I went on leave on 2 Feb, and I had an awesome time on leave. Right now I’m actually getting some time to sit down, relax, and just be free enough to reflect and write about the past 2 weeks.
I flew out of Djibouti, Africa at 0315 hrs on 2 Feb 04. I flew in Omni International Airines to the country of Cyprus (for the next year or so until annexed by Turkey again or something), then to Germany, then to Baltimore, Maryland. The trip to Baltimore took just about 18 hrs, which wasn’t very fun. I headed to Cincinnati, Ohio in Delta Airlines (470 bucks roundtrip, btw), and I had realized I had very little to eat in the last 24 hrs. It was at this point that I approached the front desk of my gate and asked if I have enough time to get something to eat, because I was feeling kind of hungry. The attendants replied playfully, asking if I am really hungry or just kind of hungry. After a brief friendly confrontation, they directed me to the food court and told me I have about 40 minutes to spare. Well, then I went to McDonald’s for the first time in about 9 months, and was getting my delicious Big Mac when I figured, I’m in a really, really good mood. I mean just standing there in the airport, I spread my arms out and wanted to scream, “FREEDOM!” When I was landing at Baltimore, I saw lights and buildings and cars and civilization, something that was only a distant memory in my mind. I was culturally shocked. It was snowing outside and I stood out amongst trenchcoats and umbrellas with my jeans and Operation Iraqi Freedom shirt. I was so close to kissing the very ground I was standing on, but I did manage to maintain my posture. So with all that, I would have to say I was overwhelmed and was experiencing culture shock in my own country of citizenship. I was relieved and overjoyed. So I decided to celebrate by spreading a little bit of that joy in a playful way. I ordered a strawberry shake and got a mocha frap at the nearby Starbucks, and headed back to the front desk. I gave them to the 2 clerks, saying, “I got you something; I figured you weren’t really hungry, so I figured you would be thirsty. Here’s a strawberry shake and mocha frap because I didn’t know what you guys would like.” And one of them said, “How did you do that?” I replied, “Well, I had some money, and I just decided to get some drinks… I think it’s called purchasing stuff. I just figured you gals are on a night shift so you could use some caffeine.” She then said back to me, “My God, that’s like the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me… I was just kidding around about you being hungry. I gotta introduce my daughter to you.” “Oh, is she available?” “Yeah, she’s graduating from Ohio State this coming March.” “Oh well, I can be there, wait…. nm, I don’t think I can make it. But listen, I gotta go change because I’ve worn the same stuff for the last 24 hrs. Enjoy your drinks.” So I went to the bathroom and came back. Just after I sat back down, I heard over the intercom, “Would the passenger Elliott Kim please report to the front desk.” I reported as ordered and she said, “Oh, I forgot to give this to you.” (She handed over a boarding pass) I replied, “I already have one, I think I got it back in Baltimore when I checked in there.” And she said, “Oh no, but this one’s First Class.”
PAUSE
It was at this point that I realized it was my turn to say, “How did you do that?” And she said, “Well, I just punched in some numbers and printed out a boarding pass… I think it’s called doing my job.” I didn’t know what to say. I really didn’t. I had just upgraded myself to a First Class on a 5 hour flight over 2 drinks. What do you say when something like that happens and you didn’t see it coming? She continued to amuse me, telling me about how her daughter should meet up with someone like me to get married, someone with manners and humor (which I don’t think I have much of). I shot back, “Oh what? But you don’t look old enough to have a daughter!” She laughed and said, “Please, I already got you First Class.” After a brief conversation that continued, I managed to find my seats when I finally made my way into the plane (I had accidentally made a right to Economy class and ended up at the back of the plane when I realized the numbers were getting bigger, not smaller), but even then, the entire First Class deck was watching my every move. Here’s a scrawny 20 year old sitting in First Class seats… The 65 year old private businessman sitting directly behind me then told me that it was the slickest thing he’s seen since his visit to Las Vegas. It was definitely the best 7 dollars I had ever spent.
From there, I flew to LAX for another 5 hours. That was good 24 hours of the past 28 hours. When I got to LAX, my good friend Matt Mck was waiting for me, and so was my dad. Well, I was walking around and I happened to end up standing behind Matt, and for about 30 seconds I was just listening to him talk to his friend, him totally unaware that I was even there. Then my dad passes by and he says, “Oh hi, Mr. Kim.” Well, my dad sees Matt, then sees me standing behind him, and while my dad proceeds to walk behind Matt to shake my hand, Matt suddenly realizes that I was standing behind him. What an awesome way to be welcomed to the city of angels.
For the next 24 hours I called a lot of people I haven’t called for quite some time. I went on AIM, which was kind of exciting at first, although I’m not very used to some of the newer features.
