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From: Amy ( - 211.215.229.195)
Subject: Re: Youngsan Korea
Date: February 2, 2005 at 4:30 am PST
In Reply to: Youngsan Korea posted by Dawn on January 23, 2005 at 7:12 pm:
We are getting ready to move back to the states, having spent nearly 2 years at Yongsan. We have found Korea to be both interesting and aggravating. Home schooling here is great. You will have the option to enroll in IDEA intidea.org which will give you an allotment of money to be used for educational purposes. They require minimal oversight while offering about $1200 per child per school year. It is a great program! (Funded indirectly through Department of Defense because when command sponsered overseas they are finacially responsibile for the education of your child.) Wonderful home school support group, Moms meet in the evening and bowling for kids each month. Usually a Christmas party, Valentine craft workshop, etc planned for holidays.
Driving off base is very difficult. Unless you have a large family, consider not bringing a car. Cheap little sedans are widely available from departing soldiers. We brought our 12 passenger van, have 6 kids. Fine to drive, impossible to park off base (our apt complex has plenty of underground parking so we can stradle two spots.) Plan to use the subway system, it is extensive, clean and cheap. We live just off the base. At first we wanted into base housing, only to be offered a crappy townhouse. My off base apartment is far nicer. They have recently completed new apartments on base, quite nice, wish I'd gotten one. Keep in mind that off base housing allowance is based on rank, but on base by family size. So, if you would only get a 3 bedroom house or smaller, you'll probably have more space off base. Also, when you are living on base, you will end up driving to park at a gate, to walk out the gate to a subway station. Personally, I would have to drive to the commissary no matter where I lived... but to really enjoy Korea, I can hop on the subway just a few steps from my apartment. We have the perfect set up, I can retreat to the base for the PX and library, but don't have to make any special effort to get out a gate.
Shopping here is great. The fabric market is heaven if you are a quilter. Clothing is very cheap, especially if you are tiny with a Korean type curveless figure. If you are a tall or big-boned American, you can still get awesome deals. Have someone teach you where the wholesale outlets are for the manufacturers that export to America. On the other hand, very few stores here have carts or aisles wide enough for two people to pass, much less to use a stroller. Very hard to go out shopping with your children, unless you only have one older child. Makes homeschooling feel more housebound because you can't just hop in the car and run to the mall, and you can only go to the PX so often... Base library is reasonably well stocked.
For your sanity, hire a housekeeper one day a week. That is the only way you will be able to get out and go shopping or be able to meet your husband for lunch. Knowing that I have Tuesday "off" keeps me from strangling a kid, or from spending Saturdays out of the house, when my husband just wants to unwind in his house. For about $55 for an 8 hour day, I can go out, and come home to a clean house where the laundry has returned to the drawers and the floors mopped!
Pack lightly! We thought we had put lots into storage... we brought too much. Between cheap clothes, fabric and $8000 worth of homeschool stuff we are probably overweight. If you know you are going to homeschool, bring at least one year of cirriculm with you. No point in paying for shipping later, and media mail is the slow boat to China. (Keep your reciepts, IDEA will probably pay for them.)
There are several chapel services and our kids are thrilled to be able to contine in AWANA. Great PWOC Bible study with child care for homeschool kids. Have your sponser send you the SEOUL SURVIVOR guide ASAP. It will give you tons of practical information.
Good luck! We are very glad we came, blessed to have been command sponsered, and after 22 months, really ready to get back to the states!
Amy
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