Pardon the interruption, but this post will stray a bit from being entirely pop-culture oriented. You have been warned.
When I was 12, my family was stationed in Seoul, South Korea. We lived in a small apartment in government housing, 10 miles or so from the main military base. We were pretty much living with the “natives,” save for a fence that ran around the perimeter of our small base. Here’s a picture that shows what was just beyond that fence…
It was 1984, and my parents both worked during the day, leaving my older brother and me to our own devices. At that point in time, the American military presence in Seoul was much appreciated, and little American kids received much fanfare by the Korean citizens, which was great for me!
As I detailed in my last post, the year 1984 was an incredible one for pop culture in movies, television, and music. I missed it. I spent 1984 with one American television channel, provided by the armed forces, which tended to play a lot of Sesame Street and General Hospital.
VHS machines were the new thing and being in Korea, most of us had one, since it was pretty easy to get one cheap. Families would have relatives back home in the “States” record TV shows and ship the tapes to them in Korea. I got to watch the A-Team this way, but not much else. I remember the big deal movie to watch was the miniseries called The Day After, which was about the day after a nuclear war. This was especially poignant to those of us not too far from the DMZ.
I was surrounded by other latchkey kids, and we basically formed our own version of Lord of the Flies from sunrise to sunset. I cringe at the thought of all the mischief we got into during the two years I lived in Korea. I know what the city looks like from the top of a radio tower, and I also know which cigarette lighters make the biggest explosions when thrown against a building. We would hop in cabs, buses, or subway trains just to see where they would take us, never mind the fact that none of us could read or speak Korean, but somehow, we always found our way back home.
If we wanted to buy music, there were plenty of options. We usually bought from the street vendors with pushcarts full of bootleg cassettes. At that age, I had no idea what a bootleg was, but I did find it strange that all the writing on the tapes was consistently misspelled. I think the first cassette I ever bought was the J. Giles Band’s Frees Frame.
Even the restaurants were bootlegs.
When I wasn’t exploring the public transit system, my days were filled playing “war” with a dozen or so other kids. We would run through the woods, build elaborate forts and traps, and of course were all decked out in camouflage, since all our dads had closets full of the stuff. We threw rocks, used slingshots, and sometimes, if we were lucky enough, one of the boys would bring a BB gun. But the weapon of choice was usually “grenades” made up of a bunch of firecrackers with their wicks twisted together.
Most of my allowance went to firecrackers. We would blow stuff up all day long. Everything in Korea was so inexpensive, I could have probably bought my first car if I had saved my allowance for a month. For a couple of dollars, I would buy bags of plastic models and explosives–you can probably imagine how that ended up.
(No joke–two months after leaving Korea, I got a letter from my best friend with a photo of him in the hospital burn ward, after a bad experience he had with a propane tank.)
We weren’t totally deprived of Hollywood entertainment–for that, we had the “Big Building” at the top of the hill. The Big Building had a pizza parlor with a Donkey Kong machine and a comic book spinner rack–whatever money I had in my pocket went straight to those two things. Off-base there were lots of arcades, where I spent plenty of time playing Galaga, Missile Command, and any other machine that didn’t have a smoking teenager glued to the joystick, but that Donkey Kong machine was THE place to be on base.
The Big Building also served as our movie theater on Saturday nights. The movies that were shown were usually many months behind the U.S. releases, but more often than not, they were several years behind. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi for the first time on a 10′ screen, while sitting on a folding metal chair. I didn’t feel the need to go to many movies that year.
1984 is probably the most vivid year of my childhood memories, and it’s a minor miracle that I survived it. For the two years I lived in Korea, American entertainment was experienced at arm’s length, and when I got back to the states, I had a lot of catching up to do.
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This is the latest post in response to the weekly blog challenge presented by the League of Extraordinary Bloggers. This week’s topic asked you to recall when you were 12 years old.
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Great post, Brian – I LOVED this! Were you all stationed anywhere else? It’d be awesome to hear those stories on day.
It’s funny that 1984-itis seems to be going around the blogosphere recently. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the Cold Slither Podcast (@coldslitherpod), but they recorded a podcast episode solely dedicated to that year. If you’ve got a chance, you should check them out.
Also, I had a yard sale find today that specifically made me think of you. Stay tuned!
Thanks Will. This post was quite a departure for me, so hitting that “publish” button came with a little trepidation. 😉 Being a military family, we moved around a lot, but after Korea we headed to Virginia and stayed put.
I haven’t checked out the Cold Slither Podcast but I’ll have to do so now!
Can’t wait to see what you found today. I had a bit of luck myself. Details soon…
Sounds like a amazing and fun time in your life and i had similar times like you had growing up in Kentucky.
