Georgia!
Last Friday, my mother and I flew out to Columbus, GA to visit my brother on his 36 hour pass. The plane we flew on from Atlanta to Columbus was this tiny plane that had propellers right alongside our row so that when we were flying, the noise was incredibly loud. The plane was so small that we had to check in our carry-ons for this leg. On the plane, we saw a few people wearing military uniforms. Our flight was the last flight into the Columbus airport and we were the last ones to get a rental car and leave. Got to our hotel room around 11pm.
The next morning, we drove over to Fort Benning to attend a mini graduation ceremony - they had finished basic training. There was a family day for another company so they had soldiers stationed around to help direct us to the right place. We parked near my brother's barracks and were pointed to a classroom for family briefing. Basically, they told us what went on during basic training and what was to be expected afterwards. And of course, some parents asked about deployment to Iraq (the answer was "most but not all" would be deployed).
Also, they laid out some rules for this 36 hour pass that we had to follow such as not leaving the Columbus area (no visiting Atlanta) and the soldiers had to wear their class A uniforms for the entire duration of the pass.
We went out to the graduation area, which is where they usually had their formations. Very chilly as the wind was blowing through. We sat on cold metal bleachers as their company lined up into formation. It took us a while to find my brother since he was on the other side of a pillar PLUS he was wearing these gigantic army-issued glasses (i.e. BCG - birth control glasses).
So happy to see him!!! First thing we did was take him to the hotel room to drop off his sack and change out of the BCGs and into contacts. Then went to the bank, then Popeye's for some chicken and biscuits. We were charged 10 cents per order of water but the cool thing was the choice of "water". There were 3 pitchers - sweet tea, unsweetened tea, and water. So I actually ended up drinking tea. :p My brother eats so much now! haha!
Afterwards, we went to go buy supplies and junk food for him: foot powder, hand sanitizer, Band-Aids, Neosporin, pens, Sun Chips, Snickers, Paydays, and chewy Chips Ahoy. Outside of Walmart, our first out of many supply runs, two of his buddies were sitting on a bench surrounded by plastic bags filled with junk food. haha! We also went to Ranger Joe's, an Army supply store, to buy bungee cords, wash cloths, and a nametag.
We spent most of the time either buying supplies or hanging out in the hotel room, surfing the internet (free wireless!) and resting. For dinner, we went to Chef Lee's Peking II restaurant, a new Chinese restaurant owned by a Chinese person. The decor was beautiful and the food greasy yet delicious. We ordered so much food! We had so many leftovers.
The next day, for brunch, we drove to IHOP's but there was a 20+ minute wait. So we decided to try Waffle House since there were so many of them, about one per exit. It was like a scene out of a movie. Cute little diner-ish restaurant where the servers had soft Southern accents. The waffles are so good!! Also had my first bowl of grits - yum! In the afternoon, we drove to the downtown area to take a look. It's small but a lot of beautiful brick buildings and quaint homes. Also took a look at the Chattahoochee River and Alabama across the river. Went to have Bruster's Ice Cream afterwards. First time I saw my mother eat such a big ice cream cone - she usually doesn't like American sweets all that much. Since my brother ate SO much during the day, for dinner he just had fruit.
When we walked him into the barracks, his fellow soldiers that we met would tell us that my brother was the "PT god" because of his high PT (physical test) scores. heehee. There was a drill sergeant there checking their sacks to see what they brought back in from their pass. Three soldiers got yelled at for not wearing their full uniforms (including jacket) since it was pretty cold and they really should've been wearing their jackets to prevent catching anything.
Anyway, now we're back. We got to learn a lot about what he went through during basic training: get up at 4am, physical training, 7am breakfast, 8pm formation, 9pm lights out. It was awesome to see him again. He's really grown up. He has a lot more patience now and is even more polite than before. Addressing people as "sir" or "ma'am". He's also more careful about where he spends his money.
Columbus is a great little town where the people are very friendly and helpful. I'm glad we didn't get any stares from people because we were one of the only Asian families walking around. All along the highway, we saw LOTS of purple wisteria blooming - very pretty!
