DMZ

About two weeks ago I signed up for a DMZ tour.  This tour was on the top of my bucket list of things to see in S. Korea.  Let me just say, I knew very little about Asian history before coming here, even though I am a history teacher.  What little I know I learned from my art history classes or from books that I've read.  I recognized how bias our education system is after going to school for history education and working on social studies curriculum for a school district, but there aren't going to be any big changes anytime soon.  Many educators are not willing to steer away from tradition as I saw firsthand.  It's sad that our country still has a very isolated view on the world, even though our economy is undeniably intertwined.    In our history books we learn about isolationism prior to WWI and how that ideology prevented many Americans from wanting to get involved in WWII. I think that mentality still exists after all these years even though we are more reliant on other countries then ever before.  It isn't going to change, but many people are extremely naive as to how we are connected to the outside world.  For those of you who have never travelled all you have to do is turn on the news in another country to see how differently they view the world.  When I lived in Italy I saw lots of International news coverage. The same is true of here.  S. Korea recognizes how what happens in America effects them, or what happens in China etc.  

I love that European, Asian, and even Canadian cultures tend to think more globally.  Their children don't know all the little details about American history, for example, but they know the basics.  Even my 8 year old students followed the United States election and knew who the candidates were, for example.  It's pretty amazing.  I am always surprised by the information that they know about Western cultures.  They learn from a young age that America helped them against the North Koreans and Chinese invaders during the Korean War.  Among the older population many of those memories are still fresh.  They lived through it.  I cannot imagine the horror that many of these people faced.  Thousands starved or died as a result of the Korean War.  The war is technically still going on, but people don't walk around in fear here.  Is it a concern?  Of course.  December 19th S. Korea will vote in a new president and the candidates have different views on what to do about the "North Korean" problem.  From what I have been told from Koreans many older people prefer the more "conservative" candidate who does not want to attempt relations with N. Korea.  Many of them still do not trust N. Korea because of the horror they went through.  The younger generation, however, is more willing to attempt some sort of relations with the N.Koreans. I don't hear anyone though talk about wanting to reconcile with N. Korea.  After all these years they view themselves as separate.  Plus, South Koreans know that if they were to unify they would have to "shoulder the burden" of the North and their economy would suffer, just like what happened after East and West Germany reunified or when the Soviet Union collapsed.  Time will tell what will happen to the fate of North Korea.  I forsee something happening within my lifetime. . like North Korea collapsing or getting morphed into China.  Who knows.  I am definitely not an expert on the issue.  

Mini history lesson: 

Korea is the only divided country in the world.  After the Korean War (June 25, 1950-July 27, 1953), South Korea and North Korea established a border that cut the Korean Penisula roughly in half.  Stretching for 2km on either side of this border is the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).  

    

On my tour we drove all over the area around the DMZ.  We got to go inside the 2nd and 3rd tunnel, which went in for what seemed like a mile.  It was so musty and damp inside the tunnels.  The last tunnel was found in 1990.  These tunnels were dug (more like exploded with dynamite) by the South Koreans.  They were made in an attempt to sneak up on the South Koreans and attack.  They even put fake coal inside to make it appear that they were working in "coal" mines.  Any geologist could tell you though that there is no coal in these areas.



At one spot we watched a video on the brief history of the DMZ.  It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen.  They glazed over the war and focused on the DMZ as a wildlife conservation area. Totally weird especially when you consider how many boobie traps and mines there are within the region.

Need I say more?

The first stop was the Freedom Bridge.  You can see in the distance there is a wall with lots of notes and ribbons.  On the other side is N. Korea in the distance.

The ribbons at the end of the "bridge" written to loved ones in N. Korea.  On the other side in the distance is N. Korea.

The people are not allowed to have contact with anyone in N. Korea.  There was  one president who attempted to repair the relationship with North Korea and people were allowed to see their families at the border.  It's happened rarely since the DMZ has existed.  Our tour guide told us a few years ago the South Koreans could visit restricted areas of North Korea through tour groups.  He said he went and it was very clean and organized from what he saw. . but of course they want to show outsiders that everything is great.  Well, a woman from one of these tour groups left the restricted area and was shot down by the N. Koreans, so S. Korea immediately put a stop to any tours once again. 

