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.

Five Months = Vacation

This past week, I took a vacation to Tokyo. My first vacation since coming here last November, over five months ago. My friend Sarah, who I work with, and I flew to Tokyo on Sunday afternoon. It's only about a 2.5 hour plane ride. Tokyo and Seoul are in the same time zone. That was great. My friend Patrice, from California, met us at the airport and joined us on this Japanese adventure.

Our hotel-- The view from our hotel window (on the 3rd floor); that's Tokyo Bay in the distance--
We spent all day Monday (9 a.m.-10 p.m.) at Tokyo Disneyland. They are celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year. I took almost 400 pictures. I enjoyed meeting lots of characters, seeing interesting costumes, and hearing Mickey, Buzz Lightyear, and C3PO (among others) speaking in Japanese. SO weird. Disneyland was awesome. It is very similar to Florida, in that the streets are huge, and everything is larger than I'm used to (from working at Disneyland in CA). Cinderella's castle is immense and beautiful.

The Main Entrance Area--

I'd never had my picture taken with Donald Duck before. I just never had the chance, I guess. But he was being mobbed, and was getting ready to leave, so this was my only option.
A panorama of the castle area-- View of the castle from behind (one of my favorite pictures)--
Me with a Jungle Cruise Skipper--
Sarah had only been to Disneyworld in Florida, and that was when she was 7 years old. So this was a great experience for her as well. And I loved seeing all the "familiar" things, just done a little differently.

Patrice, Jason, and Sarah--

The Partner's Statue, with the Castle in the background; but I'm sure you already knew that--
The closest we got to seeing Snow White (notice her wearing her mom's shoes)--
Why do human beings get so excited to meet a short person in a mouse suit?
Cinderella's Castle (by far, my favorite picture of the entire vacation)--
We rode the "Jungle Cruise"...enjoying it while not understanding a single word. We rode "Pirates of the Caribbean", and it was mostly in English (Davy Jones, Captain Barbossa, and Jack Sparrow all spoke English), which was strange but comforting. We rode "It's A Small World"; and of course, it was in several languages. We rode this strange "Winnie the Pooh" ride, which apparently is all the RAGE in Japan. Just the line to get a Fastpass for the ride was longer than the line we waited in before entering the park. But it was a fun ride...very different and cool technology--no track. We rode the "Haunted Mansion", and it was so bizarre hearing the scary Japanese speaking voice instead of the scary English speaking voice. I even rode "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad"...more than once (I typically avoid that ride like I avoid the dentist--not only because someone died on it in California, but because it's really just not that fun; but I must admit--it was much better in Tokyo). We rode "Star Tours", and I can't explain to you how strange it was to hear C3PO speaking Japanese, and then hearing our robot captain doing his best Pee-Wee Herman impression in Japanese. It's a good thing I've been on that ride before in America, otherwise, I would have had no idea what was being said. Poor Sarah--she's never been on the ride before, AND she's never seen "Star Wars"--so I think she was pretty lost.

For some odd reason, we did not see ONE single Princess in the park (other than millions of little girls dressed as Snow White, not just the adorable one we sat by for the parade). We saw many characters, but never a bonafide Princess. We did see them in the parade, but not walking around the park. The language barrier prevented us from getting concrete information about when and where specific characters would be. However, I was able to find lots of characters who I'd never seen out and about before. Characters like Robin Hood and King John (from "Robin Hood"), and Scrooge McDuck.

It was an awesome day. We rode all the rides we wanted to, some more than once, and we caught the 25th Anniversary Parade, titled "Jubilation". We watched the "Country Bear Jamboree"...where the songs were in English, but the dialogue was in Japanese. So strange. I had no idea what was happening. We watched the Electrical Parade, complete with all new floats I'd never seen before (like a "Monsters, Inc." float and 2 "Toy Story" floats), and we watched an abismal fireworks show that makes Knotts Berry Farm seem on the cutting edge.

