Alex’s Adventures

Hey Y’all!

I’ve got about 1 month left here in north Texas before going to my new base in California.  The weather has been really crazy the past month.  We had about 3 weeks of rain and if you haven’t been watching the news, this whole area has experienced some flooding.  Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas… have been drenched.  It’s not common to have this much rain in June.  Wichita Falls was hit pretty hard and part of the town was flooded for a good week.  Luckily I live in a newer apartment away from the floods. 

As for me, I’m excited about finishing up my residency.  I just have to work on finishing up some cases, exams, and then I gotta pack up!  I’ll see you guys back in California!

Hey Y’all

I have another interesting incidence involving clothes only this time it was at the laundry room in my apartment complex.  This Sunday I decided to do my laundry in the evening.  I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea because it seems like everyone does their laundry Sunday night. 

Anyhow, I walked into the laundry room to put my clothes into the dryer at around 7pm.  Inside was this 50 year old white guy putting his laundry into the machine next to mine.  I said "hi" as I walked in and the guy responds with "how are you doing."  I didn’t say anything and the guy again asks, "how are you doing?"  I said I was doing ok and we struck up a conversation.  Apparantly there is a prison about 10 miles down the road and he’s a correctional officer there.  He starts talking to me about how the prisoners there are scum, how the economy sucks, and how corrupt cops can be. 

The whole time he’s talking to me, he’s putting his clothes into the washing machine one at a time and spraying them with Spray and Wash (you know the stuff that takes out stains and dirt).   He kept talking about the crap that he has to put up with at work and the crap that comes out of the prisoners mouths.  Well, I couldn’t help but notice the crap that probably came out of his ass, because he was spraying the tracks on the inside of his tightie whities.  I think most of his laundry was underwear and socks.  He probably didn’t even care that I could see his filthy crap stained underwear.  I don’t think there was enough Spray and Wash to clean all that underwear. 

Hey Y’all!

One thing officer training school (OTS) taught me was that your uniform needs to look sharp.  People will think things if they see you with a wrinkled, tattered, or smelly uniform.  This is especially so if you’re an officer and enlisted or higher ranking officers see you.  At OTS I would have to wash, starch, and iron my uniform all the time.  I couldn’t go a couple of days without having to change my uniform because of the hot Alabama summer.  It would probably take me 15-20 minutes to get that uniform to look decent only to have my instructor tell me that it could look neater.

You’re probably thinking… why didn’t you take it to the dry cleaners to have it pressed?  Well, I didn’t have a car out there in Alabama and plus it takes about 3-5 days to get your dry cleaning done on the base. 

Anyhow… when I got to Texas I decided I didn’t want to iron my uniform all the time and I found a small dry cleaner right outside the base.  This was a recommendation from a friend here and I found their services to be great.  They get everything done for you by the next business day and the price is right. 

The other interesting thing about this place is that they are Korean owned.  They’re aren’t a heckava lot of asians out here like it is in SF.  In fact, the only asians I’ve seen here either work for the Air Force or at a Chinese restaurant.

Well, about a month ago was the first time I walked into this dry cleaner and I was greeted by this middle aged Korean lady.  She was busy sewing some clothes until she looked up and saw me.  She stared at my for a good 10 seconds until this younger guy came out the back to take my uniform.  I thought I must have had a booger on my nose or something.  I left not thinking anything of it.

The next day I came by to pick up my uniform and again I get these stares from the people there.  I figured they were surprised to see asian people at their establishment.   After that I started going there every week to get my uniform washed and pressed.

One time this older Korean gentleman greeted me at the counter and said something to me in Korean.  I said, "excuse me?"  And he replied, "are you Korean?"  I explained to him that I wasn’t and that I was Chinese.  He also told me that Ham is a Korean last name and I figured that was why they kept staring at me.  Apparently, I always walk into the place in my uniform and they can see my last name on it.

