not love. As you can see, it shines white in the sun. I guess it used to be even whiter, and because they noticed a color change, India outlawed all industry that produces air pollution in the town of the Taj Mahal, Aggra.

The architecture is Persian, not Indian. This and many other monuments in Northwest India were made when the Persians ruled India several hundred years ago, like 1300's or something.


And it's more amazing that just the architecture. When you get close, you can see precious stoned inlaid into the marble making ornate designs. They have similar pieces of marble with inlayed stones for sale as souvenirs, and just a circle with a 2 foot diameter cost over $100.

I looks deceptively large, but in reality, it is a single room tomb. I always thought it was some huge palace, but when you walk in, it's just one moderate size room with 2 caskets (the King was buried with his wife when he died).


Another amazing thing is the lack of development around this wonder of the world. It sits on a river, and right across the river is an orchard, not some high-end hotel to take advantage of the magnificent view.