My nephew is at a military camp right outside of Tongduchon. He wrote me last night, telling me how miserable he is, and how much he dislikes it there.
Granted, the boy is homesick. He misses his wife, and the kids, and he wants to come home.
Do you guys know anything about the area? He is at Camp Hovey, and according to the “Official Camp Hovey Webpage”, they are about a mile outside of Tongduchon. (It also says that the area has excellent public transportation, so if it’s true, it’s a bonus.) Is there anything there that would be interesting to a 25 year old guy who’s bored and homesick for America? Or am I reaching for straws here?
What did he normally do at home? It’s different for everyone here too, you know. If he’s adventurous and willing to go out despite the language barrier, i’m sure he could have a LOT of fun. If he has been doing that… Well, i don’t know what to suggest. Hey, maybe he can meet Astroboy14. Or actually, his friends at the base are probably the best source of information. He should probably ask them, since they’re in the same situation he’s in.
Right now, the most fun you’d have is probably cheering for our football team. That doesn’t sound like too much fun, but the energy is contagious and a lot of foreigners have caught on. If we win, that is. I don’t know what the hell will happen if we don’t.
Find something interesting where you are. Now this can be difficult, as many military bases are put in places where normal folk don’t want to live. Like near the DMZ. But Camp Hovey is not too far from Seoul, which is also not far from the DMZ. The military provides certain opportunities to get out and see the area. Take advantage of them. Learn to read hangul, the Korean alphabet. Study the language. Then you can meet some people, who will be charmed that you’ve taken the effort to learn something about them, instead of assuming that everyone should learn English to talk to you. Learn about the history (there’s a lot) and culture of the area. Visit other areas nearby if you can (China and Japan are both relatively easy to reach from Korea).
Get a hobby. Find something to do. This can be a continuation of education or something else which is interesting to him. Then he can find other people who share this interest.
The worse thing you can do is sulk or dwell on how much you hate an area. And don’t expect people in another part of the world to be friendly if you automatically look for the negative in every thing (which people who are unhappy about their situation tend to do).
*This is usually not possible for people who have a contractual obligation with the military.
. Heh heh. I read that with a “GO HOME” kind of voice. Then I saw the asterisk.
He’s going to be there until January. That’s when his time is up, and he gets to come home. I was just hoping that someone could suggest something different, because his email just sounded so sad. He’s a pretty cool kid, but he’s very shy, so I’m sure that’s been impeding him.
I told him that I would check with the board to see if they had any suggestions, and he seemed to like the idea, so maybe I can get him to get out and enjoy it there. I told him that he really doesn’t have a lot of time left, and that he should try to enjoy it as much as possible. I mean, I know it’s not first-class, but my family has never been well-off, and I doubt he’s going to get an opportunity to be somewhere that different ever again. And when he returns to the States, he’s going to be moving back to Arkansas. Talk about other side of the world.
Thanks for the suggestions. If anyone else has anything, please post’em. I’ll send him the link to this page.
