The Folks Visit Korea

So, my parents made a HUGE decision and an equally HUGE trek across the world and came to visit me in Korea.

Dad braved 15 hours on a cramped plane and Mom braved food she most certainly would not like.

When my parents first planned to come to Korea, I asked them what they'd like to do. I know my mom doesn't care--she'd be happy just to sit and chat. And we did do that, but I didn't want them to come all the way to Korea and not see at least a handful of the cool things I've seen. I thought that would be a waste. So basically, I walked them to death. We went everywhere. The pictures will prove it, especially if you looked at a map of Seoul.

Over the course of the 4.5 days they were here, I took quite a lot of pictures. Rather than write a lot--I thought I'd post a LOT of pictures and let the pictures tell the story of our various adventures. I'll number the pictures--and if you have a specific question about any of the pictures just email me.

Here goes.

Friday, May 2--We walked around a lot, mostly trying to find Dad a pair of tennis shoes. We went to Dongdaemun Market and Namdaemun Market. We went to Yongsan, where all the electronics are. We took the subway from Seoul to Ilsan where Mom got a 2 hour Thai massage (ask her about it). Dad and I took a bus to another town called Paju Book City and finally found him a pair of tennis shoes.

Picture 1--Dongdaemun GateSaturday, May 3--Walking around Insadong (the place where we stayed) and Jongno. We were joined by a family friend, Pam, who is teaching English near Seoul. Seoul was in the midst of celebrating the "Hi Seoul" Festival, along with several other festivities, including Buddha's birthday and the Lotus Lantern Festival.

Picture 2--Chinese Lanterns at Tagpol Park

Picture 3--Mom and Pam walking in Jongno
Picture 4--A chinese lantern (I think) and Jongno Tower (remember the name of this tower for later)
Picture 5--Mom and Dad and me at Bosingak, where I was for New Year's in Seoul (you've seen this in other blogs)
Picture 6--Lanterns hung at Jogyesa Temple, a Buddhist Temple, part of the celebration of Buddha's birthday and/or the Lotus Lantern Festival (if you look upside down, I believe the lanterns do show the shape of a lotus flower...or a flower at least)
Picture 7--The first of many pictures taken on our wonderful 2.5 hour tour of the beautiful Changdeokgung Palace (the most well-preserved Palace in Seoul) Picture 8--The sign says: "This building is Chong-jon Hall (the Main Hall) built in the premises of this palace, and coronation of a king and other official grand ceremonies were carried out here."
Picture 9--Chong-Jon Hall
Picture 10--Inside Chong-Jon Hall
Picture 11--View from in front of Chong-Jun Hall; interesting to see Seoul Tower and the other big buildings surrounding the beautiful palace
Picture 12--Palace tour Picture 13--Mom on the tour
Picture 14--Remember, you can simply click these pictures to enlarge them so you can see them more clearly--you should then be able to read this sign. Once you are finished with the enlarged picture, you need to click the back arrow to return to the blog to continue your reading and viewing experience.
Picture 15--The Juhamnu Pavilion, as described in the previous picture; I did not lessen the color on this picture--it really looks that drab.
Picture 16--Mom and Dad at part of the secret rear garden of the Palace; Dad was looking at his camera, he was not ignoring me; the building in the background is where the Queen went when she was pregnant--because it is a lovely, relaxing place to be
Picture 17--Another pond on the Palace tour Picture 18--Mom passing through one of many gates at the Palace
Picture 19--Dad walking around at the Palace, on the right is a house that one of the kings had built for his father
Picture 20--The sign for the ancient Juniper tree that is towards the end of the Palace tour
Picture 21--The 750 year-old Juniper tree; notice the metal rods around the tree--those are supporting some of the massive branches
Picture 22--One piece of the Palace wall--the ORIGINAL wall
Picture 23--Another piece of one of the many walls within the Palace, this one is new

Picture 24--Now finished with the Palace tour we head into Insadong for lunch and to see all the shops that are there (they close the road on Saturdays and Sundays to create a pedestrian free-for-all); this picture is for my sister, Valerie; this is the entrance to an art gallery, it is actually made up of pieces of picture frames--very interesting, eh, Val?
Picture 25--After lunch, as we walked along the street, we saw all kinds of interesting things--what kind of birds are these?
Picture 26--Dad gets politely accosted by some Korean girls who needed help for a school project--they had to ask him questions in English (ask him about it)