I was glad that was established so they could finally stop looking at me.  But, about 2 weeks later they must have forgotten and one of the ladies who worked there asked me if I was Korean!  Like the man, she explained to me that Ham is a Korean last name and that I looked Korean.  Again I explained that I wasn’t and that I was Chinese.  I also asked her if there were any Korean restaurants in the area, but she told me I had to drive 45 minutes to Oklahoma for that. 

Anyhow, I figured that man that I spoke to the first time probably didn’t tell her that I wasn’t Korean.  But, I swore she was there when we had the conversation. 

Then yesterday I went to pick up my uniform and the same middle aged man greeted me, looked at the nametag, and asked if I was Korean!  I was a little stunned by his question and I explained to him that I wasn’t Korean and that I was Chinese.  I didn’t tell him we had the same conversation over a month ago.  After our transaction I told him "thank you" in Korean (something Tiff had just taught me), which put a big smile on his face.

I think next time they ask me if I’m Korean, I’m going to say "yes."  Maybe then, they will stop asking me if I’m Korean!    

I’ve been in Wichita Falls for a month now and I’m slowly adjusting.  Since my last post, I’ve finally moved into my apartment.  I have a 1 bedroom apartment about 1.5 miles away from the base.  It’s a brand new unit and I find it pretty spacious for my meager needs.  The unit is a little more pricey for this town, but I wanted to live somewhere close to work so I wouldn’t have to get up too early.  Rent is a hefty $600 a month, but it’s still cheaper than a 1 bedroom apartment in SF. 

Wichita Falls is a friendly town.  Texans generally seem like nice people.  People say "hi" around here.  There are a lot of young people around town considering how many Air Force people live here and that Midwestern State University is downtown. 

The hippest place to hang out on a Friday night is probably the local bars close to the university.  You see a mix of younger people there like Air Force kids, MSU students, and locals.  There are also movie theaters, bowling alleys, and malls in the downtown area. 

Walmart is also a popular destination at night.  You see all kinds of people at that place.  My buddy and I went to Walmart at 11pm one night so that I could get some contact solution.  He went to get some lotion and this 250lb lady went up to him and asked him (in a thick southern accent), "Does that lotion gets rid of wrinkles."  He told her he didn’t think so.  If it did… it probably wouldn’t work for her. 

Hey Everyone,

I’ve been in Texas for one week now.  I’m still waiting to move into by new apartment, which I already have the keys for.  The movers are expecting to come by on Tuesday.  I can’t wait to have my stuff again.  I’ve been living out of my luggage for the past 6 weeks now.  I don’t even remember what I had shipped here.  My buddy is beginning to think I’m a bum because I’ve been wearing the same T-shirts and shorts everyday.  Luckily the laundry machine is free to use on the base hotel and at least I can smell presentable.  Anyhow, I plan to upload my pictures when I get my computer back and internet set up at my new place.  Until then, I’ll try to stay cool in this Northern Texas heat.

Hello Everyone,

I arrived in Texas Saturday night and I’m going to be here for 1 year.  For those who don’t know, I’ve been stationed in Wichita Falls, TX at Sheppard Air Force base for my dental residency.  I’ve just completed officer training school in Alabama last week and now I’m ready to show the Air Force what I got.  (I’ll describe my days at officer training school on my next message)

I got here Saturday night after changing planes twice.  I took three small planes to get here and it wasn’t the most comfortable ride.  Small planes seem to shake a lot and I felt like throwing up everytime we landed.  On my first plane ride from Alabama to Tennessee, I was sitting next to this 45 year old Alabama guy in a tank top and shorts.  He kept talking to me about everything including hunting stories and how big his buddies house was.  Being the polite guy that I was I just tried to sound interested, but my mind was on my stomach.  That plane kept shaking and for a moment I thought I was going to puke on this guy.  Luckily for him we landed and I was able to hold back.  It was like this during my next two plane rides too.

Today was my first day meeting the head head of the residency program and the clinic that I will be at.  We had to dress up in our service uniform which is the equivalent to the civilian suit.  I thought it was way too hot to wear that thing with the daytime high being 106.  Wool and sweats is a terrible combination.

Darn… I only got two more minutes left to use on this library computer.  Gotta go!