I asked my friend, Melanie, if she was interested in joining me for this little excursion. We made arrangements for the kids to be watched and jumped on the subwayWe were quite giddy to be out without the kiddos for a girls night out on a "school night".
We got to post at 5:45 and headed toward the gym and saw this...
The line getting in to the gym an hour before he was to speak was about 50 people long. We went in expecting to be standing in the back of the gymnasium and were quite surprised to find the place mostly empty! We got a seat about 8 rows back from the stage!
There was a lot of excitement in the room while we waited for Arnold to come in. Music playing, kids dancing (and crying), cameras shooting everything that moved, and necks craning every time the door opened on the side of the gym that Arnold would be coming out of.
Arnold said that he always tries to makes time to go see the troops whenever he is traveling around the world. "It's wonderful to be here. For many of you who don't know I came over here to Korea on a great mission to pump up our economy in the great state of California. But whatever I do - if I go on a movie promotion or if I go on a business promotion or under the trade commission, rallying for the Special Olympics - whatever it is I always go and visit our Troops. I love visiting our Troops, I love it! I love visiting our troops and the reason is: I am a big fan and a big admirer of yours. You see, I play in my movies the action hero, but you are the true action heroes." said Arnold.
Arnold also gave a great shout-out to thank military families for their support.
“I want to say thank you to all of you for the great service that you provide for our country. Not only the men and women in uniform, I know also who your true partners are,” said Schwarzenegger. “You true partners are sitting out there: the spouses, the children, the families. You are making the same sacrifices, you are doing the same things, always working for our great country. That is why I say thank you.”
He spent some time talking about his childhood in Austria and coming to America with almost no money and big dreams. He praised the freedoms that are found in the United States that had given him the opportunity to be a body-building champion, a movie star and a chance to become the governor of California.
“Where else can an Austrian farm boy go and end up being governor of the great state of California? Only in America,” said Arnold Schwarzenegger. “There are so many people who always debate: who is really responsible for making American the greatest nation? Is it the political leaders, is it the scientists, is it the educators, is it the press? Who is it really? I say it is you.”
He talked about how much he personally cares about the condition of Califonia's economy. He said his trip to Asia was not paid for with money from California and that he is not receiving a paycheck from California for being the governor. Gotta respect that.
Before he left, he did not let us down, he said the most famous words most associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back".