The fireworks were shot from Critter Country, which in Tokyo is behind and to the left of the castle. This means that the fireworks didn't even shoot from behind the castle; they were off to the left. What makes Disneyland's fireworks so amazing, other than the beauty of the music and the spectacular precision (which Tokyo missed on both counts), is the fact that they appear to shoot directly behind the castle, sometimes shooting directly off the castle and around where you're standing. Also, they last longer than 10 minutes. The music that played along with the fireworks in Tokyo lasted under 7 minutes; and it was 2 different songs. I can't explain how bizarre it was to watch a Disney fireworks show and not get chills. Oh well.

After the horrible fireworks, we still had about an hour until the park closed. We hadn't yet visited Buzz Lightyear and his Astro Blasters (one cool ride if you've never been); so we hit that. It was awesome, as always. That's where I caught Buzz Lightyear speaking Japanese.

On Tuesday, we spent the entire day (10 a.m.-10 p.m.) at Tokyo Disney SEA, the neighboring park. This park opened in 2001. It was indescribable. It was vast and all new. When I walk around Disneyland/the Magic Kingdom (either in Tokyo, Florida, or California), there is always a comfortable familiarity. Even though I may never have set foot in the park, I still know where things are; because the basic layout is etched in my brain. But Tokyo Disney SEA was something entirely new.

Tokyo Disney SEA has an Indiana Jones ride. I didn't know how similar it would be, if at all, to the ride I originally worked on at Disneyland in California. Well, after we quickly got a Fastpass for "Tower of Terror", Indy was the first thing we rode. It was incredible. It is the same basic layout and identical track as Indy at Disneyland...but the theme of the ride is different, and many of the effects are different. I was so surprised, and pleasantly so. It was such a cool ride...though Indiana Jones spoke Japanese (hilarious). We subsequently rode the ride 2 more times throughout the day. It was definitely my favorite of the trip. Instead of being "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye" like at Disneyland, it's called "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull", similar in title to the upcoming FOURTH movie installment, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". I took many, many pictures, as Patrice and Sarah could both attest.
This is from the Indy cue--this is the Crystal Skull you see throughout the ride--

Me with an Indy cast member (to think, I used to don a costume VERY similar to this)--Instead of a castle (or giant golf ball, or magical Mickey hat, or giant Tree) at its center, this park has a giant volcano--which looks entirely too real. But then again, that's Disney at its best. Throughout the day, smoke could be seen eminating from the tip of the volcano. Without going into too much detail, the park is divided into several different areas, like every Disney park. While we waited to get into the park we made our plan of attack. Fortunately, this park was significantly less crowded than Disneyland the previous day.

A panorama of the volcano and the pirate ship and some of the harbor--

In the afternoon, we watched their version of a parade, which took place in their harbor, called "The Legend of Mythica" (their harbor is called Mediterranean Harbor, as all that's around it is very Greek and Roman, etc.). Mickey spoke in Japanese again, and we were left confused. It was a very cool water show...albeit a little bizarre, as it was all sort of non-Disney like. Yes, Goofy and Pluto and Donald came out of the big floats they had--but the floats had giant imaginary animals like a phoenix and a unicorn. Strange. But, after all, the show was called "The Legend of Mythica". You could say that Tokyo Disney SEA is like the California Adventure of Tokyo...where things aren't quite Disney. But it was a neat show, with excellent music. I bought the CD later that day. I found out the music was composed by Alan Silvestri (who scored "Back to the Future" and "Forrest Gump" among many others). Very cool.

A vertical panorama of our spot for the "Legend of Mythica" show--

The Legend of Mythica show--

Over the course of the two days spent at the Disney parks, it was most interesting to see what things were in English, what things were in Japanese, and what things had a mixture of both languages. For example, when we watched the "Little Mermaid" show at Tokyo Disney SEA, all the songs were sung in English (or lip-synced in English), but all the spoken dialogue was in Japanese. It was so strange, and I don't understand why it was like that. It was the only show we saw that had English subtitles available. EVERYTHING else we ever rode or watched left us basically clueless. Obviously all the Western cast members, specifically the face characters like Mary Poppins, etc., spoke English. But segments of the parades and fireworks were in English only, which I don't understand. It was a most confusing trip.

