Hello we are very sorry that it has been awhile since we have posted anything but pictures here and there. As we mentioned before, we have moved from South Korea to Pennsylvania. Considering our past experiences of moving from one place to another, we thought that this would have been a breeze.
WRONG!
We experienced some massive culture shocks, mainly the fact that we no longer have convenient access to public transportation. We knew that we were spoiled being overseas, and we appreciated it. WE REALLY APPRECIATE it more now and can’t wait to move back!!!
One of the first things Gabe asked me when we got here was why we weren’t taking a taxi home after dropping off our vehicle for maintenance checks. Lol. I asked him,” Son, do you see any taxis anywhere? In fact how many taxis have you seen since we got here?”
You might be saying,”But it has been about 7 months since you moved there!?!?!?” To which I can only tell you I am sorry but life happened. Before we left South Korea we tried to plan ahead and find a place to live, preferably close to a nice school, and to David’s job. The problem with this is that what you see on the internet about information here is very limited. There were some schools and places we considered but the number one thing people kept telling us when we got here was, “DON’T LIVE NEAR TOBYHANNA!!!”
We arrived in Pennsylvania on May 19th, 2018 and on the 21st till about the middle of June we were house hunting like crazy. Buy, rent whatever, as long as it was in a good area that met our criteria. We had to settle for good schools vs. distance to David’s job in the end and wound up renting an apartment. This was because houses are crazy expensive around our area, whether you buy one or rent one. If you look at the houses for rent they want 1st, last, 1 months deposit upfront. God forbid you have pets like we do. The ones we contacted wanted anywhere from $2-400 deposit for each plus a monthly payment of about $100+ each. In the end we would have to come up with about $10,000 just to rent a place!!
There were just a bunch of things we were dealing with, plus family events & issues. In the upcoming weeks I will be adding new posts to our blog that will talk about:
- Eastern PA and the surrounding areas
- How getting a drivers license/registering your vehicle here is a nightmare!
- Things to do with kids
- 2 Hour Guided Battlefield Horseback Tour (Gettysburg)
- Lackawana Mine Tour
- Fishing/Hiking with the kids
- etc.
Let us know what you think. If you any questions about something that pertain to any of these, please let us know.
The Real Cost of Moving: More Than Boxes and Trucks
Every military family who has done a OCONUS to CONUS move knows that the paperwork and logistics are only a fraction of what you are actually managing. The invisible weight of the transition, the emotional recalibration, the loss of a community you built abroad, the sudden absence of systems and infrastructure that made daily life smooth, this is the part no moving briefing covers and no checklist can fully prepare you for.
Going from South Korea to Pennsylvania specifically involved a jarring shift in nearly every dimension of daily life. Korea is one of the most connected, efficient, and walkable countries in the world. Public transit in Seoul and the surrounding areas is so reliable and comprehensive that most residents do not need a car for daily life. Grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and entertainment are layered into residential neighborhoods in a way that makes everything feel accessible by foot or a short ride on clean, punctual trains and buses.
Rural and suburban Pennsylvania operates on an entirely different set of assumptions. A car is not a convenience. It is a requirement. Without one, you cannot access basic necessities. This shift alone created a significant disruption for our family during the gap between arriving and having a fully operational vehicle situation sorted out. Gabe asking why we were not taking a taxi home was funny in the moment, but it also illustrated exactly how deeply the overseas lifestyle had reshaped our understanding of normal.
Housing in the Pocono and Eastern PA Region
Finding housing near a military installation in the northeastern United States is a different challenge than in many other parts of the country. The Tobyhanna Army Depot area is not a high-density military community with a robust off-post housing infrastructure designed around service member needs. The surrounding region is a mix of rural townships, resort communities, and mid-sized towns where the rental and purchase markets behave differently than they do near major bases in the South or on the West Coast.
The consistent warning we received from people already living in the area was to avoid housing immediately near the depot itself. This advice was well-intentioned and reflected genuine concerns about school quality, infrastructure, and quality of life for families. Acting on it meant casting a wider geographic net, which in turn meant a longer commute for the working member of the family. In the Poconos and surrounding counties, longer commute usually means significantly longer because public roads rather than interstates connect most communities.
The rental market in areas with good schools near this region is competitive and expensive. The upfront cost model of first month, last month, and security deposit is standard across the United States but hits differently when you are arriving from overseas without a large cash reserve built specifically for a domestic transition. Adding pet deposits on top of that, in a market where landlords have the leverage to charge substantial fees for animals, pushed many otherwise acceptable options out of reach.
