Military balls are a time of beauty, a time for the woman of the military and the female spouses to get pampered. You go shopping for the prettiest ball gown that fits your style, you find the shoes, the purse and figure out the hair. Friday before the ball I went and got my nails done and a massage. The french wrap is lovely and the massage ruined me. It was my first Korean massage and let me tell you IT HURT! I didn't realize just how much it hurt until the next morning Collin rubbed my back and I winced of pain and quickly ran to the mirror to make sure I wasn't bruised for the big evening. Thankfully I was not. I had never had such a horrible massage and it makes me miss Brenda from the Springs sooooooooooooo much! She gives the best massages ever and I wish I could pay her a visit and talk about our kids together. They are only 3 weeks apart.... anyway I digress. Saturday was a day of fun.... I had my eyebrows and lip waxed, my makeup done and then my feet and hair. It was tons of fun! Because they did my feet and hair at the same time I got done about an hour sooner then I wanted too and had about an hour to sit around the house and hope my makeup didn't sweat off and my hair stayed in place.
Finally 540 came. Collin, Tom, and I were all ready to roll! We headed downstairs to catch a cab and we were on our way to the ball. Now most people love the final stage of the ball, including myself, because that is when all the official stuff is over and the DJ starts the dancing and they usually start off with the famous electric slide within the first few songs to get everyone moving.... Not the case for us that evening, no not a single dance. Korea is still in a time of mourning and as long as that is happening certain elements of fun are prohibited. So no DJ for us. However the night was very nice and probably the most upscale military ball I will EVER attend. The hotel had an enormous social area, a ball room for pictures and socializing. There were BMW's on display along with ice sculptures. The main lobby was filled with fancy stores with beautiful clothes and expensive time pieces. There were some of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen worn in person. We were called into dinner area which was another enormous ball room. Once seated with stood for the colors and for the official party. Following was a series of toasts and a prayer. In America this part is usually long and by the end of the speakers most people are not even paying attention. However I will never think that again. In Korea you do everything in English and then in Korean. So yes this section of the night was twice as long as it usually is back in the states. Dinner was served after all the important guests of the official party who were scheduled to speak spoke. I was pretty shocked when I realized the first thing brought out to us was a piece of freshly cut salmon for each place setting. I was shocked but sad as I wanted a salad NOT FISH! I don't eat anything that used to swim. So even though I was thinking fancy fancy I was scrunching up my nose and couldn't wait for them to take it away. We were then served a very yummy soup. Not sure what exactly it was but it seemed like it was some sort of potato soup. Dinner was delicious. Collin had the chicken and I had the beef tenderloin and it melted in my mouth. Best ball food I ever had (except for the salmon). I do not fully know what the dessert was either but it looked so fancy. You know like one of those $15.00 desserts that is only about 3 bites with a small ball of strawberry ice cream.
During dinner we had entertainment. The JROTC kids did some awesome rifle routines and did a great job. There were 2 sets of dance groups and then the Violets. They are a group of 3 who play a bass, violin, and a flute to 'pop' music closing with Eye of the Tiger. It was pretty cool. I should have recorded it.
After all was said and done I even went over and saw my trainer and we got to talk for awhile. I felt very out of place as she was sitting at the head table with her husband, but she seemed very happy that I went to go talk to her.
All in all it was a great evening (even with the salmon and without the DJ). I love going to the salon and getting all pretty and having Collin all handsome in his uniform. We clean up pretty well! This Friday is ball number 2 and although I am still uncertain about the dress I am very excited to get all done up again but on a smaller scale.
Well it is Monday night my time and time to head off to bed. I have the USO at 9am and the gym at 3! I hope everyone has a terrific day!
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