Happy New Year!  All I can say is this week’s yoja is a J. Crew model.  Um, I guess where she was made speaks for itself…

Well, I don’t know about the water, but the ice is thick on the streets this morning.  We got maybe a half inch of snow yesterday which wouldn’t be a problem.  Unfortunately, with the temps being in the single digits Fahrenheit, any snow melted with chemicals or tire friction is now good ol’ fashioned ice.

Ain’t no way I’m driving on that slippery slope outside my apartment.  No way, no how.

So I’m *ahem* reluctantly taking the day off work.

Actress Ha Ji-won playing Santa for us this Christmas…

Hmm, maybe she says Ha! Ha! Ha! instead of Ho! Ho! Ho!

Or maybe not.

Well, it is.  How cold?  This cold:

A waterfall outside the Seocho District Office in Seoul was frozen yesterday. It was the coldest day yet in seasonal lows, reaching minus 9 degrees Celsius (15.8 degrees Fahrenheit) 

Via ROKDrop.

This week our yoja is Han Ga In, a model/actress said to have the “perfect Korean nose”.

More of Ga In and other Korean beauties here.

I’ve always kinda liked the short skirt/knee sock combination…

Sorry, no info on this model…

…albeit below the fold.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, Stars and Stripes has a fascinating story concerning the length of civilian tours in Korea.  Although the guy they quoted sounds like a complete tool.

Ah well.  Exposure or being exposed, what’s the difference?

Oops, what happened to Friday?  Sorry about the belated posting of this week’s Yoja.  Hope you find Ms. Son Danbi was worth waiting for.

This photo comes from The Real South Korea blog and you can find some more eye candy to enjoy at the link.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

In these distressing times it is important to remember all the blessings that life provides us.  And while things could certainly be better in this cold, cruel world they could definitely be a whole lot worse.

I’m thankful for my health, my children and grandchildren, mom and dad, friends, a great job and a good life here in Korea.

Later today we will be having the traditional Thanksgiving feast at Dolce Vita Pub in Itaewon.  If you are in Seoul and thinking about turkey, come on out and join us!

Rumor has it a dart tourney will break out around 1930 or so which is about when I’ll be ready for one of those turkey induced naps.  Should be interesting.

Wherever you may be out there on the internets, here’s wishing you a great and happy day!

So says the UN.

Ah, Thanksgiving week means the holiday season is upon us once more.  Kicked it off on Friday with our TG office luncheon.

We had Turkey of course.

And a ham…

…fruit salad and all the traditional side dishes.

We celebrated the November birthdays…

I presented an award…

…and then we chowed down!

On Thursday we will be having our annual Thanksgiving feast and dart tourney at Dolce Vita.  If you expats are looking for a place to celebrate the holiday, come on out an join us in Itaewon.

It’s finally Friday!  Today is special because we are having our staff Thanksgiving dinner.  Yes, I made a fruit salad.  Although y’all won’t get to share in the turkey, I hope you will enjoy this week’s yoja–Korean actress Jun Ji Hyun:

She was declared one of the “Nine Hottest Women in Korea” on LiveJournal.  Go check it out and see if I chose the right one.  Think of it as a Thanksgiving feast for the eyes.

He was visiting Yongsan Garrison briefly today.  He didn’t drop in to see me and I didn’t go watch the limo drive by.  Hell, if he wants to know what I think, he’s always welcome here at LTG.

Judging from the hits I’m getting through Google searches, lots of folks seem to enjoy looking at photos Korean women.  I’m certainly happy to do my part here at LTG.  So, without further adieu, this week’s Yoja:

All I can tell you is the name of the model is “Honey Lee”, or at least that is name on the photo.  Found her at a blog called Bluemystery’s Weblog in a post hocking a book on how to date Korean women.

Time for me to skate off to work…

It was sorta like Lana Turner getting discovered at a drug store soda fountain at Hollywood and Vine.  Except I was having a brew at Goldfish in Itaewon as I am wont to do when killing time.  As mentioned before, this is a “open air” bar that is ideal for people watching.  I hadn’t considered that some of the lookees might be looking back.

Anyway, my solitude was interrupted when a 30ish Korean woman came in off the street and politely inquired in near perfect English if she might bother me with a question.  Well, I was fully expecting that she was going to do the “do you know Jesus” thing, but being nice to a fault I responded “sure”.  She thanked me and said she would only take a minute of my time.  I nodded and then she layed it on me–would you like to appear in a commercial?

I was momentarily taken aback because it seemed out of the blue.  But my instinctive reaction was to say no, and so I told her “no”.  She asked me to reconsider and said the photo shoot would only take one day.  I again responded “no thank you, just not interested”.  She thanked me again for my time and left.

