Famous in Korea

I have 25 minutes before I have to go make dinner, so I thought I'd give a quick update. The problem, I realized, with these quick updates is that my explanations are shoddy and people are left more confused than ever. Part of the problem is the inherent baffling capabilities of the Army--we're all confused when it comes to talking about that! Even Obama--just ask McChrystal!

So we had to resubmit our request for command sponsorship on Tuesday to our new area in Daegu. We are trying to push it through to see if it will go faster because everything with the Army is an exhausting process. First it had to go to the main division headquarters in Seoul and then sent to Brian's new battalion commander in Daegu, then sent back to Seoul to the handler and then sent to the Chief warrant officer to approve and place on the waiting list. Basically we have to wait until there is enough room at the school (when other families move out) and then they'll approve us. No one seems to have an answer as to how long that will take. The dilemma is that I have nowhere to live because we put in our thirty day notice back when we thought it would be no problem to get command sponsorship to Area I (near the DMZ). So now I have no choice but to get out of the house. I can rent a little student apartment in Provo until mid-August, but after that I don't really have a lot of long term (longer than a week) options. The biggest problem is that if I go over before we have command sponsorship the Army will not reimburse me the $8000 cost of plane tickets. I am very much stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Anyway, last night Brian called the main office in Seoul to make sure our paperwork arrived. He then asked her to fax it to his unit in Daegu immediately. Brian then called his unit in Daegu and when he said his name, the Captain said, "Oh, yeah, we've all heard all about you here in Korea. You've got a lot of people talking. You're the one with nine kids?" First of all, it was somewhat disconcerting that people were talking about us already and even worse that the giant fish tale about us has embellished the number of children up to nine! The man said that they think they might have a house for us but that he thinks we'll be moving to Camp Humphreys in Pyongtaek. That's the place we were originally told we were going to go five months ago. Have I been chasing my tail in a circle? It sure seems like it. Basically, we learned last night that our determination to stay together as a family--a freakishly large family--has ignited quite a stir amongst many officers in Korea. We also learned that our life is a complete circus, we cannot worry about any particular scenario because the next thing we know that is no longer the scenario for our lives. We will live somewhere in Korea at sometime in the next few months--details pending. Hmmm. . . does it seem like things have been pending FOREVER?

Then on top of that, I got in touch with the first counselor in the Branch Presidency in Daegu. He has been extraordinarily helpful. I sent him an email and told him about our command sponsorship dilemma and asked how long his process took and if he thought I should come over with Brian or wait. Next thing I know, I have an email from him saying that he has gone over to talk to Brian's unit about getting us command sponsorship (he's a Major, so he outranks Brian, which is helpful). He told us that they were already talking about us and our situation and he would be around to help if we needed anyone else on the ground pushing for things. So now, really everyone is talking about the Simons Family Circus that is soon to be premiering in Korea. We're already famous there apparently! Actually, I am thinking either we'll be so well known we'll have a welcoming entourage at the airport or they'll be so annoyed with our persistence that they'll throw kimchi at us upon arrival!

Usually I am the one that hammers square pegs in small round holes, but this time Brian has been relentless in his pursuit of command sponsorship. He does not want to be without his family for more than a few weeks--18 months of being away was more than enough. I'd like to chalk it up to me being so unconditionally awesome that he can't go without me, but that may be a little narcissistic on my part--oh, what the heck, who am I to be shy, let's just say it how it is--it's the new additions! :) Actually, Brian is an amazing guy and very inspired by God. He is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in and isn't afraid of letting his superior officers know that his family comes first. That is often ill-regarded in the Army, but Brian never has been a coward when it comes to making sacrifices for us or for the Lord. We've been very blessed because of his faith. I am still hoping for a miracle that we will be able to go on the Army's dime together or very close to the same time and the kids will be able to start school on time and make lots of friends. It's going to be a long shot, but miracles happen in my life on a regular basis--so we'll see what happens.