Friday, June 19

On Friday I visited the Seoul Arts Center. Unfortunately, I got off at the wrong subway stop and took forever to find my bearings on foot. I ended up walking several miles before I found it.

arts center rooftop

The Arts Center consists of several music and visual art exhibition halls. I was able to walk around the modern art exhibits, but missed the calligraphy museum due to closing time. The art museum was really cool. I got in for free because they were having a special event. There were a lot of people setting up artwork, so I think I may have accidentally snuck in when I wasn't supposed to. Outside the exhibit a jazz trip was playing. I watched them for a few minutes and then made my way back to Beomgye.

artwork

That night I had dinner with Chris, Laura, their friends from work, and a new teacher at their school who had just gotten into town. We went to a bar and then noraebang, which turned out to be a wild night. I had a lot of fun, but drank way too much!

some Chinese noodles we had for lunch

me in a park after lunch

Thursday, June 18

Thursday I took a tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. I had no idea that relations between the two were as actively hostile as they are. When the bus got to the UN military base, we were given a long safety briefing by an American soldier. He would be our guide for the actual DMZ part of the tour.

The military demarcation line runs coast to coast, indicating the boundary between the two nations. The demilitarized zone extends 2000m north and south of the MDL. This is the area where troops are not allowed to move in order to preserve the ceasefire.

The South Korean side has 3 lines of defense: anti-tank walls, land mines, and I believe the third was the base itself. It includes a fence that runs along the entire MDL. They place white stones every few feet or so. This is a simple measure to detect if the fence has been tampered with. The stones are wedge-shaped and will fall out if disturbed. Beyond the fence is a vast minefield. It was disconcerting to be 10 feet from a fence that had danger warnings threatening immenint explosive death.

One of the prominent features of the DMZ, other than thriving wildlife, are the dueling propaganda villages that lie inside. I don't recall their Korean names, but the Americans call the South Korean one "Freedom Village" and the North Korean one "Propaganda Village." Apparently, Freedom Village was around since before the armistice, and they decided to subsidize the residents instead of kicking them out. They pay no taxes, have far more land per-individual than a typical Korean farmer, and schools with a high teacher to student ratio. They fly a big South Korean flag visible from North Korea. Propaganda Village is a large group of fake buildings with no backsides, like you would find on a movie set (so we were told). They fly a higher and much bigger flag than South Korea, which gets bigger and higher every time the South Korean flag does. Now the North Korean flag is the largest flag in the world, requiring imbedded metal cables to keep it from tearing itself apart. This makes it too heavy to blow in the wind. It is like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, which would be funny if it wasn't so scary. From an observation point, in the distance we could see the jamming tower North Korea uses to block all South Korean TV and radio broadcasts.

DMZ with "Propaganda Village" in the background

The tour took us right to the building where the armistice was signed. The MDL splits the building right down the middle. Other buildings are similarly split, some controlled by South Korea, some by North Korea. Before going in, we could see North Korean soldiers staring at us as South Korea soldiers stare back at them with willed intimidation. The American soldiers refer to North Korean soldiers as "the enemy" without hesitation, and it seems eerily justified. Being there makes the peace seem very precarious. Inside the armistice room, tourists could cross to the North Korean side for kicks. Technically, I can say I set foot in North Korea.

I am in North Korea taking this picture. Sort of.

On the way back we could see where soldiers were killed when, in the '80s, a Russian citizen on a North Korean tour defected unexpectedly on foot. He was pursued across the MDL by N. Korean soldiers, and a firefight ensued. Farther down the road was the sight of the hatchet incident where UN soldiers were killed trying to cut down a poplar tree near their guard post. It was a spontaneous territorial dispute in the '70s, only the three UN personnel had no idea they were going to be attacked and murdered for it. Finally, we saw the bridge of no return where the prisoner exchange took place after the ceasefire.

The bridge of no return.