Picture 27--A busy street
Picture 28--View from above; lots of various candies and snacks
Picture 29--A woman going nuts at what I believe is a lathe of some sort--they were weaving basket material, bamboo? A guy behind her was using this bamboo like stuff to make slippers
Picture 30--The sign for the SECOND most important historical monument (number ONE was Namdaemun Gate, which was what recently burned) in Seoul
Picture 31--The pagoda as described in the previous picture (notice the reflection)

Picture 32--This is what you can see in the reflection from the previous picture
Picture 33--The sign for the beautiful octagonal pavilion in Tagpol Park--
Picture 34--The octagonal pavilion as described in the previous picture
Picture 35--A panoramic photo of the octagonal pavilion and the surrounding area

WARNING: Be prepared for some WILD photos of some WILD food. These are from our dinner Saturday evening.

Picture 36--The left side of our HUGE dinner options. Can you guess what any of it is?

Picture 37--The right side of our HUGE dinner options. Can you guess what ANY of this is? Mom was not impressed with either side. =)
Picture 38--Cucumber; Dad mistakenly tries some of this (he does not like cucumber)
Picture 39--A large bowl of beef (called bulgogi)--this is really the only thing I ate, it was quite good
Picture 40--Dad digging into his two fish

Picture 41--The soup that Dad says smells like wet dog and tastes just as bad; he gets no argument from Mom or me

Picture 42--Dad really enjoyed the meal, I survived, and Mom barely made it out alive; she is totally faking a smile (love you Mom--you are very brave!)
Picture 43--I think we literally had 30 different things on the table

Sunday, May 4--We trekked to Seoul Tower, had lunch, then headed south of the river to take a harbor cruise. The day was very hazy, so it didn't provide the greatest views of Seoul or the river, but it was relatively nice. Fortunately, it only started to drizzle once we got on our boat.

Picture 44--A fountain and Seoul Tower. On my previous trip to Seoul Tower the fountain wasn't operational--so this was nice to see
Picture 45--Mom and I at the fountain
Picture 46--My cool parents

Picture 47--A descriptive panoramic picture from the observation area at Seoul Tower, facing south/southwest, you should notice the Han River running through the picture (remember the 63 Building for later)
Picture 48--Another view from Seoul Tower--this time facing north, and yes, the President's house is called The Blue House, because of its blue tiled roof, but also to be like The White House in America (remember the picture from earlier of the Jongno Tower?)
Picture 49--Mom and I at Seoul TowerPicture 50--Now we're south of the river, just popped up out of the subway station, and we're close to our spot to catch our boat for the harbor cruise; we've just come from that Tower
Picture 51--That's the 63 Building (remember from earlier?) and we're walking to our destination

Picture 52--I wish I could adequately describe to you the horror I felt when I saw this character walking around. No folks, you aren't being fooled--that's NOT really Minnie Mouse and NO, there isn't a Disney park in Korea. I don't think I'm a Disney snob, but I just can't believe that this is legal or right. I HAD to take a picture with "her". Though it appears to, that does not say Di Li on her shirt, those are Korean characters, which reads MIN NIE. Unbelievable. Picture 53--Not 10 minutes later, I turn and see that Mickey (clearly spelled out on his shirt) is walking towards where Minnie is hanging out. I am once again horrified; but I MUST take a picture to prove this moment happened. The peace symbol is out in force (though I have learned it does not stand for peace in Korea, it stands for V--Victory over Japan)
Picture 54--Getting ready to board our boat--Mom has the V pose down by now; and it's only Day 3!
Picture 55--Our gate for boarding, Korean characters on top, then English, then Japanese
Picture 56--Cruising under one of many bridges (about 11) on our cruise--Seoul Tower in the distance
Picture 57--Another bridge, Seoul Tower to the north

Picture 58--Yes, another one
Picture 59--When we got off the boat, after our 1 hour cruise, I saw this sign

Monday, May 5--This day is a huge Korean holiday called "Children's Day" (not to be confused with every other day of the year when children think it's "all about them"; also not to be confused with Cinco de Mayo--at least Korean parents don't allow their kids to drink Corona beer as part of the celebration). Because of the importance of the holiday, I couldn't get the day off from work--which gave my parents a perfect chance to visit English Village and see what I do here! They saw the 75th performance of the show I'm in (which I've now done 95 times), and they also got to see some of the other festivities that were planned specially for Children's Day.

