Command Sponsorship Approval!

[audette]

We figured I'd get the sponsorship, but it sure is awesome to get confirmation of that!

Last night DH forwarded me the emailed approval for me to go with him to Korea. We still need to request concurrent travel, but otherwise, it's all official!

Yay!


This has been an unbelievable week! So much good news.

[meltoine]

Yay! That's awesome!

[baconlettucetomato]

Hooray!!!

[NomadicMama]

Yeah! Savor it while you can!

I understand the joy of confirmation of plans. What a relief!

[panicked]

That is AWESOME!!! It took us 7 full months to get ours, so I totally envy you! What post are you headed to?

[audette]

Oct 26, 2012 13:47:28 GMT -5 panicked said:

That is AWESOME!!! It took us 7 full months to get ours, so I totally envy you! What post are you headed to?

We did start the process back in early July, so it has taken some time... They lost the paperwork twice, too. (grr! useless reassignment people)

We'll be at a camp a bit north of Seoul. It's teeny tiny. No housing on base, so we'll need to get a rental, which looks like an adventure...

[audette]

Oct 26, 2012 13:43:56 GMT -5 NomadicMama said:

Yeah! Savor it while you can!

I understand the joy of confirmation of plans. What a relief!

Exactly! Everything was tentative until we got this. So, now we can proceed onwards with our plans. Yay!

[doombunny]

Wow! That should be amazing for you guys, congrats!

[basilosaurus]

Oct 26, 2012 13:56:14 GMT -5 audette said:

We'll be at a camp a bit north of Seoul. It's teeny tiny. No housing on base, so we'll need to get a rental, which looks like an adventure...

Rentals there are a whole 'nother world. Some of the DoDS teachers I knew had to pay a year in advance, in cash. The housing office is used to dealing with it, but it's still a shock to Americans.

My rental was for Koreans, so it didn't have an oven, just a 2 burner jet fuel (so it seemed) stove. They'll be more used to Americans where you'll be so hopefully you find something a bit more like home. Just don't be surprised if you end up in a building owned by Daewoo or Samsung.

[panicked]

I'm guessing Camp Stanley? That's the only one I can think of that's teeny. Red Cloud is fairly decent, and Casey is quite big too, for Korean posts, that is!) Casey didn't have any housing either, we lived on the economy. Our apartment complex was brand-new and upscale for the location. We had a stove and oven, dishwasher, and washer/dryer. We also had the most gorgeous marble floors, tiled bathrooms, and HUGE closets. I weep when I think about that apartment. I loved it more than any apartment ever. I will warn you though, the utilities are outrageous, so it's in your best interest to conserve where you can.

[basilosaurus]

I had my utilities, except for heat, built in to rent. Even the awesome fastest internet in the world.

I found that I was able to conserve heat better there than in Japan b/c heat was through the floors. It's awesome. If my feet are toasty, I can tolerate much better cool room temps.

[panicked]

Oct 26, 2012 18:15:00 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I had my utilities, except for heat, built in to rent. Even the awesome fastest internet in the world.

I found that I was able to conserve heat better there than in Japan b/c heat was through the floors. It's awesome. If my feet are toasty, I can tolerate much better cool room temps.

I used to lay on the floor instead of the couch in the winter. Those floors were the best!
Our utilities were separated, but rolled into one bill with management fees. They easily reached 350,000 won.

[basilosaurus]

I guess our perspective was skewed because we went there after being in colder snowier Japan. It wasn't unusual to have $500 heating bills. You're right that 350k won would be a big shock for most people coming from America.

[audette]

Well, I was attempting to avoid saying exactly which camp we'd be at...



But, yeah. It'll be small, but chances are decent that the rentals near it are used to Americans. Some of the photos I have seen look like they have ovens and dishwashers, but it's hard to tell. The approval says we'll get a washer, dryer, air conditioner, fridge and stove, so whatever the apartments don't have we'll have to find room for.

We'll be hoping to get a fairly large place, seeing as I'll still be working, and will need some dedicated space for that (ideally with a door that closes, because I'll be dealing with teleconferences on a North American schedule periodically). I'm also hoping we can get by with rarely using the car over there. Not sure how feasible that is, but we'll see.

[audette]

Oct 26, 2012 18:29:12 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I guess our perspective was skewed because we went there after being in colder snowier Japan. It wasn't unusual to have $500 heating bills. You're right that 350k won would be a big shock for most people coming from America.

I'm guessing from the utilities/maintenance allowance that electric/gas costs will be crazy high. Hopefully DH and I will be like we were back when we lived on base - always using less than expected so we got "refunds" each month (this was after they started tracking electric usage).