We ultimately found an apartment that met our most important criteria: proximity to good schools and a commute that was manageable. It was not our first choice and it was not the spacious home we had imagined. But it was stable, it was safe, and it gave us the foundation we needed to start rebuilding a normal routine. After months of uncertainty, stable was exactly what we needed.
Culture Shock: It Goes Both Ways
Most conversations about culture shock focus on the adjustment to a foreign country. What often goes unaddressed is the reverse culture shock that hits when you come home, or in the case of military families who have moved many times, when you arrive at a new stateside duty station that does not feel like home at all.
After years in South Korea, the United States felt unfamiliar in specific and surprising ways. The size of everything was disorienting. Stores, roads, parking lots, portion sizes, all of it felt scaled up in a way that reads as abundance from the outside but can feel excessive once you have lived without it for a while. The density of options was overwhelming after the curated simplicity of navigating a foreign country where you had a small, well-tested list of trusted places.
The absence of public transportation felt like losing a limb. In Korea, the transit network was so comprehensive that you could cross the country efficiently on trains and buses. In the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, the nearest bus route that connected to anything useful was miles away and ran infrequently. This was not a complaint about Pennsylvania. It was simply a recalibration that took longer than expected.
The kids adjusted at different rates. Children who have moved internationally often develop a kind of resilience and adaptability that serves them well in new environments, but that does not mean the adjustment is painless. Starting at a new school mid-year, learning which lunch table to sit at, figuring out the social landscape of a new community while still processing the loss of the community you just left, it is a significant emotional load for young people to carry.
As parents, the most important thing we could do during that period was to stay present, stay patient, and stay honest about the fact that the transition was hard for everyone. Not pretending it was easy. Not minimizing the feelings. Just acknowledging that this was a difficult chapter and that we were working through it together as a family.
What We Learned About Transition Preparedness
Looking back on the move from South Korea to Pennsylvania, there are things we would do differently and things we would do exactly the same way. Here is what we wish we had known or done before departure.
Research housing at the receiving installation far in advance, and do not rely solely on internet listings. The gap between what appears online and what is actually available on the ground is significant in many markets. If possible, connect with families already stationed at the receiving location through Facebook groups, military spouse networks, or installation community groups. Real-on-the-ground knowledge from people living the situation is worth more than any real estate website.
Budget specifically for the domestic transition, not just the international move. OCONUS to CONUS moves come with allowances and reimbursements, but the actual cost of re-establishing a household in the United States often exceeds what those allowances cover, especially in high cost-of-living areas. Building a dedicated transition fund during the overseas tour is one of the most practical financial moves a military family can make.
Give yourself grace during the adjustment period. The first six months after a major move are not representative of what life at the new location will ultimately feel like. Things that seem impossible in month one, finding a reliable mechanic, figuring out which grocery store has the best produce, discovering the local parks and hiking trails, become routine by month six. The adjustment is real, but it is also temporary.
Connect with the local community early. Military families sometimes default to keeping within the military community at a new station, which makes sense for support but can slow the process of feeling genuinely rooted. Getting involved in local activities, joining a sports league, finding a church or community group, attending a local event, these connections with the civilian community around the installation are what make a temporary assignment start to feel like a real home.
We are glad we made the move, even with all its difficulties. Pennsylvania turned out to have more to offer than its initial challenges suggested. The hiking, the history, the seasons, the people, it is a place worth knowing. The posts we promised are coming. We have stories to tell about the coal mine tours, the battlefield horseback rides, the fishing trips, and everything else that has been filling our days since we arrived. The blog has been quiet, but the adventure has not stopped for a single day.
Coming Up on the Blog
We made a list of posts we owe you and we intend to deliver on all of them. The Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour in Scranton is one of the most fascinating historical experiences in the region and it deserves a full writeup. The Gettysburg Battlefield Horseback Ride is unlike any way we have experienced a historical site and the story behind it needs to be told properly. Fishing and hiking with the kids in the Pocono Mountains has given us enough material for a dozen posts on its own.
We are also going to write honestly about the process of getting a driver license and registering a vehicle in Pennsylvania after years overseas, because if you have never gone through that process after a long OCONUS tour you cannot fully appreciate how much administrative friction is involved. It is the kind of thing that feels minor from the outside and feels like a second job while you are living it.
Thank you for sticking with us through the quiet period. Military family life does not pause for content creation, and we have been doing what military families do: adapting, persisting, and finding the adventure in the situation we are actually in rather than the one we planned for. More soon. We promise.
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