Korea Bucket List: The DMZ.

As soon as I decided on coming to South Korea to teach, I frequently got the question, "Are you going to go to North Korea?!" And while no, I have no immediate plans to hop the border and have a look around (even though I could if I arranged it -- you go in through China), I still wanted to go see the DMZ. This was met by a variety of reactions. Most thought it sounded scary, some were jealous, and some were perplexed as to why I'd want to go there. In short: it's history. Who knows if Korea will stay divided for the rest of my life. Who knows if I'll ever be in this part of the world again. So, basically, I couldn't resist. I wanted to see it for myself.

Plus I knew it absolutely would not be dangerous in any possible way. If I was honestly concerned for my safety, I (probably) wouldn't have gone. But we (me + four coworkers, and then about 30 strangers) did one of the tours organized by the nice people at Adventure Korea and it was far from a dangerous experience.

The tour left from Hongdae (in Seoul) at 9:30am, so we had to get up and on the way into Seoul around 7am. So, so early. I hate mornings. But I got coffee and a delicious bagel, so I was alright.

The first stop of the day was at Imjingak. Imjingak is in Paju, about 7km from the demarcation line. People come here to pray for those they left behind -- both their living relatives and their ancestors buried on the other side of the 38th Parallel. There are lots of monuments and memorials for the Korean War, some honoring fallen soldiers, a giant one for the U.S. military... But Imjingak was kinda... weird. Not in a creepy way. In a should-you-be-exploiting-this-so-much? kind of way.

If there were any doubts that visiting the DMZ was a popular tourist destination? Check out just one of the many rows of tour buses. And I was told this is nothing, apparently, since it's "early" in the tour season.

Another indication that this was a "fun" place to go spend the afternoon: a Popeye's?

Oh, and an amusement park?

"Do not come close or take pictures." OKAY.

So wandering away from the monuments (that I didn't take pictures of) and the overly touristy areas (the amusement park...), there's finally a bit of actual history. One of the first things to see: an old train! This was the last train to pass through from the North before that train line was completely destroyed in 1950. As you can see, the train took a serious beating. It was apparently just left on the old tracks for a long time before its historical value was recognized and now it's on display. And yeah, all those tiny holes are bulletholes.

This bit actually caused me to say, "Wait, what?" out loud, much to the amusement of one of our tour guides. It's probably too small for you to see what the little signs say, but they're explaining the different stones that are wedged into the chainlink fence. The highest, labeled 1, is the auditory stone. 2 is the hearing stone, 3 is the patrol tag, and 4, on the bottom right, is the trace stone. When I asked what the hell all of these rocks were doing stuck in the fence, the answer I got was something about how if the fence is tampered with in any way -- even if it just gets rattled around too hard -- the auditory stones will fall and that will... alert the guards? Or something? I can only assume this is a super old security measure and they've preserved it in this area for historical/educational reasons... but I swear I saw rocks stuck into fences all over the place as we did this tour. Not sure. But... yeah. Hm.

Near the old train was this fence: covered in ribbons and photographs with messages and prayers for those left behind in the North. Imjingak's existence, from my understanding, was initially as a place for people to mourn and pray for their family and the homes on the other side of the border. Families would come every Chuseok and New Years to honor their ancestral homes that they left behind. This is the area where you can actually see some of that, and it is quite depressing.

Obligatory shot with the little South Korean guard statue.

Eleanor and Brigid.

This is one of the main attractions in Imjingak: the Freedom Bridge. It's a discontinued railroad bridge that crosses the Imjin river and was used at the end of the Korean War to repatriate/exchange prisoners of war and soldiers. For many, it's a link to the North, even though the railroad hasn't been used in a long time.

I found this part of Imjingak to be interesting, especially seeing all the handwritten notes left along the fences for lost family, friends, and homes. But there was one thing that really, really bothered me: I don't think you can see it in the photo, but all along the wooden fence above were speakers. Playing this... very dramatic, overwrought music. Intended, I'm sure, to add to the feeling of loss and sadness, but I just found it to be kind of distasteful and ridiculous. Silence would have been more effective, I think.

