Edvenchers: Songtan for a battery

I had to travel the 2 hours back to Songtan to replace the battery on a used cell phone I bought there last Wednesday. This is the front gate to Osan Air Base, which is actually located in Songtan, two train stops away from Osan.

There's not a lot to see that is right next to the base. It's really wierd going from Siheung City, where only my roomate speaks any English, to Osan AB where almost all of the Koreans speak some English and many speak well. Even the prices of things are in US Dollars to help the soldiers. I like being in a place where nobody speaks English, so I wouldn't enjoy living here. This photo is of some Korean men playing some board game.

Since it was almost happy hour, I decided to stop at one of the many bars on the strip that cater to the soldiers living nearby.

Here is a photo from inside the Dragon Club. Everything about this place is for Americans.

When you walk into this place all of the waitresses shout "Welcome!" and when you leave, they say "Goodbye!" All of the waitresses are beautiful Philipinos that speak excellent English. I found out that they sign contracts to work here for a year. It seems their job is to play pool, shoot darts, drink with and serve drinks to the soldiers here. This photo is of one soldier who talked with this Philipino waitress for a couple hours while they both enjoyed some alcohol.

Each of the bars has a set of windows that go the length of the bar. You can see the view from the Dragon Club in this photo. A street vendor and the bar across the street is in view. I only stayed until 8:45pm because I had to catch the train to go home. I could have stayed and partyed and slept at a motel for $20 a night, which is a cheap price, but the ratio of men to women was like 100 to 1. Not my kind of party.