Hello everyone.  Sorry it has taken so long to send out a message.  I'm hoping to get internet set up this week.  Things are going ok here.  It was a very long flight over, with a nights stay in Seattle.  I think I'm about adjusted to everything.  I live in a small dorm room, with a shared bathroom, just like when I was an Airman in the dorms.  Kinda sucks when you've been used to living in houses for the last few years. 

    The base is a decent size, which kinda sucks because I have to walk everywhere.  Only about 10% of the people are able to drive, usually the higher ranking ones.  The gym is my longest walk, about 15 minutes from my room.  But the chow hall is only about a minute away, and it’s on my way to work, so that makes it nice in the mornings.  The BX is a good size, and has most everything you need, except when a new rotator comes in.  I came in with about 200 or so others, so we about bought everything in the BX.  The gym is ok, but usually pretty crowded. 

    Work is work.  I think that'll be the biggest adjustment.  I came from being pretty well established in my old office, now I have to prove myself again.  I'm all ready not too crazy about some of the people, but there are some good ones as well.  I'm not sure exactly what I'll be working on, but I can already tell it'll not be nearly as much work as I'm used to doing, so I just hope I don't get bored.  My hours are a little longer than used to, 7-5, but since there are really no other big priorities outside of work that's not much of a problem.  It really feels like a deployment, but I have more liberties.  The Korean people are pretty nice, they like us here.  The town, I can't spell or pronounce it, is right outside the gate.  Many shops, bars, restaurants just packed on the streets.  The local drink here is called Soju, has no taste to it, usually mixed with fruity drinks, and it's unregulated, so you don't know what alcohol content you're getting.  And it doesn't hit you until later.  I have already heard many briefings about it during my inprocessing, which is still not completed. 

  They usually have many trips to various spots.  We're looking at going to the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea.  I think we're about 50 miles from the border.  The weather has been in the mid 70's to low 80's, with a decent amount of humidity, which sucks when you're walking everywhere.  But I hear in the winter is gets pretty cold, the roads ice over, so that should be fun.  I'm hoping to use the free time I have to lift weights, run, do some school, and read some books.  I think I'm gonna buy a guitar today, so I'm gonna try and learn that (I feel sorry for my neighbors).  Trying to be a well rounded man.  Hopefully I find out I made Tech next week, so I don't have to study for promotion while I'm here.  They release the stats, and it's not looking too promising.  They seem to promote less and raise the cutoff each year, but I'm hoping I did well enough. 

   I got my sponsor information for Italy already, and I cannot wait.  I know the job will be stressful, but all the opportunities of living in Italy will be well worth it.  I usually hang around some of the people in the office, and yesterday the softball team started practice, so I met a few other people there.  But it is still a little lonely at times, but I try to pass it by reading.  Right now I'm reading a book called 'The Heart and the Fist', a book written by a former Navy SEAL about his previous humanitarian missions prior to being a SEAL and his experiences while in the Navy.  Pretty good so far. 

Well if you made it through my novel I hope I guess I did bore you.  And for those of you that might get email on your phone, I hope I didn't wake you up- I'm 13 hours ahead of EST and it's about 3pm Saturday here.  I'll send pictures when I take some.  I'll try to get some of my room, the base, the town, and some cool place I might go to.  For those of you that want my address, it is:

Brad Buening

PSC3 Box 1308

APO AP 96266

    I hope everyone is doing well.  I miss you all, and if have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.  I love you guys.

Bradley