We should compare notes someday, John. 😉
Fantastic post, especially for those of us that have never been outside the US. I had mentioned on Shawn Robare’s blog, Branded in the 80’s, how much I’m digging this topic because I feel I’m really getting to know my fellow LXB’ers. It’s always more fun reading about pop culture through someone’s experiences with it.
Thanks Dex! What you mentioned is certainly one of the unanticipated bonuses of the League. I really do look forward to each and every post everyone puts up each week, as each post is just another piece in the big puzzle. 😉
Great read Brian! I love hearing stories from back in the day(they conjure up memories of my youth). I wanted to be involved in this one, but the NHL Playoffs have had me glued to the t.v., and not the computer.
Nice post, it made for an interesting read.
Thanks for sharing! The Big Building…YES! You sparked so many memories,,being a tom boy…I probably ran into you. I lived in RGH from 5th to 6th grade then moved to the main base in Yongsan for another year. It was a great adventure, indeed! We used to go out the South gate in RGH and head down into the subway tunnels for shopping or ride the go carts, eat carmalized sugar right off the mud ball fights on Dead Man’s Hill, sneaking into that haunted house across from the tennis courts (only once or twice), air hockey/arcade games at the youth center (Big Building), chilli dogs across from the commissary, the pool..that was 1984-1987. It was a different world and we had such scary freedoms!! I think somehow we must have had more street smarts than kids these days. Of course, the Big Building was where we would all meet to evacuate if shit went down…I can only imagine how nervous our military families in Korea feel today.
That was definitely a different time and place. We kids ran in packs, and there weren’t too many of us, so I’m sure our paths would have crossed. It was great to hear from another former RGH latchkey kid — you sparked a bunch of memories for me too!
Kathy- Were we neighbors?? I lived right around the playground? My family and I are headed back there in March. I know RGH is gone, but hopefully not some memories.
Kathy,
I lived in RGH at exactly the same time- 1984-1986 and was also in 5th and 6th grade! Your memories are creepily similar to mine. What a wonderful childhood we had. My 13 year old son’s most exciting time is walking “uptown” in Ohio to a DQ and getting in trouble at the CVS. I’m surprised we all survived but I loved that freedom! And people are shocked at the travel risks I take as a 50 year old adult- they have NO IDEA what we got into as 11 year olds… 😉
Hi Brian- My family and I are heading to Seoul on vacation in the near future. I would love to show them RGH even though it’s no longer military housing. More importantly, I want to show them the markets we played in before moving to Blackhawk Village. Do you/or anyone in this group have an address to reference please? Especially where the fireworks store (Medopa) or the arcade was located?
Thank you so much for posting this! Like many have said, best childhood experience ever!
Sorry Beth, but I can’t recall an actual address. I’d be surprised if anything is still standing of the original buildings, but if you do find yourself in the right spot, drop a note here to tell us what it’s like today!
So Brian, how was it like to be in a Korean school?
I wouldn’t know! The school I attended was an American one on the military base in Seoul. All the students were American children of the military personnel.
Brian,
Wow, what a blast from the past. Your article brought back so many memories, some of which I’d much rather forget, like the smells from Iteawon. Crossing the Han river bridge during monsoon season with the water just coming over the roadway (before they added a second level to it), Kimchi Cabs and how lane lines on the road meant nothing. Riding the school bus from RGH to Seoul American Elementary School (through the mountain tunnel). And, the hills of RGH. What a great place to buy a kid a skateboard for his 11th birthday. The road between the Apartment buildings and duplexes at the back of the complex was so steep if you fell off the board you wouldn’t stop until you found a curb, with your body. Ouch! I still have the scars.
I was there, as a base brat, from 1978 thru 1981. I lived in building 52-203, I remember the Big Building (White House), the Blue House, where we had Boy Scout meetings. I laugh to think that I went to my first movie by myself at the Big Building. I think I payed a dime to sit in a converted hallway (literally about 6 feet wide) lined with a single row of school desks and the movie was projected onto the wall at the end of the hallway. The movie was Pete’s Dragon.
You mentioned the wall/fence all around the housing area, but you may have forgotten that at each corner there was also a guard tower, just like a prison. But, to my recollection, there were never any guards in them.
Funny to think that all of those places we remember, and played, and made mischief in, are all torn down now. And, it’s even stranger that nobody has any photos of the housing complex, the buildings, streets, or those giant stone walls which we all jumped off of (they were over one story tall in most places). But we did it somehow and didn’t get hurt. Gravity must have been off in that place. For those who never lived the base brat life in the 80’s, I would equate it to Neverland, where kids ran free and parents were nowhere to be found.