This is the view of the Freedom Bridge from the Observation deck.  The bridge to the left is N. Korean territory.

 Do you want a souvenir?







Observation Deck looking into S. Korea.  You can see the Industrial Complex where the N. and S. Korean's meet for talks and some remote apartment complexes in the distance.  We had to stand behind a line to take this picture.  No one is allowed to go up to the binoculars to take photos.  Security is very strict along the DMZ.  You can see the soldier in the right hand corner.  He was watching closely to make sure people were following the rules.  




Barbed Wire surrounds all the fencing




This is a peace monument in the area where the Battle of the White Horse took place.


During the ten days of what is now known as the Battle of the White Horse, the hill ahead would change hands 24 times after repeated attacks and counterattacks for its possession.  It was one of the most intense position-grasping battles for a small hill during the course of the Korean War.  Afterwards they say the hill looked like a threadbare white horse.  Each arm represents the two parts of Korea and inside is a relief of a horse running.




A monument for all the soldiers who lost their lives during the Battle of the White Horse.

The mountains in the area are so beautiful.  I cannot wait to do more hiking when the weather gets nicer.

P.S. Did I mention it's bloody freezing in Korea?  Well, yes.  It's bitter to the bone.  I was grateful I went the weekend I did, because it was cold enough but the following weekend it was almost unbearable.

More to come. . . . Life is good.  I learn something new everyday.  

I finally think I got this blog figured out

So, it took me a month to work out the kinks with my blog, but it's officially live. I got it figured out tonight finally, thanks to my friend Trit.

It's been a month since I wrote my last post.  I feel a lot more settled now.  I went on a mini shopping spree this past month.  The shopping is soo much better here then in the U.S.  They have amazing clothes,accessories and shoes.  The quality I find is also a lot better then anything we have back home.  The only thing they don't have as much of an abundance of is nice household stores.  I finally found a nice one the other day in a mall nearby but usually the blankets and sheets are ridiculously expensive and ugly.


My job is a job.  Everyone is nice and my boss is a really good guy, but I live for my weekends when I can explore more.  Last weekend, I went to Isadong, which is a historic area of Seoul.  They have all sorts of hand crafts and museums in that area.  It's the same area I went to go see the famous palaces in Seoul.

Last weekend, I also spent time with a girl I sat next to on the airplane on the way here.  She took me to an area outside of Seoul called Paju which has a mock French village called Provience and a huge art village.   It was too cold to walk around the French Village so we went to a ceramic place and painted pottery. I painted a mug and wrote Bucheon on it in Haguel.  I had Lena's 15 year old niece help me do the writing.  She was such a talented artist.  I wish I took a picture of her mug she painted.

Tomorrow I am going to the DMZ, so it's always something interesting.  I will post about it soon.  I will probably post pictures on Facebook before I get to write about it though.

So far, everything is going really well.  I am so grateful I am able to have this experience.  This is living.  I am soaking up the culture as much as possible.  Recently, I started back at yoga three days a week at a studio in the next building from my work.  It's so relaxing and the people have been so nice. I don't understand what they say, but since I've done yoga before I can figure it out.  It's amazing how much you figure out just through observation.  It's how I survive here.  Watch and learn. haha.

Randomness

Products that Koreans love:

Mirrors:  Many women are obsessed with looking in the mirror.  It freaks me out how much they look at themselves.  Is it sad I don't care that much?  I figure I look at myself enough when I get ready in the morning.  Today when I went to go check out at a restaurant there was a mirror near the cash register.  I watched about three girls check themselves out in it before they walked out the door.  Strange.  If a mirror is not handy they use their cell phone "camera" to fix their hair.

Wire rimmed glasses:  I heard they think they make their faces look smaller.  Many people will even wear fake glasses.

Pencil cases:  This is one of the most important items a student has.  They come in abundant shapes and sizes.  I've seen everything from really cool metal boxes to stuffed animal pencil cases.  I equate their significance to the labels on kid's clothing back home.  It signifies their style, but it also shows where their values lie.

Cell Phones:  I dare say the Koreans love their cell phones more then Americans.  They especially love the camera option.  It's so common to even see older men and women checking out their cell phones.  Samsung is a Korean company so the Galaxy is the phone to have here.  Iphones are really popular here too though.