This is as far as you can walk down the bridge. Here's Kara standing in front of all the messages left on the fence. Again, looking at this in silence? So sad. But with the weird dramatic music? Bizarre.

I bought some North Korean money! It's pretty cool. I have a couple more bills that I didn't take pictures of -- these two are the best. The pictures are just the definition of Communist propaganda. I love it. But seriously -- the money is really beautifully done. Great details.

For lunch, we went over to the Unification Village, called Tongilchon. It's one of two villages in the DMZ, and since it's a dangerous place to live, the residents get some compensations: they are exempt from the mandatory military duty and they don't have to pay taxes. They have a curfew every night, which is monitored by soldiers. There are also requirements for the number of nights each year they must actually spend in the village to still be eligible for the compensations. Mostly the people who live in this tiny little village work the land around it -- growing food, a lot of which goes to feeding soldiers stationed nearby and visitors to the DMZ. I didn't take any pictures of the houses, just the one picture of the shack and empty farmland, which was basically the vibe of everything we saw in the village.

The next stop on the tour was a little farther in -- meaning closer to North Korea. Of course, we posed with the pastel-colored giant "DMZ" sign, which is another obligatory tourist shot.

This stop, with the tacky sign, was at the 3rd Tunnel built by the North so they could infiltrate Seoul. As you can see in the map above, four tunnels have been found, all leading directly to Seoul. It's suspected there are more tunnels that just haven't been discovered yet. (Like as many as twenty. Yikes.)

We weren't allowed to bring cameras into the tunnel, which was a bummer, because it was probably my favorite part of the tour. First, we had to walk down a tunnel (that I think was about 300m long?) that's at a steady incline down into the ground. The infiltration tunnel itself is 73m below the ground and smells exactly like my parents' basement. In the documentary they showed us before we walked through the tunnel, there was footage of it being filled with water when the South found it. Water was still dripping here and there in the tunnel, and the ground was pretty damp through most of it, just adding to the creepiness. There are three concrete barricades in the tunnel as it nears the actual demarcation line, the outermost being the one visible to tourists. It basically looked like a thick wall with lots of barbed wire so people can't come near it.

What was interesting about walking through the infiltration tunnel was trying to imagine soldiers actually using it. There were pipes on one wall to control the groundwater and lots of support bars/beams that took up some space, but even so, without all of those? I don't think more than three (maaaaybe four) men could walk abreast through the tunnel. Especially if you add in guns and other gear? I know Korean men were smaller in stature fifty years ago, but still. Crazy.

We did, however, have to wear some pretty nifty hardhats. Here's Brigid and I, looking super cool, with the entrance to the tunnel that leads to the actual infiltration tunnel behind us. The ceiling in the tunnel is really, really low. I had to stoop through the majority of it. (So add that to your visual of an army trying to pass through this tunnel -- not only was it cramped width-wise, but also in height.) I witnessed a couple people smack their heads on the bars right below the ceiling of the tunnel, so it was definitely good that we were wearing hardhats.

Jaunty.

Outside of the tunnel. Imprinted on the inside of the sphere is the Korean peninsula, so they're pushing the two halves back together. Despite the sometimes tacky touristy aspect to the areas of the DMZ that we visited, they all definitely had one very clear message: Everyone wants reunification.

The ladies from work, clockwise from left: Brigid, Eleanor, Kara, and Lauren.

The next stop was Dora Observatory, where we could actually get a look at North Korea. (Well, at parts that weren't just countryside.)

It was a very, very hazy day, so my pictures didn't turn out well at all. Maybe if I'd been able to take pictures from where those binoculars are... But there's a yellow line you have to stand behind for pictures, probably a good fifteen feet (or more?) from where all those people are standing. But there! In the distance! North Korea!

