Our JennEric Life

Feb

2010

To Everyone...for Everything

Confession – I’m horrible at thank you’s.

[hand to God]

Horrible.

I always want to say something special, something well-thought/well-crafted, something that shows the deep respect & care in return that was shown to me.

And I suck at it.

I wind-up hesitating because I tell myself, “give it a bit & it will come to you”.

But it never does.

And inevitably, time passes…MUCH too much time passes.

Then it becomes downright awkward & more embarrassing to say the simple ‘thank you’ that was really all that was needed to begin with and I wind up never saying it at all.

So! Now that I’ve confessed my procrastinating gratefulness sin, let me thank everyone at once in no particular order.

(And if I’ve accidentally missed someone, please forgive me! It’s not intentional – just headache induced amnesia.)

Thank you, Lisa
Ahh…Lisa. My Chica. My Best Friend. The friend that sends me bottles of BBQ sauce and boxes of Ding-Dongs and still loves me even though I didn’t get her birthday present in the mail on time. (Ok, at all - yet.) Oh, how I love you!

Thank you, Aunt Terri
You are my kick in the butt. My ever-smiling, ever-constant source of happiness. You fill the hole that was left in me almost ten years ago & for that I am ever grateful.

Thank you, H-Girl
While you don’t know it, I cannot thank you enough for being a “real” blogger. Your courage to write both the up’s & down’s of life makes me feel less weird for thinking I’m the only one who isn’t Miss Molly Sunshine 24/7. I just can’t do the dog & pony shows. That plus I want your life. Wanna trade?

Thank you, Cynthia
I don’t even begin to know where & how to thank you. You’ve become the biggest blessing of my life and for that you will always be in my heart.

Thank you, Val
I think you were my first non-family/non-friend commenter and believe me, you have NO IDEA how thankful I am that you’ve stuck around through all my rants & raves.

Thank you, Debbie
Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts & prayers. I remember being so thrilled to find another “Tex-Pat”…(Texan living outside the state). Someone who could relate to the indescribable nuances there are in life away from home.

Thank you, Gen
You always have such great things to share & make me feel like my little idiosyncrasies about life overseas aren’t just me. That other people have experienced this, too (ok, so maybe not the big, fat American bit).

Thank you, Sandra
I was SO disappointed to hear the run-around you’ve been getting about the medical position over here. And as much as I wish I could say I’m surprised, I’m not. It seems nothing here is simple & straight-forward…even a simple paperwork request for a second vehicle – which I’m sure Cynthia will tell you all about.

Thank you, OK Granny
I loved your posts about the winter weather. As corny as it sounds, seeing your shot of the weather man’s weekly forecast from the TV screen made it feel like home. We don’t get AFN at the house & I’ve come to find out that even if we did, we still wouldn’t get a traditional weather report. But isn’t that a funny thing to miss? A simple Al-Roker-esque update on whether or not I should dash to the commissary for milk & more dog food one more time before the weather dumps on us?

Thank you, Karen
You’ve been so great to keep reading through all my madness & have been very kind to put up with all my “hate the system” negativity.

So…knowing I’ve probably missed like another 10 people…but not remembering who, I’ll end this post with two things:

1) Got my MRI scheduled for Friday, March 5th and the Neurology consult for the 23rd. I figure if the Radiologist finds something big & scary in my head, he’ll be able to make the call to the Neurologist to get me in pronto.

2) Worst ‘thank you’ moment of my life was 2007.

I had employers who thought it only fitting & sentimental after a big corporate event to have everyone thank the person to their right…going around the whole room…whether you actually worked closely with that person or not.

And while I can’t remember exactly what I said (I had worked 120 hours in 7 days), I do remember coming to the realization a few days later that I had absolutely, positively said the wrong thing.

Somehow the phrase, “even though she had no experience at all” came in there somewhere. And ever since then I get completely humiliated even at just the thought of it.

So Camilia, if you ever happen to read this…please, please, PLEASE forgive me.

Category: Embarrassing Moments, Jennifer 10 Comments

Feb

2010

Southern Comfort

And Second Nature

jennifer

After 9 months in Korea, some things have become second nature.

Like bowing anytime I say hello or thank you, thinking of dollar amounts in won instead of US dollars and listening harder to conversations because understanding broken English can be difficult.

But Friday, I was caught off guard.

I made a phone call to 121 (pronounced one-two-one) - the hospital unit up at Yongsan in Seoul.

Expecting to hear a Korean voice on the other end, I suddenly heard a lilting Texas drawl,

“Radee-awlogee – Gewd afternewn, ser or ma’aaaam, how maih I help yew?”

And I was home.

Military voices are a hodge-podge of north, south, east & west…with hints of Spanish, German & Hangul thrown in here & there. So I don’t hear too many Texas accents anymore.

Shoot, I even gave mine up years ago in an attempt to crawl up the corporate ladder. But when I’m really tired, my drawl will come back out.

[And people never fail to point it out.]

But It’s amazing what a friendly voice can do – my shoulders relaxed first, then my eyes teared up.

I didn’t have to listen extra hard to understand what she was saying. I didn’t have to speak slow & clear to make sure I would be understood in return.

And with those realizations, came the next…

Life here is hard. You work hard at it everyday & over time you just stop recognizing how much harder you work at everything.

It just becomes second nature to do the extra work.