Picture 60--After the show

Tuesday, May 6--The last day of our adventures. Mom and Dad had to be at the airport by around 12:00 noon. We had to check out of the "hotel" where we stayed by 10:30; so before that we wandered around the area a little bit more.

Picture 61--In front of the "hotel", holding the sign I made so I could find them at the airport (I put "hotel" in quotes because it was neither a hotel nor a motel, but basically a hostel for people backpacking around--but it was a cute place)

Picture 62--The sign for this random temple I'd seen before but not ventured towards

Picture 63--Mom being silly at the temple entrance (boy, the apple really DOES NOT fall far from the tree...)

Picture 64--As we continued to walk south around the Jongno area near the "hotel", we saw many shops that had...well...LOTS of stuff, arranged in very specific chaotic order; these are for you Grandpa--Mom thought you'd like to see this stuff
Picture 65--What if I needed something from the bag on the very bottom?
Picture 66--More craziness
After we walked around a bit more, and Dad got his coffee; we headed back to the "hotel" to finish getting everything together to check out. We checked out and headed for the bus stop that would take Mom and Dad directly to the airport. They wouldn't need my help any further. They're all grown up!

Within about 30 seconds of arriving at the bus stop, the bus came...which, I assure you, NEVER happens. We rushed to say goodbye and all that--and in the hubbub, Mom left with my jacket in her hands. I didn't even realize it until about an hour later when I arrived back in Ilsan on my way back to English Village. Oh well, what is Christmas for? I hope she wraps it and gives it to me as a present. That would be funny.

I had a great time, and I think they did, too (ask them about it).

THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who else wants to visit?

The Last Divided Country in the World

On Tuesday, April 29, I had the opportunity to experience something that no one else in my family or in my circle of friends (outside of Korea) may ever have the opportunity to do.

I toured the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Since the end of the Korean War (or the Conflict, as it is often called) in 1953, Korea has been divided at the famous 38th parallel, where the DMZ is. This is no ordinary border. It is the most heavily guarded border in the world, as Korea is the last divided country in the world.

It was incredibly historic, very scary, extremely humbling, and eye-opening all at the same time.

I went to the DMZ with a group of my coworkers. I had read a little bit about the DMZ before going--and had heard that it has become quite a tourist attraction.

I'll spare you the history lesson (though it is absolutely fascinating), you can look it up yourself. But I will share some of the highlights of the tour, as well as some pictures from the tour.

We took a taxi to the starting point for our tour. I literally live 20 minutes from the DMZ. I can say that definitively now. I knew I was close...but I didn't realize it is as close to me here as the beach was to me in California.

Interestingly, the place where the tours begin has a small amusement park and other non-DMZ related activities. There is a beautiful outdoor theater area, a place to play traditional Korean games, and even fly kites. I couldn't believe there were amusement park rides at the DMZ. But as I mentioned, it has become quite a tourist attraction.

Kites flying (these were tied together)--
The outdoor theater area--
A panoramic shot of the amusement area of the tourist center--
This large tourist center (and when I say tourist, it's not just for Westerners--there were mostly Korean tourists there) had several important and impressive historical markers.

There is this beautiful bell pavilion (though aren't they all pretty lovely?) called "The Peace Bell". It was dedicated on January 1, 2000 with this quote: "As we bid farewell to the 20th Century in which we witnessed the division of the Korean Peninsula, we welcome the 21st Century as a time of reunification and peace for all makind. It is here at the point that marks the division of North and South that the hopes and prayers of 9 million Kyonggi [the county's name] citizens come together in the erection of the Peace Bell Monument. The Peace Bell, which is [over 7 ft] in diameter, [over 12 ft] high and weighs 21 tons is made of bronze and tin in the traditional Korean style. The bell pavilion which is made of wood with a four-sided arched roof sits on an area of [231 square ft] and is [nearly 40 ft] high."