Hmmm.  I don’t know why I said no without really thinking about it.  But upon reflection, I knew it was the right call.  There was no mention of money, but I’m doing all right in that regard anyway.  I guess I just didn’t see why they would want a fat old white guy in their commercial unless it was for the purpose of mocking me.  After all, I’ve not seen many waeguks portrayed favorably in Korean media.  And it likely would have been in violation of my visa status as well.

So, opportunity knocked and I said get the hell outta here.

More or less.

Manila Bar that is.  There was a nice get together last to honor Natalie’s birthday.  I guess I’ll just let the photos tell the story…

Manila owner Teddy was our gracious host for the evening.

The birthday girl looking younger than ever.  Must be that taek-won-do thing she’s been doing…

Natalie’s new large-sized lighter was a big hit.  Matt is looking a little nervous. Why, it’s almost as big as a…er, well, never mind.

Revelers.

People hanging out.

Everyone’s favorite (especially Matt) Canadian, Margaret.

Jee Yuen proving once again that no Korean can resist flashing the “V” when being photographed.  What’s up with that anyway?

And of course there was cake…

This is a Filipino bar, so as might be expected, videoke broke out.  Here Mike and Lucky serenade the birthday girl who is either in a blissful state or in excruciating pain.  I’m pretty sure it was the former.  The pain came when I sang her the Gary Puckett classic “Young Girl”.

Teddy helped us out with piano.  He’s quite talented.

Becky and her main squeeze Mike.

And finally, a parting shot of me and the birthday girl.

We ate, we drank, we sang.  And I do believe a good time was had by all.

Happy Birthday, Natalie!

Time for the Sunday morning look back.

Busy time at work as meetings and events filled my calendar.  On Monday we finalized plans to implement “normalized” civilian tours in Korea.  The initial tour will be 3 years now (2 in Area I) with a 2 year renewal.  Also, all tours are accompanied, meaning civilians will be allowed to bring family members with them.  General Sharp wanted civilian tours to align with the new military tour lengths, and we have now accomplished that to the extent possible.

Tuesday I chaired the Joint Labor Affairs Committee with my Air Force, Navy, AAFES, and Dragon Hill counterparts.  This committee is tasked with managing all aspects of our Korean National labor program.  Our big item this time was finalizing plans for the 2010 wage and benefit survey.  Exciting stuff, no?

Wednesday was the USFK Civilian Employees of the Year Honor Guard ceremony.  The event is hosted by General Sharp and my office is the proponent.  It is the signature event for civilian employee recognition and it involves lots of detail oriented work over a significant period of time.  And since it directly involves the USFK commander, there is no margin for error.  We pulled it off without a hitch, even the weather cooperated.  The commander was pleased, and that of course pleases me.

The Korean contingent of the Honor Guard marching to Knight Field, their US counterparts have already rounded the corner and are out of range.

The 2009 USFK Civilian Employees of the Year.
Thursday was more meetings about staffing up what will be the replacement for USFK in 2012, KORCOM (Korea Command).  More of a money issue than anything else right now, as there are quite a few military to civilian conversions that need to happen now with no funding forthcoming until the KORCOM actually stands up in two years.  A classic Catch-22.

And finally a longish meeting involving a civilian who volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan and her current unit cannot afford to let her go.  So, this will require 3-star engagement and a memo to the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense.

Am I going to miss all this when I retire next year?  Lord help me if I do.

Given the somewhat stressful nature of my week, I stayed home every night and vegetated.  Unusual for me, but I needed the break.  I’m pretty much burned out on everything right now, including surprisingly enough, darts.

I did play in the Dolce tourney Friday night without much success.  I’ve been in a season long funk and we have a tough first round playoff match with Cake Mix at Bless U Monday night.  Here’s hoping I can bring some game.

Last night I went to Manila but that will be the subject of another post (which you most likely will have read before getting to this one).

And now I am enjoying my lazy and rainy Sunday morning at the keyboard.

Ain’t life grand?

Well, this is indeed a special Friday.  It’s a military “training” day–essentially an extra day off.  For us civilians, it’s a “liberal leave” day, meaning we are encouraged, but not required, to take the day off.  Hey, I don’t need much encouragement.  Glad to do my part.

Today is also special of course because it is once again time for the “Yoja of the Week” feature here at LTG.  So, here she is:

This week I offer a popular Korean actress, Ms. Kim, Tae-hee.  I found her at a blog called Yein Jee’s Asian Journal.

Enjoy.