I looked through the binoculars for a bit. From Dora Observatory you can get a good look at the Propaganda Village that's in the North Korean side of the DMZ. It was a village built by the North to show the prosperity of their country -- except it's empty. Or was, up until recently, according to one of our tour guides. Now some people actually live there. There's also a factory nearby. I watched the village for a while but saw no movement whatsoever. It was just still, quiet, and gray.

A bunch of soldiers, hanging out.

The last stop of our tour was at Dorasan Station, which is the last subway station before you hit North Korea. About five years ago, the line was actually being used to take supplies into an industrial area in North Korea -- to factories that are owned by South Koreans, and then also to bring the goods that were made back into the South. It was discontinued in 2008 after a disagreement between the two governments. So now it just sits empty.

Eerie.

Soldiers guarding the entrance to the tracks.

Everyone was posing with the soldiers. I decided to give it a go, but then realized that I don't really know what you're supposed to do when you pose with soldiers? And that maybe I didn't want my picture with the soldiers after all but now I was standing here and I'd committed to taking this picture so what do I do? And why am I throwing up a damn peace sign again ohmigod my students are rubbing off on me, aren't they? So, all of these thoughts occurred to me at once, right as the picture was being taken. Hence the face.

We all paid our 500 won (basically 50 cents) to go to the actual tracks. Upon walking out there, our tour guide told us the train wouldn't be arriving for ten minutes, so everyone climb down onto the tracks! I think we all thought he was joking -- about getting on the tracks and that a train was coming? But he wasn't. About either part.

With my back to North Korea.

This guy came out to tell us about the station -- the history of its use, how it no longer connects the two Koreas, and how it shouldn't be thought of as the northmost station in the South, but the first station to the North. Reconnection of the line would not only mean access to the North, but also to the entire Eurasian railroad. Just like everywhere else in the DMZ, he seemed to place the greatest emphasis on when reunification happens, not if.

To Pyeongyang! (Just kidding, Mom.)

And then a train DID come! But just from Seoul Station. He said a commuter train runs between Seoul Station and Dorasan Station four times a day. For who? Not sure. The train was totally empty besides the conductor and the cleaning lady. It's a really old train, too. You can see from the picture that it's pretty dirty, but compared to the subway trains all over Seoul now? This one looks ancient.

On the way back out of the DMZ, I managed to snap a few pictures on the bridge that has the main checkpoint. Nothing crazy -- just wanted to show what the heavily guarded and militarized areas looked like. These were everywhere along the roads, not just on the bridge. Ready to be filled with soldiers should they need to take cover and fire guns. Yeesh.

Not 100% sure I was allowed to take pictures here... Kinda leaning towards "not." I feel like I heard someone mention that to us as we were going into the DMZ...

On the bridge itself were tons of these barricades, creating a bit of a maze on the actual road. Our bus had to drive pretty slow.

So that was our tour. We didn't go to the one area I was most wanting to check out -- Panmunjom and the Joint Security Area. That's where you can actually go to the demarcation line and see North and South Korean soldiers facing each other, just... watching. You can tour one room in particular where negotiations were made between the two countries in the past, and since the building straddles the demarcation line, you can technically stand in North Korea. That part of the DMZ is still on my Korea Bucket List.

Overall, it was very interesting and educational, somewhat disturbing (in the sense of exploiting the depressing outcome of the war for the sake of tourism), and occasionally actually creepy. It was never actually scary, but definitely very sad, as a whole. I'm glad I finally went on a tour, and I'd go again, actually. I'd really like to go to Dora Observatory on a non-hazy day... And of course to the JSA and Panmunjom. Maybe next month? :)

one term down!

so not only have i been in korea for over three months now, but i've completed my first term at my school! it feels good to have made it through without incident or too much stress. the new term will be a little bit different as far as the classes i'm teaching, but i'm feeling much more confident about the first day of the new term tomorrow than i was three months ago.