Here’s my schedule:
2 Feb 2200 – LAX
4 Feb 0015 – Leave for Korea, 5 Feb 0815 Arrive at Korea
9 Feb 1515 – Leave for LAX, 9 Feb 0830 Arrive at LAX
11 Feb 2030 – Berkeley
14 Feb 2100 – LAX
18 Feb 1345 – LAX to Baltimore
Korea
The only real reason behind the Korean visit during my short 15 day stay was because I had a feeling my brother wasn’t doing all that great and I needed to check his status for myself. Of course it was expensive, but no matter. He’s my brother and I had a feeling he needed me. I may have traveled to Korea for 4 days, a total of 40 hours of air travel there from Djibouti. My head was spinning for even 3 days after my return from Korea. But I believe I did the best of what I set out to do. I did meet up with my diaper buddy’s brother (1st since 6 years ago) and his family, my old church buddies from when we were 7 or so, my grandparents and my uncles and aunts. I was busy traveling most of the time. I wasn’t very happy with the position that the Army put my brother in, though. 63 people and 70 million dollars on a 23 year old? On a brand new gold bar? What the hell are they thinking? Some Companies aren’t even that big. I stayed at a different location every night.
LA
I know how stressful it can be for a college student on a weekday schedule. But Matt Mck actually took the time to drive all the way down from UCLA to Cerritos to see me for a couple hours on Tuesday the 10th. I don’t know if I would be able to do the same should we have reversed our roles. But I thank him for his constant support and understanding. He’s played a significant part with my sanity. I started to clean up my Cerritos residency with a year’s worth of junk I was slowly sending home.
Berkeley
I spent an entire day on Thursday going to class. I thought that the first class was pretty intersting, but the second class, I just kind of lost him. I think it could have been interesting if I knew what the hell the guy was saying. Plus, Echeverry just has a really dreadful mood to it… I think.
I cleaned up the entire living room full of junk for 3 days I was there. I met up with several people that I thought I probably wouldn’t have many opportunities to meet for quite some time. I couldn’t sleep past 8 AM for some reason, though, no matter when I went to sleep at 3AM or 11 PM. I met up with Tiffany, who I think matured physically and emotionally over the past year, and of course Patrick, the smartest man on earth. He even did my taxes for me, and I promised to take him out on that refund.
LA
Sean Novak. He’s been my longest friend since my immigration to America, since 5th grade. I think we’ve had our differences in the past, mostly due to my own immaturity, but I love the guy to death. I had a chance to meet and talk to him, and I wish him the best of everything, for obvious reasons. It hurts me so to know that that might not be the case. I had an awesome opportunity to hang around with 3 other buddies, David Uyan, Sung Nam, and Matt Mck and watched the movie The Last Samurai. I had just enough time to kind of finish cleaning up my room.
Things I haven’t done in a year (Since 10 Feb 03):
Seen Berkeley, a city I was given 48 hours to leave
Seen my parents
Seen my brother, a 2LT with the 2d Infantry Division in Korea
Seen my friend Tiffany and my roommate Patrick
Drank Starbucks
Walked on any street I wanted without needing to seek authorization
Eaten In ‘N Out
Slept in my own bed
Taken a bath
Taken a shower with a toilet in the same bathroom
Taken a shower in a room with a door
Taken a dump whenever, however long I want
Eaten Korean food, or whatever I want, whenever I want
Eaten something other than Spaghetti, grilled ham and cheese sandwich, spaghetti, meat loaf, or chicken
Drank real water
Watched television
Used AIM
Dialed less than 10 numbers to get connected (average is 10 for DSN number to get connected to USA from Djibouti, 11 for phone card, 10 for pin number, 10 for phone number (40+ total average), for US calls, to Korea usually adds 5 more numbers)
Worn contacts (still haven’t, they can’t be worn in such combat zones because of the nature of sandstorms)
Put on gel (still haven’t, I’ve shaved my head on this deployment several times now)
Things I haven’t done since at least 13 Jun 04 (8 months or more I’ve been deployed oversees):
Eaten at McDonald’s, Burger King, Carl’s Jr.
Driven in a regular car other than a Humvee
Taken a shower that wasn’t too hot or too cold
Brush my teeth with the same water from the makeshift faucet (we use water bottles because Djiboutian quality of water may meet shower standards but is not good enough for brushing your teeth with.)
Watched a movie
Listened to radio
Things I did during my 15 days of fame:
Met up with family and friends
Ate a variety of foods
Went through a year’s worth of mail in the Berkeley residence
Cleaned up junk in Berkeley and Cerritos
Traveled to Korea to meet up with my brother and some family and friends
Watched Lord of the Rings and the Last Samurai
Watched 2 episodes of Simpsons
Traveled too much too fast.
CASE IN POINT:
Djibouti-4.5h-Cyprus-4.5h-Germany-8h-Baltimore-1.5h-Cincinnati-5.5h-LAX-14h-Korea-11h-LAX-1h-Oakland-1h-LAX-4h-Atlanta-2h-Baltimore
*projected-9h-Germany-6.5h-Qatar-5.5h-Djibouti… Total comes up to close to 40000 miles.
Things I accomplished in the past year
I lobbied real hard and earned the title Person of the Year according to Time Magazine (American Soldier).
Earned enough money to support myself through college.
Traveled to 6 different countries.
Conversed with the Hungarian, British, Italian, French, and the Korean soldiers.
Survived freezing cold of Wisconsin and scorching heat of Kuwait and Djibouti.
Took 2 online classes.