Closer shot of the Peace Bell--
Not only does the bell weigh 21 tons, it also stands on the top of 21 steps, and the area, while 231 square feet in our American minds, is 21 pyeong, a Korean form of measurement. All the 21's represent, as I'm sure you guessed, the importance of the 21st Century in the minds of many Koreans.

Also, there was a fascinating monument near the Peace Bell. It is called "The Stones of Peace Wall". As you can read from the sign below, the wall is made up of rocks from 86 different battlefields in 64 different countries. I thought that was incredibly powerful.

Number 51, as you can see, is a rock taken from a battle (in Massachusetts) during the Revolutionary War in 1775.
Also, there is a bridge called, "The Bridge of Freedom", so called because 12,773 prisoners of war returned to South Korea through this bridge in 1953. It's not a fancy bridge, but is incredibly historic. One end of the bridge is the literal freedom of South Korea, where I entered the bridge, but the other end is blocked by barbed wire and high fences...that's the North Korean side. It was very powerful to walk across that bridge.

Panoramic shot of the Bridge of Freedom & the Peace Bell--You can see a train coming from North Korea (I'm not sure where or what or when or why), and you can see a closer shot of the Bridge of Freedom--
Getting ready to cross the Bridge of Freedom--
The Bridge of Freedom--
Walking across the bridge; that's Candy in the picture--
Our tickets were 11,700 Won and we had to show our passports to get tickets. I had no idea what was in store for me. We boarded our bus (the 12:00 tour) FILLED with Koreans (all except for the 10 of us Westerners), and headed first to our first stop. Throughout our 2 1/2 hour tour, the very kind Korean driver spoke fluent KOREAN the entire time. It was very funny. Each time when we disembarked, he was able to tell us how long we had until we had to be back on the bus--that was helpful. I'd hate to be trapped in the DMZ.
The DMZ is 4 miles wide and 155 miles long--dividing Korea almost exactly in half. The picture below shows the checkpoint where we had to stop, and Korean soldiers with M-16's (or AK47's or the like) boarded the bus and looked at our passports. We were then allowed through.
My first real view of the DMZ--
Our first stop was Dorason Station. It is basically the last train station before North Korea. I did not know this--but it only started running again LAST December--when I was here! Meaning that since 1953, this train route, which used to connect North and South Korea has been useless. President Bush visited this station with the South Korean President in 2002. I do not believe anyone is allowed to take the train (besides, I suppose the conductor); but it takes goods back and forth. The hope is that in the future, this train station will once again be a connecting link between the North and South.
This sign (which may be hard to read/see) simply shows the connection the train makes into North Korea, and the capital city of Pyongyang.
You can see the train parked in the distance--
Inside the station--it shows exactly what it hopes to one day be able to connect, as the sign said--
Candy and I posing with two REAL South Korean soldiers inside the Dorasan Station--
Our next stop was the Dora Observatory. This is atop Mount Dora, and is the closest you can get to North Korea. All the way up to the top of the mountain, I saw these signs along the side of the road, behind the wire--it says, MINE; as in, land mine, not "Hey, that's not yours!". SCARY.
Dora Observatory (camera and all)--
In case you get lost, this shows you where the really important things are--
This observatory has those binoculars you'd see at any observatory or tall building. You put a quarter in (or in this case, a 500 Won coin), and you can see all the way across the DMZ and into North Korea...though there's not much to see over there. It was such a hazy day, I didn't bother to look through the binoculars. However, this point allowed the best visual of the actual DMZ. This is the part that is famous for its wildlife and plant life. Literally, NO HUMAN BEING has walked through most of this area in over 50 years; and it is thusly one of the most well-preserved natural pieces of land in the world. The hope is that if/when the countries unite, the DMZ will be kept as a preserve. No one is allowed to take pictures of this portion of the DMZ. I failed to notice a yellow line painted on the floor as I entered the deck of the observation area, and so I snapped one picture. Within a few moments, a very tall Korean soldier was reaching for my camera. I had no idea what I'd done. He said nothing. I quickly gathered what he was doing, but was afraid he was going to take my BRAND NEW camera. I said, "Are we not allowed to take pictures?" because I genuinely didn't know--and he said nothing. He was pressing buttons as if to delete the picture I took. I said, "I can delete the picture, if that's what you want me to do." He knew his way around the menus of my camera, and he brought up the picture and deleted it without saying a word. It was very scary. Only then did I notice the giant yellow line painted on the ground that clearly said, in English, "PHOTO LINE". Oops. It was absolutely not my goal to cause an international incident. "Idiotic American Dares to Take Picture at DMZ, His Body Missing" is how the headline would read.
I cheated a little bit. Once I stepped behind the PHOTO LINE, I lifted my hands, zoomed in, and just took one picture. You can see how hazy it was--but I did some work on the contrast and brightness of this picture so you can at least see some of what is out there.
Me at the Dora Observatory--
From there we headed to our last stop on the tour, The Third Tunnel Of Aggression. I didn't know too much about this, though I'd read a little bit of information on it months ago. This was by far the most amazing part of the entire tour.

