I went straight from there to Yongsan to deliver needed stuff -- a change of clothes, a clean handkerchief, and some fruit. Man oh man, he is living like a king. In a room of six beds, he's the only patient. He has a TV with an extendable arm, all the American food he can eat, and loads of attention lavished on him by everyone who finds out he's a Korean War veteran.
It makes me want to join the Army and get sick.
Getting on base was a hassle, since I need to be signed on by military personnel to get on base. They don't really have a kind of "hospital pass" system by which non-military folks can visit military personnel in the hospital (after all, how many times does that come up?) so I asked my friend Bobby to sign me on. He works on base, so that it wasn't too much inconvenience for him. In fact, he and my other friend Gemma were already with him by the time I got there.
Pause.
Aren't my friends are the best? I can't think of anything I've ever done for them that they would be so nice to him for my sake -- they must simply be the kindest people in the world....
Play.
My grandpop was so happy to see me -- he had been worrying and praying all day that I would have no problem getting on base. The nurses had been telling him they couldn't think of a way to make it happen, but I guess they didn't consider that my friends would be so great.
While I was there, courtesy of Bobby (that guy is so great), I got to eat at Taco Bell, which was pure heaven. There are no Taco Bells in Korea, so aside from going on base there's no way to get it. After six months of a Tex-Mex-less existence, that steak soft taco, steak quesadilla, chicken soft taco, cinnamon twists, and large Pepsi was more than I could ever have asked for....At 10:00 visiting hours ended, so we had to split, but I felt pretty good about my grandpop's situation. He's actually havng a pretty good time in there.
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