the past month has been relatively uneventful. the students take level-up exams in week ten of each term, and that was an interesting experience. extremely boring at times -- especially when they did the standardized test portion which basically meant i sat there for two and a half hours and just watched them take a test. one day of their exams consisted of speaking/listening/writing, which was actually a section i administered and graded. if you thought taking a speaking test in a foreign/second language was uncomfortable and no fun at all ever? imagine being the one giving the test. even some of my best and brightest totally froze up and just looked panicked when they couldn't think of what to say. i remember that feeling well from speaking tests in high school and college japanese classes, so i really felt for these kids as they sat at the other side of the desk.

this is how i kept myself entertained while the

students were taking the standardized exams.

while "proctoring," of course.

each term is thirteen weeks long, so the weeks following level-up exams were... less enjoyable than the ones preceding. in week twelve they actually received their level-up results, and at that point, convincing them to care about the last few lessons was, as one of my coworkers said, "like trying to shovel water." some classes were fine, just because we had a great rapport and the kids legitimately want to learn english. but those unmotivated students who kind of despised being in class anyway? it was rough.

this was taken a couple weeks ago, to illustrate

how i felt about teaching unmotivated students

post-level-up exams. so glad it's over. (for now.)

i'm really going to miss some of my classes -- i think almost all of my favorite students leveled-up into classes i won't be teaching next term. i can only hope that i'll have them again later on in the year. it will be really nice to have a fresh start with new students and classes, though. while i feel like my first term was pretty successful, i can definitely see little things here and there (particularly in areas like classroom management) that i should approach differently from the very first day. it's a learning curve. but i'm looking forward to walking into my classes tomorrow and being able to start over with a new group.

i could always adopt these rules one of my students made up.

speaking of my classes tomorrow, i'll be teaching a couple new levels this term. when i was trained, i was trained in memory english (which has three levels -- mega, giga, and tera), and then also in interactive reading/listening (which is higher than memory english and also has three levels -- bridge, par, and birdie). this past term i taught mega, giga, and par. next term i have mega, giga, bridge, and then a new level for me -- english chip. english chip actually falls below the memory english section in the hierarchy of levels at chungdahm, so i'm going to have some of the youngest/lowest english level kids our school teaches. i got a little bit of training in ec last week and i'm feeling pretty good about it -- since i've taught the level it feeds right into, memory english mega, i can see exactly why certain components of the curriculum exist. all of the levels really build on the skills learned previously, so as i'm exposed to more and more of these different levels, i'm finding it really helpful for my understanding of what's important for them to learn and why.

that's really all that's been going on lately. just working, putting a lot of energy into keeping burned out kids interested, and! decorating my apartment. people have been moving out lately so i've been scavenging a little bit -- picked up a couch, little cafe table and chair, and two frames that previously had canvas stretched across them. so i've been having a lot of cheap, crafty fun lately, and i promise an actual blog post about my apartment will be coming in the next month or so.

but despite the relatively boring day-to-day schedule i've fallen into lately, i've been able to spend the past few weekends in seoul, seeing friends, doing some shopping, and just hanging out. the weather is fiiiinally starting to warm up. it's been creeping above 40 almost every single day this past week! haha. i can't wait for it to be warm. there's so much that i want to do and see outside! definitely going to go crazy with taking photos and hiking and exploring as soon as i can. (maybe even as early as next weekend... it looks like we might be getting above 50 next week!)

i promise to be better with the updating. i fell behind because i just felt like nothing interesting was happening. but now that the term has ended, i felt like it needed a recap of sorts.

is there anything in particular i should talk more about? leave me a comment. let me know. and thank you to everyone who persistently reminded me to update my blog. you're all awesome. (though seriously, i promise it'll be much more frequent once i can come out of hibernation mode and i start to see more of this country.) until next time! :)

Lunar New Year in Busan!

Monday the 23rd was Lunar (or Chinese) New Year, meaning a five day break from work! (Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday are my normal days off, plus Monday for the holiday and the day after!) And since I'm trying to budget as best as I can, I opted to stay in Korea this time around. Plus, for as much as I do want to take advantage of being so close to so many other countries, I also want to see Korea! I've been here two months and haven't had the time or money to travel much, so we set our sights on Busan and decided to make it happen. Corey and I headed down on Saturday and then Will followed on Sunday, and we spent the holiday hanging out with a friend from training, Gether, who was lucky enough to be placed in Busan and who also kindly allowed us to crash on his floor.