[basilosaurus]

Yes it's high. We were always wellbelow our allowance in both countries

[panicked]

Most of our fees weren't so much the actual utilities, but everything else. Maintenance fees, management fees, security fees, parking garage fees, garbage and recycling fees; it was enough to drive you crazy!

We had one car over there and it was totally doable. We used it more in the winter, since the winters are brutal!

[audette]

Oct 26, 2012 19:47:16 GMT -5 panicked said:

Most of our fees weren't so much the actual utilities, but everything else. Maintenance fees, management fees, security fees, parking garage fees, garbage and recycling fees; it was enough to drive you crazy!

We had one car over there and it was totally doable. We used it more in the winter, since the winters are brutal!

Good to know (about the fees). Winters, I've heard, can be rough. Might bring me back to my Canuck roots!

[beans]

:Y:

[kpol]

Oct 26, 2012 19:47:16 GMT -5 panicked said:

Most of our fees weren't so much the actual utilities, but everything else. Maintenance fees, management fees, security fees, parking garage fees, garbage and recycling fees; it was enough to drive you crazy!

We had one car over there and it was totally doable. We used it more in the winter, since the winters are brutal!

Even though I'm not a fan of the neighborhood we live in, I am thankful we live on post since we have zero extra fees (except internet). I've heard those things add up real fast! Also, our place is huge for Korean standards!

Congrats, audette! The weather has been beautiful for the past few weeks, but we're bracing for the cold!

[basilosaurus]

I know I was in podunk Kunsan, but our landlord was more than willing to roll up all our fees except heat into our rent that way OHA would cover it. But I also didn't have a fancy big city place

Honestly, I didn't find it terribly cold most of the time. Sure, NYE in Seoul was a bitch, zero degrees, so cold the Norwegians in our hotel said it was too cold, but most of the time was in the 20s. I think a Canadian can handle it!

[audette]

Oct 26, 2012 22:06:23 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I know I was in podunk Kunsan, but our landlord was more than willing to roll up all our fees except heat into our rent that way OHA would cover it. But I also didn't have a fancy big city place

Honestly, I didn't find it terribly cold most of the time. Sure, NYE in Seoul was a bitch, zero degrees, so cold the Norwegians in our hotel said it was too cold, but most of the time was in the 20s. I think a Canadian can handle it!

Zero (I assume you mean deg F?) is cold enough you need to prep for it, certainly. Especially for a long time outside! But if that's the extreme of it, I can probably handle it. Here's hoping I haven't become a cold weather wimp after years of living in the US!

[misshark122]

Congrats! You guys are AF? It seems like AF has a much more intensive process for moving overseas than the USMC does. What I did before moving to China was a joke, honestly. hah

BTW we lived in a really awesome apartment in Beijing and it was standard for the landlords to roll a bunch of extras into our rent so it wa all paid for. We had breakfast every morning that was paid for, drinking water, etc.

[basilosaurus]

Yes, zero F. Definitely too cold and miserable to be out all night, but it was an anomaly. I think you'll be fine.

[audette]

Oct 26, 2012 22:23:03 GMT -5 misshark122 said:

Congrats! You guys are AF? It seems like AF has a much more intensive process for moving overseas than the USMC does. What I did before moving to China was a joke, honestly. hah

BTW we lived in a really awesome apartment in Beijing and it was standard for the landlords to roll a bunch of extras into our rent so it wa all paid for. We had breakfast every morning that was paid for, drinking water, etc.

DH is Army. They were pretty particular about this assignment becuase there is crap-all for medical in the area (a clinic on base, or we get bussed a couple hours away, or get seen by a Korean specialist, which I'd be fine with, but probably isn't considered ideal by Tricare). Not much for school, either, particularly if you have high-school aged kids.

Because an idiot PA put me on antidepressants and had me see a counselor last year (the PA basically wasn't listening to me, and refused to let me see an endocrinologist until I saw the counselor and took the meds to see if that might solve my fatigue, chills, and inability to lose weight...), it put the approval into a slightly questionable territory. Even with me no longer on the meds or with having had the counselor sign off as "she never needed to see me".

[Beeps (WOT?*)]

My daughter needs to do this to go to Japan, right? That is, if she and bf/fi/whatever get married over Christmas while they're in Vegas, which is what I assume is the purpose of the trip, whether she knows it or not. He gets back from deployment hopefully some time in the next month or two-ish and they haven't looked into all this. He hasn't even gotten written orders yet, Japan is just supposition and expectation at this point.

Congratulations Audette.

[audette]

Yeah, she'll probably need to do it, and if they get married too close to when he has to leave, she probably won't be able to get approval before he leaves (which doesn't mean she can't get it, but she might be delayed in joining him over there).