238th Army Birthday trip

This past Friday, June 14th, was the U.S. Army's 238th birthday. It was also the 60th anniversary of the armistice ending the Korean War (or at least the active fighting part). To my division's commanding general, it was a good reason to have an Army Birthday Ball. To me it was the perfect excuse to take a weekend trip.

So SY and I dropped off the kids with the grandparents, left the car in Seoul, and took the KTX train down to the Hotel Inter-Burgo in Daegu, where the ball was. We got there about two hours before the festivities started, so we checked into our room and went for a little stroll before getting dressed up.
(At ~$10, the lobby had the most expensive Tabasco I've ever seen.)

Events like this have 7 distinct phases, and this was no different.

1. Social drinking.
2. General's greeting line.
3. Presentation.
4. Toasts
5. Dinner
6. Speech
7. Dance

The social phase began at 4:00, and lasted about an hour. That gave people time to find their seats, have a drink, and greet some people. We didn't realize it at the time, but the $5 glass of wine I got for SY was the same exact wine they put on our table for free. :-(

After a presentation of the Army's history, there were the toasts, followed by the benediction. After dinner, a Korean general gave his speech, and "with the departure of the official party," we were free to go.

All total, the process took about five hours from start to finish, but it was worth it. I got a chance for some face time with some potential future bosses, which in this line of work is pretty important.