So, thanks for the flood of memories. Of all of the places I’ve lived and visited in my life, none had more impact on me than RGH and Korea.
One last thing, all of the mischief I got into was because I learned early that the little Green Card that the U.S. Govt. issued to all personnel and their families (had English on one side and Korean on the other) was a Diplomatic Immunity card (or get out of jail free card) or so I was told. Because of that knowledge I think I hurt American/Korean relations a bit, while I was there. But, maybe that was just part of being a base brat.
Oh man, I think we all did our part in detiorating US/Korea relations. 😉 Every one of these comments brings back a new flood of memories for me, so thanks for chiming in. And yes, it is a miracle any of us got out of there alive considering the antics we got into.
Here’s another article about RGH life: https://www.coolandcollected.com/my-earliest-arcade-memories/
So fun reading and reliving. My father was stationed in Seoul 1980-1982. I was 10-12 years old. Loved Keith bringing up the Blue Building for Boy Scouts. We had to have been in the same troop Keith and heres a small online reunion. How about the swimming pool?? On the North side of the Big Building… so always in the shade. I recall the many bus rides to Yongson, most for school. But also the early morning in the dark rides for swim team practice. Also recall the many trips outside the wall in search of bootleg video game arcades. Often in a back room of a tiny marketplace, hidden out of sight. They’d take 5 Won which was about 7-8 cents, but 5 Won was the same size as a nickel so we’d place for even a little less. Did any of you get into the Felix gum that always found it’s way into friend’s hands? It was from Japan and made of whale blubber? Sure I could think of many other memories. Some great photos on the RGH Facebook page.
Oh man, Felix gum! I remember it well — whenever anyone had a layover in Japan, they would always bring back a box of the mythical treat. I also remember some sort of milky fruity drink that came in plastic bottles that we always got while out on our adventures. The thing I remember most about the ride to Yongson was the huge number of green “kimchi cabs” and how they turned a 3-4 lane road into at least 12 lanes — pretty sure road rules did not exist in Seoul.
Felix the Cat gum! We used it as currency to trade one another for marbles or whatever else a 5th or 6th grader could want. You can actually find it on Amazon and it tastes EXACTLY like I remember (whale blubber still unsubstantiated!) I was there in ’80 & ’81 for 5th & 6th grade at SAES. We were also at RGH, and lived on the back side at the foot of that long steep hill. I remember the pool, and at some point along the way they put a pizza place in there as well which had some arcade games. I remember finding burial mounds outside the gates while exploring and that huge dirt pile across the street. Also remember climbing the tall walls behind some of the duplexes up closer to the big building, riding big wheels and green machines down the huge hill, and jumping anything I could on bmx bikes (including friends laying side-by-side). Also remember North Korean propaganda being dropped from the sky and finding it on the ground pretty regularly. Great time & place to be a kid
Oh man, I remember the Felix gum! Wasn’t that only available in Japan, and whenever anyone went to the states, they had to bring some back from their stopover in Tokyo? I also remember the large sink holes and mounds off base — didn’t know they were burial mounds — yikes!
Trying the find the FB group. Is it “RGH Friends Group”?
Awesome articles that drummed up so many memories. We were in Korea from 84-86 and lived at RGH until it closed and we moved to BlackHawk Village on base. Those were the best 2 years of my youth!!
Hi Dawn,
Same! Lived on RGH from 84-86 and then moved to Blackhawk (and hated it!). I missed the freedom and the Big Building. I didn’t miss the bus ride to SAES (I was in 5th and 6th grade). I used to get motion sick. Also, does anyone remember the weekends that teargas would float over the city from student protests?
Wow. I have these same memories. We were in RGH in the mid eighties and did all these things at the big building and off post at the arcades, taxis, subway, and shopping centers. Felix gum, VHS and cassette tapes, and Nikes Air Jordans/converse all stars/ polo shirts that were almost right. One night I remember was when they’d turn off all the power so Seoul could hide from an attack from the north. Whe I turned 10 I was allowed to visit the DMZ. What a wild time.
Oh yeah, “Korea – the land of almost right.” The blackouts, the DMZ, Members Only jackets from Itaewon… good times!
Wow! I too lived in RGH (Friendship Village) from 1978-1980. I have so many memories of riding the Korean buses, playing around the apartments, shopping at the little PX and commissary at the Big Building, playing in the pool, and riding those military buses to school. I would explore the shopping building across from the main gate and eat candy and street food from there, even though my mom told me to stop. I am planning to take a cruise this November from Seoul to Tokyo and really with I could visit the remains of RGH and Yongsan. I will go to Itaewon for sure… sweet memories.