Waitin' on the train. We didn't book tickets ahead of time at all... Figured that there would at least be standing room available on the KTX. (The KTX is a high-speed train that runs from the Seoul area down to Busan and can take anywhere from 2 1/2 hours to 4ish hours, depending on how many stops it'll be making.) I'm somewhat of a... very organized traveler. I like to know that I do have a ticket for a train or plane or whatever, I like to know when exactly it will be leaving, and I like to know when exactly I'll be arriving at my destination. Corey, on the other hand, is pretty okay with winging it. Since we didn't really decide to go down to Busan until the last minute, my obsessive need to plan wasn't a possibility and winging it was pretty much our only option, much to my distress. Luckily, it totally worked out in our favor and everything was fine.

For the first 45 minutes, we had standing room tickets. We squeezed our way into the "snack" car and found a corner by a vending machine to hang out in. It was reeeaally crowded. I've taken the KTX a handful of times at this point and I've never seen it this packed. There was literally no room to walk. I was really happy when we had to transfer to another train after 45 minutes. Plus on the second train we had seats! We spent the rest of the trip eating our picnic lunch and being entertained by a couple Korean children in front of us who kept making faces and being adorable.

Purple dot = where I live, blue dot = Busan!

Welcome to Busan! Pretty impressive thing to see as you leave the station, amirite?

We didn't do much that evening. We got to Gether's, dropped off our stuff, grabbed some dinner, and then passed out. One thing we did notice about the area Gether lives in -- not many foreigners. As we ate dinner, two different groups of men approached our table to tell me goodbye. One even shook my hand. I've gotten so accustomed to the stares that actually being approached by people kind of threw me off. They were perfectly nice, but I guess there are enough foreigners in my area of Incheon that I'm not that unusual looking, unlike this particular area of Busan.

On Sunday, while we waited for Will to get into town, we wandered around and Gether took us to what is the largest department store in the world! Guinness World Record certified and everything. It was pretty ridiculous. They have an ice rink. AND a spa. As well as tons of shopping. The Shinsegae near where I live is swanky enough already... this one was just insane.

Lotte Trevi Plaza. Yeah. This is in a DEPARTMENT STORE, YOU GUYS. Go big or go home, I guess?

Aaaand then we found the costumes. The Korean high schooler who was manning the photo/costume spot was a little awkward and seemed like he truly hated his life. (He was in traditional clothing as well.) But we had fun dressing up!

"Do Korean poses!" (At this point, I should add, we had drawn a crowd. Luckily, they all seemed to be entertained by us.)

Then we got Gether in the King's costume and Corey put on the Queen's costume. THAT was a hit with the crowd, lemme tell you. Quite a few people took pictures of them. It was great. They do make an awfully handsome couple.

After the gigantic department store, we decided to head in the direction of the beach, but make a stop at the Busan Museum of Art to kill time so Will could meet up with us. It was free, so that was nice, especially because it wasn't anything spectacular. There was a pretty neat exhibit with really old maps and drawings of Busan from the Japanese occupation, juxtaposed with modern photographs of the same areas. I enjoyed that part of the museum. For the most part it was a lot of modern art... ranging from abstract paintings to weird audio/visual installations that I... just can't get behind. Sorry. I'm an art snob. And some of that was just crap. (A fair amount was probably also lost on me, though, since I don't speak Korean.)

That evening we all went out for dinner and then some celebratory drinks. It was a pretty epic evening, actually. We went to an Irish pub and met a Finnish guy named Mika who wanted to be our new best friend and just kept buying drinks and shots for us. Yeah, it was one of THOSE nights... But the next morning we ignored any hangovers we may have had, got up, grabbed breakfast, and headed down to the ocean!!

Sooooo pretty! I can imagine this is just crazy packed during the summer. It was definitely a crisp afternoon, but still good for a nice stroll along the water.