So there I was on the phone, near tears, talking to a woman who sounded like my Aunt Terri…and suddenly I wasn’t quite so scared to be asking for an appointment to get an MRI.

AN UPDATE

Yes – my head still hurts. And for those who’ve been asking me about what’s going on, here’s the current run-down:

My head began hurting Feb. 2nd….yes, 20 days ago.
Burning, piercing, pounding, constant never-ending pain.
All my symptoms point towards a classic runaway migraine, except for the fact that it’s been 20 days.
I’ve been to the medical clinic on base twice, been to the urgent care clinic once.
I’ve seen three separate doctors.
I’ve been prescribed increasing levels of pain meds – none of which work.
I’ve been hooked-up to an IV migraine cocktail – which didn’t work.
My blood pressure has been hovering around 150/108 with a 109 pulse rate.
This last doc debated whether or not to hospitalize me on the spot.
Instead he had blood drawn, put in “asap” referrals for an MRI & Neurology consult and presribed me hospital-grade pain meds…all of 6 pills.

That was Wednesday of last week.

I had to wait two days for the referrals to be in the system to try to make the appointments & when I got a hold of Neurology first, the detached voice on the other end of the phone informed me I couldn’t been seen until March 23rd – more than 28 days away. But suggested I call back Tuesday to see if there was a cancellation for me to get in earlier.

Which brings me back to the woman at Radiology.

While it was a great comfort to talk with her, their schedule couldn’t get me in until March 15th – even though the referrals say “asap”.

As she went to book it, I heard her say, “Oh no….I’m so sorry.”

And while I can’t tell you why she couldn’t book it – an OPSEC issue- I can tell you she essentially penciled me in & told me to call back Tuesday as well.

That would be tomorrow.

OPSEC – Operation Security: A blanket Army term that essentially means ‘loose lips sink ships’. The old WWII saying meant to keep family & friends from unintentionally giving away key information about military operations. Something we have to be extra careful about here.

So if I could ask a favor…

I really need to get in sooner than next month & if you would keep my in your thoughts & prayers, I would appreciate it.

Category: Emotional Outbursts, Jennifer, Life in Korea, The Scare 8 Comments

Feb

2010

Speaking the Truth

Because sometimes the story has to be told

jennifer

So here is where I get to say,

Army life is not all joy & camoflauge.

Sometimes it’s cold & uncomfortable…and harder than it should be.

Meet “Ruby”.

(Not her real name obviously…but one that seems to fit with her mittens.)

As Cynthia & I made our way home from the ville earlier this week, we bumped into little Ruby & her mom.

Let’s call her “Wonder Woman”.

WW was looking for the square outside the main gate where you go to meet your Realtor & the rep from Housing.

TRANSLATION: She’s new. Just arrived new & has found a place to rent off-base because the wait for on-base housing is over a year.

Once you find a place – by way of a local realtor – you have to have Army Housing come inspect it, approve it & add their signature to your lease before you can move in.

It’s a process meant to ensure that us fresh-faced foreigners aren’t taken advantage of upon landing in Korea.

Since Eric handled all those details before I arrived, I wasn’t sure where to point her.

But Cynthia knew what she was talking about & together we walked back towards the main gate.

WW shared that she was supposed to meet everyone at 1400 (that’s 2pm for you Civies) & she was already 10 minutes late – worrying that they would skip the appointment altogether when they couldn’t find her.

We asked if she had a cell phone to call them…she did.

But the battery had died & the number was in the phone.

Typical Army life storm – new in country, no phone, no car, in the cold, pushing a frigid Ruby up & down the streets and without any help.

At first Cynthia & I had both assumed she was a spouse – doing the routine spousely duty of “setting up house”.

But it turns out WW was active.

Active: Army slang for active duty, as in “She’s an active duty soldier.”

Active AND a single mom.

Did you catch that?…Let’s try this again…

SHE’S ACTIVE DUTY & A SINGLE MOM STATIONED IN KOREA!

Ruby was her littlest. She also had a 12 year-old we assumed was back at the base lodge in the warm glow of the TV.

As we got closer to the square we could see the car she was supposed to meet & watched it drive off before we could flag it down.

Had this been me, I would’ve probably become completely dejected & overwhelmed. Would I have cried?…

Well, on the inside, yes – but the last thing I would want to be is the American woman breaking down in tears in front of total strangers.

But I haven’t named her Wonder Woman for nothin’.

Perfectly stoic & square-shouldered she stood there & said, in her thick Kentucky drawl,

“Well, I guess I’ll just walk back on base.”

It was at that point that I made a suggestion.

[Janice's office - look at all that summer green grass]

We were right out front of our realtor’s office (not the same realtor WW had been working with) & said, “Let’s go ask Janice for help.”

JANICE: A dynamo realtor who knows everybody & everything and will bend over backward to make sure her clients are taken care of.

And if you’re an Army wife about to PCS to Camp Humphreys – email me & I’ll give you her number.

PCS – Permanent Change of Station: The process by which the Army says ‘Congratulations! You’re moving on to your next post at…’ and you have 30 days to do it.

Without batting an eye, Janice was immediately on the phone & hunting down the realtor & within a few extra phone calls it was arranged for him to come pick her & Ruby up at the office.

Cynthia & I parted ways with little Ruby & Wonder Woman and on the walk home couldn’t help but discuss how much harder Army life must be for a single mom…

and how impressed we were with her.

Category: Army Life 4 Comments