Army Ball in Korea.

So I had the opportunity to go to an Army Aviation Ball in Korea with my friend Scott. It's basically an adult prom, or the military oscars. That said, I had to wear a ball gown. Yeah I didn't have one of those just lying around, so I had to go out and buy one. I was trying to be optimistic but I had a few doubts. I am not big by any means but I am for sure not 'Korean' size as I like to say. Also things in Korea tend to be really expensive or over priced. But I found one within an hour of looking and for a reasonable price of 250,000 won ($250).


   So, finding a dress -- that my friends is a great story...

I walked in to the first shop I saw filled with dresses in Itaewon, Seoul (the foreigner district). I guess fancy dress shops do exist in Korea. I started to look around, found a couple I liked but of course wanted to try them on, but saw no dressing room. So I was thinking I couldn't try it on?! But no, I could. So, I stood in the back (ish) of the store behind a few mannequins being reassured by the owner lady - 'no boys it's ok.' She then stripped off my clothes and got me into the first dress. It fit pretty well and I liked it, but then I found another I wanted to try. So again, she stripped off the dress and threw the next one on. For this dress she deemed it necessary to reach into my dress and adjust things herself. I guess I was a bit shocked but not shocked at the same time. Korea is such a strange place. Anywhere else on earth I would have freaked out, but here, nope, I was pretty calm, cool, and collected for being exposed and then groped by a random Korean woman!

And then of course we got food... we ate at Two Broz in Itaewon (it was pretty delicious. I would recommend it!) By burger is sadly without a bun.. trying to cut out gluten but Alina's had a hash brown on it and looked fantastic! We also had to get the mixed berry (which included grapes?! hello, Korea a grape is not a berry.. it's name is not grapeberry - duh) pat-bing-su from Caffe Bene. I am pretty sure Caffe Bene has the best pat-bing-su.

The ball: May 3, 2013.

So, getting ready. Yeah. I'll say it I'm not the most girly of girls... so when it comes to hair and make-up and getting ready for a ball I'm about as good as a boy. So thankfully my good friends Rachel and Amy helped out. Rachel was supposed to be out of town for the weekend, but ended up staying and I was so thankful. They did my hair and helped with my make-up and put on my fake lashes, which I ended up loving. Might have to use those more especially since they are at Diaso (Korean dollar store but better) for only a dollar!

ANDDDD..

Taaa-daaaaa.... this is the result! Man my friends are good, because we know if I would have been on my own, I would not have looked like this! I would have looked more like I do everyday - which is, well - not that great!

I get to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Itaewon, meet Scott and head inside to be surrounded by hundreds of Americans... the guys in their blue dress uniform thingers and the girls all in prom dressy type gowns with their hair all done up! We wandered around for a bit. I got introduced to a bunch of people, most of whom I forget their names already. But I did get to finally meet Krystle, who I have heard a lot about from a few different mutual friends!

We got some waters and continued to mingle. So many of the guys were bald.. it was hard for me to tell the difference. A lot of the girls looked similar -- and super American. 

sorry for the blurry pic.. but there (the 7' 1'' girl) see if you can find

her. oh wait, that's easy! (even though it's blurry). She's on the right side!

But there was one girl who stuck out.. why? well that would have to be because she is 7'1''. Yeah, that's no joke. She is the 7th tallest female in the world (or something like that).. and yeah, she is tall tall tall. Her husband though is totally normal size and is just in the U.S. Army. Good for her for being with a shorter guy. And man, I thought I was tall and unable to find a man taller than me! But she made me feel like a mouse

We got our seats (we were in the front -- why? no idea) so I had to behave and pay attention. The colors came in and the 4 star general over all of the military in Korea was present and gave a speech. He had to tell them that they could place the colors and at the end retire them. So interesting. Then a bunch of things were said about a bunch of military things and I zoned out. There was a toast where we stood up and random people yelled out things and then there was a response and a toast. More talking about things I don't know about. Then they brought out a cake and some high ups took a sword (a legit long sword) and chopped the cake in half. Why? um... no clue. We didn't even get to eat the cake - what a waste! Then we ate, first some tuna (like real tuna) and veggies as a starter, then soup, then MEAT, then some cheesecake for dessert. Some Korean drummers came out and some Korean singers who I think were singing English but it was rather hard to tell. 

After the colors were retired... the jackets came off and the soldiers do what they know how to do best - PAR-TAY! There was music and dancing and drinking and pictures. It was a lot of fun pretending I was in America for the night... then we walked out to leave, got in a cab, and he couldn't understand where we wanted to go -- and yup back to life in Korea. But hey at least I got a little bit of America for a few hours :)

and by the end of the night my eyelashes were still attached and my hair was still in  place and I still looked decent... now that is a success! Good work team!! 

And that folks, is how an Army ball goes down. It was fun. I think I'd go again! So... anyone out there in the military, if you need a date -- I've got a dress.. so, let's go!