The volcano at sunset-- Sarah, Patrice, and me; volcano behind us--

We went to a delightful Mexican cantina for dinner. I haven't had any Mexican food since I arrived in Korea. Usually, when you have a hankering for Mexican food--you don't think "Korea". But it was the MOST DELICIOUS meal I've had in months (obviously I'm not counting my numerous bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats as meals). I had a fajita trio--steak, chicken, and shrimp. It was unbelievable.

Oh, and in case you aren't satisfied with the regular, butter popcorn that Disney serves in America...just travel to Tokyo Disneyland. You can get all kinds of popcorn. Honey popcorn. Strawberry popcorn. Black pepper popcorn. Sea salt popcorn. Cappucino popcorn. Caramel popcorn. Chocolate popcorn. Even CURRY popcorn is available. Who knew?

After dinner we found a good spot to watch the much-touted water and lights show--"BraviSEAmo". Get it? Because it's on the water...or sea...and we clap, and there is music...so bravo...hmm. I'm sure you get it. Anyway, this show is like their version of "Fantasmic", just in Japanese, and a completely different subject. For this show, only Mickey came out at the beginning and said stuff in Japanese...again, hilarious. Then he left and the main show began. The music was amazing; I had already purchased the CD earlier in the day, knowing full well I'd probably love it. It was a very strange show, and anything that was said was spoken in Japanese; but most of the show was simply musical, which is often called "the universal language". Or is that love? I don't know. Whatever. Anyway, the show is beautiful and I enjoyed it very much. During the show, the volcano gets angry and there are several large explosions of fire. It's so amazing...knowing that the volcano IS NOT REALLY A VOLCANO. Disney knows what it's doing. It was great. After the show, I think we rode the "Tower of Terror" once again, and eventually went back to the hotel. Our Tokyo Disney adventures were over.

Mediterranean Harbor; this was the view from our spot as we waited for BraviSEAmo!--
A nighttime panorama of our view from our BraviSEAmo! spot (volcano is on the Left)--
Up close of the volcano at night--
BraviSEAmo! (basically the show is about fire vs. water)--

Before leaving Tokyo Disney SEA, I took this--
But perhaps the most amazing thing about the ENTIRE trip--literally--was the fact that there was a Wendy's Hamburgers restaurant near our hotel. Folks, Burger King has great hamburgers, and they are all over Korea, for which I'm truly thankful--but I haven't had a Wendy's hamburger in many moons. Not to mention, a Frosty! It was our first night in Tokyo, we were on our bus from the airport; almost at our hotel, when Sarah saw the Wendy's. I nearly peed myself, and Sarah punched an old Japanese woman in the face. I'm sure Patrice thought we were insane (because she can ultimately have Wendy's whenever she wants; which of course she doesn't, because she lives in California--and why get a burger at Wendy's when you have IN-N-OUT BURGER!!!!!)--but it's SO hard to find a good hamburger in Korea. If you go to TGI Friday's or Outback Steakhouse (both of which are in Korea), the hamburgers are good--but they cost about $13. Korea is not known for it's cows, you see. Anyway, once we arrived at our hotel, checked in, purchased our Disney tickets, and Sarah apologized for punching the lady (of course, I'm joking about that); we walked to Wendy's for dinner. I ate entirely too much--but it was so enjoyable. Of course, I ate a Frosty afterwards. Whoever said I wouldn't be able to eat in Asia was SO wrong. =) Anyway, on our last day, before taking the airport bus from the hotel back to the airport, we once again had Wendy's. I didn't eat as much, which was good, but I did have another Frosty. The pictures are precious.

Delightful trip, I'd say.

Well, sayonara (that's goodbye in Japanese). Cyanide (that's goodbye in any language).