G.I.Stanley: Getting Settled

Have you heard the term "Must have taken the slow boat to China?" Well, that must have been how Kevin felt waiting on his household goods to arrive in Korea. After almost an entire month, he was finally reunited with his stuff and could get some resemblance of a home in order. He had been surviving on what he could fit in his duffel bag and large Army bag which consisted mainly of his uniforms and some civilian clothes. I always admire how he can do without the creature comforts! Both Kevin and G.I. Stanley were so happy when his whole baggage arrived!

We'll use this opportunity to show you around Kevin's new digs in Korea! There are lots of people who take their families to Korea and live in homes much like you would see in the U.S. But since he is there alone, he got assigned a barracks room. Kind of like a college dorm room and he has lots of space as you will see in the pictures below!

Before we start unpacking, we better get a healthy breakfast in! We'll enjoy the milk on our cereal and not talk about how expensive it is here in Korea!

Doesn't look like much, does it? "Are you sure we have everything we need to survive for a year over here?", says G.I. Stanley!

Kevin has four closets in his room! This may be the most closet space he's had in his entire life!


In one closet goes all of the uniforms and boots, except for PT's. G.I. Stanley says, "I might need to get myself updated with the new camouflage!"


How many uniforms does one person need?

This is where we can study and eat and whatever else we need to do. You can see the other two rooms behind me. Very nice upgrade from the last time the Albrecht's were in Korea in 1997-1999.

G.I. Stanley! I thought you were helping me get everything put away! What are you watching on TV?

Well it does look like a comfortable living room.

The kitchen. I guess we'll be doing a lot of cooking in the microwave! What's that bike doing there?

We did some grocery shopping today and stocked the fridge and cupboards. Funny, with how much we spent on groceries, you would have thought we had more to put away!

It's been really warm here in Korea, I'll hang out in the freezer!

This bedroom looks nice. This blanket is so comfortable...I think I'll just rest my eyes a bit. I'll wait here until you get back from your adventure walking around the camp!

The bathroom is pretty significant. When the Albrecht's first got to Korea in 1997, both Kevin and Nadine lived in barracks. While Kevin got his own room, he did not have his own bathroom. In the barracks they lived in, they had community bathrooms and showers. This is quite the luxury! Most Soldiers now have their own bathrooms and if they have to share, it's usually with one other Soldier, not a whole floor of Soldiers like before.