hi there folks...as i type this entry to the blog i am smiling....why, you might ask....well, i have officially finished my work for school...comments - done, grades - done, labs - done, tests - done....yahoo!!!! this has been a great year, but an overwhelming year, where i never fully got used to my crazy and difficult schedule...but this week, we have a crazy, goodbye oriented schedule...and i only really have classes, but not really, on wednesday...so i know i can do it....i see the kids 3.5 days and then have one more to get everything done to say goodbye to SCIS....a place filled with wonderful people and kids to work with...but oh so messed up in other ways....not for me...time to go...and perfect timing i would say for this girl...woot!!!!
but enough about that...i am in my last week and did one last trip in asia at the beginning of june...i went with my friends greg and di to south korea and we visited the DMZ (demilitarized zone)...the no-man's-land between north korea and south korea...i stepped over the line and was "in" north korea...but i am not sure it really counts for being in the country...but i am also not sure i will ever get any closer....south korea is the land of meat, clean streets and street art...it was the perfect weekend get-away from china...and below you can see the pictures and adventures to prove it...enjoy the trip, i sure did!!!!
our first morning in town was the trip to the DMZ....the demilitarized zone between north korea and south korea....the blue building to the left is the building where the two sides sit down and talk about issues at hand and the grey building in the front is the north korean side....if you look up the stairs and directly to the left, you can see the only north korean soldier we saw the whole time....the three soldiers in front of you are the ROK (Republic of Korea) soldiers...who are some of the best trained in the world...
in this shot greg and i stand with a ROK soldier...they stand in the defensive tae-kwon-do position and have been said to be able to take out any soldier who attacks them with their bare hands...they were pretty scary...and no, he is not made of wax...in this picture we are actually over the line and in north korea officially...but i did not get a stamp, so i am not sure if this counts as country number 64...
i figured i should take a picture of the ROK soldier on his own....there are many rules for these guys and they are the top of the top...if you notice the door behind him...the ROK soldiers always let the north koreans leave first and then they lock this door...i guess one time while they were locking the door the north koreans threw open the door and tried to grab one of these soldiers and drag him to the other side...a form of kidnapping....he didn't get all the way through the door, but this is something they now prepare for every time they lock this door...wild....
the DMZ is a rather eerie place....this is freedom village on the north korean side...it is a propaganda village....when it was originally developed they had propaganda blaring from the speakers near that tower....this is also the second tower that has existed here...mostly because the south koreans have a tower in their town that faces this one and the north koreans wanted a tower that was taller....this village does not actually have people living it in...the ROK soldiers and US military figured this out by looking at the buildings and noticing that the one light at the top of the buildings on the inside, lit up the entire inside....there are no floors to block the light from the inside top of the building....pretty crazy...
this is the famous "bridge of no return"...when the war ended between the koreans and the line was drawn, both sides gave prisoners of war an option....they lined them up on the bridge and said - choose a side...they then walked to whichever side they wanted...they were then told they could never return to the other side again....i guess some of the north korean soldiers opted to stay on the south korean side...but none of the south koreans chose to go to north korea, funny that....
here's di at the train station that has never gone past where we were...it was built to connect seoul to pyeongyang...but has never been opened....and based on what we observed there, i am not sure it will ever open....di is doing her best "asian" pose....peace out....
this sign is at that train station....and yet, the train has never run north....but if it does, they are ready!
here's greg and i at the train station platform....there is a train that goes from seoul to the DMZ stop (which is this one - dorasan)....but it goes no farther from here.....
the other thing we did was walk into the tunnel that was discovered by the south koreans, that the north koreans had been digging to help with a possible foot invasion of south korea....they have found four of these tunnels, but it has been rumored that there might be as many as 20 such tunnels....it was a long walk down and rather incredible.....they said if the north koreans invaded this way, the tunnel would allow 30,000 troops the ability to "walk" into south korea per hour....i am not sure that is a true statement....but is just a bit scary....
one of the problems i had in korea was finding non-meat oriented food....here we have stopped for dinner at a BBQ place....i ate the mushrooms...but the woman in charge didn't really understand that i wasn't eating the meat....she was extremely helpful though and the beer was tasty and cold :)
in many different places in seoul we saw yellow ribbons tied up.....these were for the people who sank on the ferry the month before off of the korean coast....here the ribbons are tied in front of the deoksugung palace, where we saw the changing of the guard, but did not wander around inside.....
this is seoul's city hall in the center of town, and as you can see, many yellow ribbons....there were also a lot of memorials written here and notes and drawn pictures for the folks who had drowned on the ferry when it overturned earlier this year....many of those who died were high school students....so the memorial was quite moving and sad....
as you can see....this is one of the memorials that had boats floating on the sea of grass...with words of encouragement and sadness...it was pretty amazing....
this is one of the eight gates of seoul.....that surrounded the city and had a wall connecting them all...the wall no longer stands there, but the gates do....this is the south gate, or sungnyemun...i was trying to get the two older gentlemen having a conversation within the opening of the gate, but they are hard to see....this gate dates back to the 14th century, but has been burnt down and destroyed a few times....so this is the newly renovated gate that was finished last year....but the foundation of the gate is the original....and it is still in the same spot it has always been in....
these were some of the snacks they had on sale in the local market...the green things are spicy peppers and the brown things are silk worms....we didn't have any of these though....
wedding shops were everywhere in seoul....but i really liked this one because the outside of it looked like something from europe...they still view marriage in a very traditional sense in seoul....and just like many places, it's big business....
this guy's cart was very impressive....tons and tons of wicker....plus traditional korean masks....he also had household items and things for the kitchen....i guess this was his normal selling corner....
i loved the store front above....it was for a framing shop, of course....and was so creatively made....
these were some of the stone statues we saw people buying, i guess for their gardens, but i could be wrong....i just liked the way they looked and how the flowers were in the shot as well....
these are hahoe talm(masks).....which come from the hahoe village in korea....and are used in the hahoe style of acting....they are created to represent an exaggerated emotion of a character for one moment in time....there are ten main characters and therefore ten main types of masks....these are a versions of the nobleman and the young widow....
as we wandered the streets we saw a bunch of men playing car games and this korean version of chinese chess....the groups were quite animated and because it was a weekend....drinking and gambling were involved as well...it looked like fun, but at one point the yelling at one of the tables drove us away....
i really loved the street art of seoul and out of everything i saw, this was my favorite piece....a cool whale structure...not sure what it meant, just liked it....
and here are greg and di imitating their favorite piece of art...not really....but they imitated it quite well...i really will miss traveling with them, but know our travels are not completed and we will meet somewhere on earth for a vacation again :)
this last shot is actually me in a dunkin donuts....what america runs on???? but probably not what i am drinking....i decided i needed to try a purple tarot flavored iced latte....gotta say, not the best choice of the trip...but you have to try a purple drink....or you'll just wonder if you missed out on something wonderful....
and there you have it....my last posting from asia for a while i bet....i am in the states at the moment....having a fun time with family and friends....i did a cruise to alaska with my folks and we had a nice time, although i have determined i am not really a cruiser....and saw folks in seattle before leaving the area....so overall it has been a short, but fun summer...and i head to ghana in less than two weeks....i will hopefully get an update out during my first month there to let you all know i am safe and sound and am getting to know my new home....wish me luck and i hope everyone has a terrific summer in the north and winter in the south :)
have a fab day :)
dani
