paperwork nightmare

it's friday...woo hoo! our first "show" is tonight. no, i didn't join the circus (although that would be quite the story)...a "show" is like a naming where they name people that have been here for a few months with a call sign...the pilots do this and i guess here the spouses do it as well just for fun. i won't be named tonight because we just got here, but 3 other pilots and spouses will. it is basically one huge party. they plan about one "show" a month and kate is in charge of it for the spouses...so she is called the "mayorette" just like the pilot in charge of it is called the "mayor". much like a social chair. brant had this title back at shaw but it was called the "dealer" there.

anyway, let me tell you about yesterday...kate and i went running but this time we ran around the flight line. it was a great, flat run but we had to plug our ears every few minutes when the jets would come down to land or do a "touch and go" where they come down like they are landing, but don't and go up again. brant was still in-processing, but came back to have lunch in the room. so we had a quick bite together. kate was meeting some friends at the coffee shop that is downstairs in the hotel so i met with them for a bit and then brant, kate, and i set off to conquer another day of errands. we first got a SOFA stamp for my visa that says if i get in trouble while i korea, i am here with the military and will be governed under US law or whatever (phew...i was worried about that one...glad we got that out in the open.) then we dropped brant off at chemical warfare training...couldn't quite find the exact building so we found a building that we thought was close and he got out. come to find out later that he was walking in a restricted area by the super secret U2 bomber plane and definitely could have been in some serious trouble if it were not for a nice master seargent that decided to help him out. yikes. after this, kate took me to the school to get my substitute application. drama. i had spent weeks before arriving here filling out their "online" sub application through the dodea (dept. of defense educ. activity) so that i could start right when i got here. the secretary didn't even know what i was talking about. she handed me a 40 page packet i would need to fill out that she warned me was very extensive and included providing info. on where i had lived the past 10 years and references for the same amount of time. it also included duplicating the extensive info. i had provided online about all of my work and educational experience. once i finish it, they will send it to JAPAN to be processed and i could be subbing in a FEW MONTHS. to me this is ludicrous. the reason i did the online application BEFORE getting here was so that i could start asap. i called them from the states saying i was doing this and they said "great, just let us know when you get here!" grrr. she also told me they are in dire need of subs...i wonder why... i am so fired up i am going to an on-base town hall meeting (meeting with all the people in charge around base including the principals where you can express your concern about anything) about it. after the steam stopped filtering out my ears, kate and i headed off-base into songtan to look for leggings to go underneath my party suit (for tonight!) and for some outlandish shoes to make the dress even more obnoxious. the shopping here is so much crazier than i thought. there is just street after street after street of boutiques and interesting little side stores. we got some fun ideas but didn't buy anything. we walked back on base and hit up the commissary (grocery store). i was surprised at how very clean it was and what a great selection of stuff it had. i can get all my favorite foods! kate dropped me off back at the hotel, i said hi to brant, he went to work out, and i changed and went to the OSS coffee. this is not people sitting around having coffee. OSS means all officer's spouses. coffee is just what they must have done back in the day, but it is generally dinner and drinks and a spouse talking about events/issues/happenings/updates...planning trips that people want to take, talking about base-wide exercises that would mean brant would be working a ton, they let everyone know in advance, and on and on. get it? i thought it was really weird and awkward and just old school at first, but it is just another get-together/party and with the right people it is a great time. also, it is an outlet to meet and hang out with others going through what we're going through. after this, i walked back to the hotel (across the street)and brant had been hanging out with his friend rags (he and his wife kat, both super smart berkeley grads, will be here almost the entire time we will be here) so i said hi and goodbye to him and then lights out.