my trip to north korea

over this past weekend i took a trip to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) which is the strip of land, which is 4km wide, that seperates north and south korea.

just a little background on the situation for those who don't know, after the north and south koreans signed a cease fire ending the violence of the korean war, they established the DMZ which runs along the 38th parallel in order to create a "buffer zone" between the 2 countries. this strip of land is 4km wide with each country getting 2km up to the actual border. it is riddled with land mines and mostly uninhabited.

my tour started off with a trip to the dora observatory. from here we could see the actual line seperating the countries and a "propoganda town" in North Korea. this town literally was built to make the north koreans look good. noone lived there until recently and they also project literal propoganda over loud speakers for up to 10 hours a day. the town is complete with a 600 pound north korean flag waving higher than the equally as huge south korean flag right over the border. the tension here is very obvious.

after the observatory we went to the third tunnel. this is where i started to realize how crazy north korea actually is. the third tunnel is one of 4 tunnels that has been discovered leading from north korea, under the DMZ, and into south korea. these tunnels are beleived to be part of a plan to surprise attack seoul. the third tunnel can fit 30,000 troops an hour through it and lies only 52km north of downtown seoul. there are many other tunnels beleived to exist. the third tunnel tour was like going into a mine. we had to wear hard hats and we went 200m underground. the north koreans had smeared coal all over the walls of the tunnel as a way to say they were just mining for coal, not trying to invade.

after the third tunnel we headed to the highlight of the trip, the JSA. the JSA stands for the Joint Security Area and it is in Panmunjom, Korea. The JSA is the location at which the cease-fire between the two countries was signed. before entering the JSA we were breifed by US soliders and had to sign a waiver in case of any "enemy hostile acts". This waiver was no joke, as we learned of stories such as the Axe Murder Incident. The JSA is an area that is run by both countries and the guards literally stand "face to face with their enemy everyday".

We got to the JSA and as soon as we walked outside everyone became dead silent. Across the way we spotted a north korean solider wip out his binoculars and start watching us. We were standing facing 5 small buildings, 3 were blue and 2 were silver. the blue ones mean they belonged to the UN and the silver meant they belonged to the KPA (north).

We got to go into one of the blue buildings ( the one with the door open to the left) which was the building where the cease-fire was signed. the building lies right on the border between the countries and we got to walk over the acutal border and stand in north korea. inside the US solider told us many stories about how the north koreans try and mess with them. for instance, they go into their own buildings that straddle the line and open the curtains and flick off tourists/soliders and do the motion like they are slitting their throats. we were told to ignore them and definitely not acknowledge their presence, but they didn't do anything of that sort while we were there. They also told a story about how when Bush came to visit the DMZ the KPA soliders walked into the blue building and took an american flag and started polishing their shoes with it and wiping their noses with the south korean one. there are also scuff marks on one of the tables in a UN building due to a female KPA(north) dancing on it.

Only people with foreign passports are allowed into the JSA because they are scared of what koreans might do when put in this tense and emotional area. therefore, i felt very lucky we were allowed to go here.

Overall, the tour was crazy, and awesome. I'm really glad I got to go see the JSA and experience the insane tension that exists there. The korean situation is very unfortunate and unfortunately there seems to be no end in sight.

here are the rest of the pictures

myeong-dong

so every week i try and break up the montony of the workweek and go into seoul at least once. the past 2 weeks i have meet up with some people in myeong-dong, which is the big shopping district in seoul. myeongdong is the ninth most expensive shopping street in the world in terms of floorspace rents. they have a forever 21, american apparel, and much more. but what is even cooler is all the street vendors lining the streets. i bought a scarf, a headband, and a hat. there are millions of really cute boutiques and shoe stores and it makes you want to spend your entire paycheck. they also make these turkish kebabs that we are all OBSESSED with. the other street vendors sell things like octopus and other tasty korean treats. myeong-dong is a dangerous place for a shopaholic like me, but its awesome at the same time.

dobogonsan & RENT

last weekend on friday i went to see RENT in seoul. one of the benefits of living in a global city is the cultural opportunities like plays and musicals. RENT was doing a global tour and the two main characters (Roger and Mark) were played by the original cast members from broadway. it was really awesome to see, especially the song "living in america" which was just the two of them singing (therefore it was the same people as on the official RENT soundtrack). after RENT i went out in bundang with the girls i went with and went to a foreigner bar that literally didn't have a single korean in it. i felt like i was in america, it was strange.