South Korea has discovered 4 tunnels along the DMZ; tunnels dug by North Korea with the intention of invasion, though the North denies it all. Hmm. The third tunnel is the closest to Seoul, only 27 miles away. This tunnel was discovered in 1978. We could not take our cameras into the tunnel with us, so I have no pictures inside.

The tunnel is just over a mile in length, and 6.5 feet high and 6.5 feet wide. It is 239.5 feet underground. To reach the actual tunnel, we wore hard hats, sat in the scariest, most ramshackle roller coaster-like train, and made a very slow descent through a narrow tunnel.

The roller coaster-like train thing that took us underground to see the Third Tunnel--The entire tunnel is not open to tours, because of course, part of the tunnel is in North Korea. There are 3 separate blockades under ground to keep anyone from going through the entire tunnel.

The rock in the tunnel is granite, though when the tunnel was discovered, North Korea claimed they were merely mining coal there. They even painted black coal onto the walls of the cave to disguise it. Also counting against the North Koreans is the fact that the holes they were drilling for dynamite to blast more of the tunnel faced directly south. It proves they were heading south.

Because of the various netting, scaffolding, and protective flooring (there was water dripping from the walls), it wasn't really 6.5 feet tall, so I had to walk hunched over for most of the tunnel. It was very painful after a while.

I have to hand it to the North Koreans. They were super smart. The tunnel is built at a very slight angle, starting lower on the North and higher on the South. This allowed for water to drain out and not become stagnant.

It is said that this tunnel would have allowed an entire division (something between 10 and 20,000 soldiers!) and their weapons to go from the North to the South in ONE HOUR.
Though 2 tunnels had been discovered prior to this one, the South was able to find this one because of information from a North Korean engineer who defected.

After we walked the length of the tunnel and back, we again strapped ourselves in for the slow ride back to sea level.

Heading to the Third Tunnel of Aggression (notice the barbed wire on both sides of the narrow street)--

After seeing the tunnel, we looked around in the little museum they have at the Third Tunnel area. They have many artifacts, pictures, and diagrams detailing the Korean War (or Conflict). I found these helmets fascinating.
This was another fascinating monument. In one side of the globe is North Korea (the one you can see etched inside the globe), and on the other is South Korea. You see people attempting to push them together to unite them. This was also at the Third Tunnel area.
After all this, we got back on our bus and went back to the tourist center where we started.

Safety lies through that archway--
Heading to freedom--
Overall--the entire feeling and purpose of the DMZ is to promote peace and encourage unification, hence the amusement park rides, the Peace Bells, and the countless signs and attractions calling out for unity. Specifically people in the South desire to change the opinion of the DMZ. Rather than view the DMZ as a sign of division, they want it to be viewed as a sign of peace--and in the case of the wildlife and plant life contained within it--they want it to reflect the beauty that can come from something as bad as war.

The division of the two countries is very real, and is very personal for most Koreans. Visiting the DMZ showed, beyond any doubt, that war/aggression is still a very real possibility. It was a frighteningly real look into this society.

Though I never felt that my safety was threatened, it was by far the most frightening thing I've ever done. Keep in mind, I've driven in LA traffic many times...so that's saying something.

It was overwhelming.