After leaving the military base, we were taken to one of the tunnels North Korea dugas part of a failed sneak attack post-ceasefire. When discovered, the N. Koreans attempted to smear the walls with coal dust and claim it as an abandoned coal mine. They failed to realize the only thing down there was granite with no trace of coal. the tour guide informed us that it was now a gold mine, as tourists spend a lot of money to see it.

I enjoyed the tour and had the privilege of meeting a woman named Helen from London. The day was more entertaining with company and conversation. She was in Korea visiting her sister. Incidentally, I would run into her again on Sunday at the Seoul horse race track.

Wednesday, June 17

On Wednesday I visited Namsangol Hanok Village. It is a mock village with architecture from the same period as the palace I visited on Monday. It turns out I was the only person who showed up for the English tour, so I had a one on one tour with the guide. He liked to chat, and was enthusiastic enough about the subject to have volunteered as a guide. We went over a brief summary of Korea's history, from the Three Kingdoms to modern day.

The day turned out to be very interesting, and I think my guide appreciated the more conversational approach to the tour. We were even joined by the information desk lady when she got off work. I think she may have also been a volunteer guide.

The guide at Namsangol Hanok Village. Thanks for a great tour!

After the historic village, it was already 5:00. The other two things I wanted to do required me to figure out a bus route, so I decided to only do the one the bus came to first and not risk missing both. Thus, I ended up visiting N. Seoul Tower and not the cartoon museum.

The bus stop of no return.

The tower was pretty cool, except they charge you 7000 won just to ride the elevator up there. At the base of the tower there were some dancers performing. They wore hats with long streamers ad played drums and cymbals. Part of the skill of the dance appeared to be keeping the hat streamers rotating at all times.

At the top of the tower I found a majestic view of the city, or what you could see through the half fog, half smog. I stayed up there and wrote a journal entry. For 7000 won, I wasn't going to just pop up and take a peek!

Tuesday, June 16

Tuesday started with a trip to the sculpture park with C&L. Don't ask me where it is, because I failed to note that. But do ask me how it was, because it was fantastic! My favorites were the thin statues that played with your sense of perspective. There was also a nice observation tower to climb.

thin statue

how can it exist???


mind bending


yes, it is the same statue... and mega cool


the observation tower


Are these people on the tower cell phone models?


Chris and I reenacted the mirror scene from Enter the Dragon in this sculpture.

kooky

a recycler's dream home


kangashark! there is no escape!

nothing to see here, folks


we lost Laura and thought she had turned into one of these statues

I wonder what lives in these hives...

...giant metal ants!


we had duck for lunch


and these were the best bean sprouts ever tasted by man

My mission for the day was to visit Namdaemun market. To be honest, I didn't really care for it too much. It was neat to see the hustle and bustle. However, the shops and vendors were for the most part uninteresting. Right next to one vendor hawking cheap, mass-produced crap, there would be 5 more selling the exact same stuff. It wasn't all bad, just mostly bad. I ended up buying some honey candy, bean paste dumplings (thinking they were pork), and some metal chopsticks. The vendor at the cooking supply shop who sold me the chopsticks was very friendly, and respectfully not pushy. It was a good sell.

After the market, I went back to C&L's apartment to rest. I listened to some music and had a dumpling. At first I was pissed that I got the wrong kind of dumplings, but they turned out to be pretty delicious. After that I exercised a litte, took a shower, and then watched a pirated copy of Frost/Nixon. I really liked the movie. The fact that I enjoyed that more than the market probably says something about my personality.

At 10:00 I met C&L to hit Anyang station for dinner. We had this awesome dish called jjimdak. It was unlike anything else I ate in Korea. The dish is a meat stew in a brown sauce, rich and spicy. For desert, we went to a coffee and cake cafe, where you order fancy coffee that comes with complimentary cake. It was a little girly. On the way home we passed the "Hip Hop Black Music Club." That one is probably difficult to explain without offending someone or everyone. And yes, that is a scene from Bad Boys II in the background of the Korean writing.