on saturday i went on a hike up a mountain outside seoul in bukansan national park. it was really convenient as it was on the subway line and we didn't have to try hard to get there at all. there was a group of 10 of us and we headed out to the mountain around noon. it wasn't like any hike i've ever done because it was LOADED with koreans and the end portion was literally straight uphill, with ropes to pull youselves up. halfway up the mountain there was a buddhist temple with cool views and amazing scenery. it was a really cool place to pit stop on the way to the top. it was a really fun day though and the views at the top were very worth it. you could see all of seoul. here are the pictures....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2621900&id=8623045&l=4094c53ff4

after the hike pictures there are some random seoul adventures and pictures of my town (gwangju) and school. i'll put up a video of my apartment very soon i promise :)

fan death

in korea, everyone truly believes that if you leave a fan on for too long in a room while you sleep etc. it will kill you... reasons vary from:

1. the fan will chop up all the oxygen molecules and you suffocate

2. you will get hypothermia

3. the fan will suck all the air out of the room

i thought this was hilarious, because they really do believe it. apparently suicides are sometimes blamed on "fan death".  the fan in my apartment has a timer on it so it will only stay on for 3 hours maximum.

girls nights & sleeping on the beach

this past weekend was a really fun one...

friday night i had a girls night with all the girls who live in my city: meaning there were 5 of us. haha. but it was a really good time.... we are all from different countries (except 2 from the US) and we ordered pizza, drank wine, and read tarot cards. by the way chris, the tarot cards still said similar things.

the next morning i woke up early to head into seoul to meet up with a group of us headed out to an island for the weekend.... the group consisted of 2 people i knew and 3 i didnt. we headed out on the subway to the airport and then took a bus and a ferry to muuido island.

the island was different than i expected. once we made it to the beach it kinda felt like we were in a tropical place, like costa rica or something. we hung out by the beach and did some exploring. we ate dinner at a place right on the beach and enjoyed traditional korean pork bbq and crab (still not allergic!) and then set up camp and made a bonfire. we hung out at our bonfire all night and then slept right there next to it in our sleeping bags. it was a pretty sweet night. i made new friends and got to see some cool stuff in korea.

anyways i had a great weekend, and didn't want to start work at ALL today. here are the pictures from muuido island

to all the family at home, i am sorry i can't be there with you all this week, but i am thinking about you. love you all. rip uncle dick.

first week at tanbeol middle school

my first week of teaching was really easy... i didn't teach

my first week was just observing the english kid i work with, luke, in all of his classes all week. 

my work week is pretty easy, after i make up a lesson plan. i am at work for 40 hours, but only teach for 22 of those. the other 18 are spent sitting at my desk "making lesson plans".  the thing is, the school is so big i teach each class only once a week, so i get to teach the exact same lesson 22 times.... over and over.

i have to be at school from 820-420 everyday and i get an hour for lunch... which is actually ok in the cafeteria.

the kids are kinda bratty which is to be expected with middle schoolers, but they are also very interested in talking to me. they like to tell me about the boy bands they love, tell me my eyes are pretty, and ask if my brother is handsome.

i don't think i'm going to love the job, but its definitely not the worst thing i could be doing. haha. and as long as i have awesome weekends and vacations to look forward to i'll be fine.

seoul and bathhouses.

last weekend was my first weekend in korea, and it was a good introduction. on friday night i went to bundang with some of the teachers from my area. i got to meet around 10 other english teachers from all over the world. it's kinda fun having friends from england, new zealand, australia, and south africa because here we are all basically the same to a Korean... and before coming here i really had no friends from any of those places. it was a fun time, exploring the areas near me. we hung out at an irish bar called dublins.

the next day i went to seoul with frisch, paul, and isabelle...we went to itaewon, which is the area of seoul that developed as a place for american soldiers to frequent. for some odd (? haha) reason it is also full of fights and hookers. itaewon is full of foreigners, everywhere you look there are americans and people speaking english. we ate dinner there at a turkish restaurant, as this area has the most international food. after that we went to hongdae (hongik university) and walked around the nightlife... it was a really cool area and we kinda just hung out on the street. in seoul, the subways and buses stop at midnight, so when you go out, you're kinda stuck. therefore, at around 2am we needed a place to sleep and had heard about these bath houses where you can sleep on the floor for very little money. so we got in a cab and headed to the nearest one. let's just say it was an experience. we had to wear jumpsuits provided that looked like we were in jail, and sleep in a huge room on a mat with tons of other koreans. it was.... interesting haha but quite the experience.

Overall the weekend was encouraging to me and I hope I can continue to have as much fun once the weather begins to suck. more posts coming very soon.