Last Friday, my mother and I flew out to Columbus, GA to visit my brother on his 36 hour pass. The plane we flew on from Atlanta to Columbus was this tiny plane that had propellers right alongside our row so that when we were flying, the noise was incredibly loud. The plane was so small that we had to check in our carry-ons for this leg. On the plane, we saw a few people wearing military uniforms. Our flight was the last flight into the Columbus airport and we were the last ones to get a rental car and leave. Got to our hotel room around 11pm.
The next morning, we drove over to Fort Benning to attend a mini graduation ceremony - they had finished basic training. There was a family day for another company so they had soldiers stationed around to help direct us to the right place. We parked near my brother's barracks and were pointed to a classroom for family briefing. Basically, they told us what went on during basic training and what was to be expected afterwards. And of course, some parents asked about deployment to Iraq (the answer was "most but not all" would be deployed).
Also, they laid out some rules for this 36 hour pass that we had to follow such as not leaving the Columbus area (no visiting Atlanta) and the soldiers had to wear their class A uniforms for the entire duration of the pass.
We went out to the graduation area, which is where they usually had their formations. Very chilly as the wind was blowing through. We sat on cold metal bleachers as their company lined up into formation. It took us a while to find my brother since he was on the other side of a pillar PLUS he was wearing these gigantic army-issued glasses (i.e. BCG - birth control glasses).
So happy to see him!!! First thing we did was take him to the hotel room to drop off his sack and change out of the BCGs and into contacts. Then went to the bank, then Popeye's for some chicken and biscuits. We were charged 10 cents per order of water but the cool thing was the choice of "water". There were 3 pitchers - sweet tea, unsweetened tea, and water. So I actually ended up drinking tea. :p My brother eats so much now! haha!
Afterwards, we went to go buy supplies and junk food for him: foot powder, hand sanitizer, Band-Aids, Neosporin, pens, Sun Chips, Snickers, Paydays, and chewy Chips Ahoy. Outside of Walmart, our first out of many supply runs, two of his buddies were sitting on a bench surrounded by plastic bags filled with junk food. haha! We also went to Ranger Joe's, an Army supply store, to buy bungee cords, wash cloths, and a nametag.
We spent most of the time either buying supplies or hanging out in the hotel room, surfing the internet (free wireless!) and resting. For dinner, we went to Chef Lee's Peking II restaurant, a new Chinese restaurant owned by a Chinese person. The decor was beautiful and the food greasy yet delicious. We ordered so much food! We had so many leftovers.
The next day, for brunch, we drove to IHOP's but there was a 20+ minute wait. So we decided to try Waffle House since there were so many of them, about one per exit. It was like a scene out of a movie. Cute little diner-ish restaurant where the servers had soft Southern accents. The waffles are so good!! Also had my first bowl of grits - yum! In the afternoon, we drove to the downtown area to take a look. It's small but a lot of beautiful brick buildings and quaint homes. Also took a look at the Chattahoochee River and Alabama across the river. Went to have Bruster's Ice Cream afterwards. First time I saw my mother eat such a big ice cream cone - she usually doesn't like American sweets all that much. Since my brother ate SO much during the day, for dinner he just had fruit.
When we walked him into the barracks, his fellow soldiers that we met would tell us that my brother was the "PT god" because of his high PT (physical test) scores. heehee. There was a drill sergeant there checking their sacks to see what they brought back in from their pass. Three soldiers got yelled at for not wearing their full uniforms (including jacket) since it was pretty cold and they really should've been wearing their jackets to prevent catching anything.
Anyway, now we're back. We got to learn a lot about what he went through during basic training: get up at 4am, physical training, 7am breakfast, 8pm formation, 9pm lights out. It was awesome to see him again. He's really grown up. He has a lot more patience now and is even more polite than before. Addressing people as "sir" or "ma'am". He's also more careful about where he spends his money.
Columbus is a great little town where the people are very friendly and helpful. I'm glad we didn't get any stares from people because we were one of the only Asian families walking around. All along the highway, we saw LOTS of purple wisteria blooming - very pretty!
posted by pc at
5:42 PM
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