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These are recent stories - the rest are in my latest book,"Walking Through Adversity."

Stories about Asian Trips (1)

Rob bryant
2006-01-07 11:13:24

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and she hugged me again. Kindness is contagious - try it - it will change your life forever! I was soon on yet another aircraft and flew to Seoul Korea. Along the way, I watched a spectacular sunset and wondered what my two boys literally on the other side of the planet were doing. Jonathan was nominated for the Tom Landry Athlete of the Year. I was going to miss the award banquet and it was bothering me, so I said a prayer for him as we flew over the beautiful Japan Sea.

A little bit of "Seoul" - I landed in Seoul Korea (http://www.sundaynews.com/korea.htm), the home of almost 20 million people. The local quality manager, in the freezing 39 F winds, picked me up. We drove two hours through slow traffic and ate on base. However, as we were leaving to go to our hotel, there was a bomb scare at the gate and we could not leave for over an hour. The bomb threat was neutralized and we arrived at the hotel at midnight. I checked my many business e-mails and went to bed. I was very tired considering all I did all day was shop and travel (now I know how Princess Di must have felt after a tough day of Royalty - hah). On Saturday and Sunday I got up at 4 AM and checked/sent e-mails. I could not go back to sleep, so I went shopping at the many street shops and bought Mink Blankets (they are so gorgeous) and Korean Jade plates and sculptures they are known for. I rolled my wheelchair through town and onto the base (just a few miles) and spoke with DynCorp employees as well as military folks. We also drove all around S. Korea to other bases. The sad part of the local economy is that there are 1,000 Wons to the dollar, so I could buy so much for so little, yet in comparison, there are many Philippine and Russian prostitutes here because their own economy has collapsed. I got off the streets early because it gets very rough early at night. This is a military town and there are several soldiers robbed and killed here by organized crime and pimps. The commanders warn them constantly to stay out of certain clubs and off certain streets at night; however, young men are drawn in if they are not careful. Monday through Wednesday, I audited several of our military sites all over S. Korea (http://www.osan.af.mil/) and even went to our most northern site just miles from N. Korea. S. Korea is very nervous about N. Korea right now because of their nuclear capabilities and since China has expressed interest in taking N. Korea over politically. I worked 14-hour days and even worked in my room at night to get ready for the next day. I absolutely love my job, but just like yours, it can get very stressful with long hours.

Copyright by Rob Bryant

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