Will and Corey, taking a picture of...

Gether, hanging out on the beach.

This is Busan's big fancy bridge. It's pretty awesome looking. (Especially at night.)

Lifting weights. So macho.

Then we found a small amusement park! Since the rollercoaster was calling to us, we decided to wander in and check it out. We found out it's called MeLand and what you see pictured above is pretty much the entire park.

Even though it may be the tiniest amusement park ever, we decided to buy three-ride tickets anyway, choosing the rollercoaster, the ferris wheel, and bumper cars!

And so began the trend of climing onto/into children's coin-operated rides...

See?

Then there was some air hockey.

Ferris wheel! I love ferris wheels. So much. The cars on this were enclosed, which was nice, because it was damn cold that high up in the air. We'd gone on the rollercoaster before the ferris wheel and it was rough. Not the coaster itself, but the experience of being hit in the face with really cold air at a speed that's faster than, say, walking was pretty miserable. So, some advice: don't go on rollercoasters in the winter. Lesson learned. (But it was worth it.)

The view through the (dingy) windows of the ferris wheel car. A little bit of MeLand and then a nice look at the water and bridge.

And then it was my turn to play on a coin-operated children's ride. This thing had wheels and it very, very, very slowly rolled forward and can be steered by the wheel sticking out of its back. A truly thrilling ride. Here you see me swinging around an invisible lasso.

We hung around by the beach until it got dark, mostly to catch some of the sunset.

After dinner, we grabbed coffee and noticed fireworks going off outside through the windows of the coffee shop. We wandered back down to the water and found this guy selling roman candles and sparklers on the beach. Being the Lunar New Year, we decided it was only appropriate to also set off fireworks, so we bought a handful and went to town.

The beach and bridge at night! All lit up and pretty.

Yeah roman candles! I'd never set one off before since they can be pretty dangerous, so this was kind of awesome. Though I was kind of worried it would explode out the wrong end and get me. (Mom, Dad, I think you're responsible for putting that image into my head. I remember asking for roman candles as a kid and you always said no and I'm pretty sure that was the reason you gave me.)

The guys with their sparklers!

The man selling fireworks had a little fire going too. As soon as we walked up and the guys bought some fireworks, the man shuffled me over to the fire and made me stay there. I set off my fireworks from a chair in front of this fire and it was pretty great. Before we headed back home we all huddled around it for a bit because it'd gotten brutally cold. (I am so sick of winter.)

On Tuesday, our last day in Busan, we decided to go check out a temple. Gether wasn't able to come with because he had to work, but he recommended this temple to us. And boy am I glad he did. Talk. About. Gorgeous.

This temple was located right on the coast, so as you go down the stairs to get to the actual temple, you get a glimpse of the ocean.

And then! This!

So, so pretty. It was super crowded because everyone gets the days before and after the Lunar New Year off, but I didn't mind. It was fun seeing families there together and all the people who had come to pray.

Appropriate, since it's the Year of the Black Water Dragon now.

Giant gold Buddha!

Giant pigs!

The Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.

The view from higher up. So. Pretty!

Down in a cave. The woman bent over is filling a cup with water to drink after she said her prayers.

The 108 steps.

Chinese Zodiac statues.

Here's mine -- 1985, the Year of the Ox.

After the temple, we found some food and decided to make our way home. We picked up our stuff from Gether's apartment, headed back to the train station, and found some cheap standing room tickets for the ride back to the Seoul area. Luckily, since Busan is the end of the line, we were able to get on a fairly empty train car and claim some pretty perfect spots on the floor. It ended up being a pretty enjoyable ride back. Not only was this train considerably less crowded, but we played some games of sudoku and cryptoquote, chatted with some Korean kids, and snacked away on chips and cookies.

Not bad at all.

It was a really great weekend. I can't wait to go back to Busan when it's actually warm outside! Those beaches were so pretty and there's still sooo much left to explore down there. Another trip is definitely on my to-do list for later this year.