Fireworks and the DMZ

Saturday I went to Seoul. It is about a 3hr bus ride. When I got there I met up with friends and we somehow had saved a spot on a hillside of an island under a bridge for the fireworks festival. What a great view of the fireworks, but I have never seen so many people. The Seoul metropolitan area has over 25 million. That is not including tourists or guests.  Needless to say it was packed where ever you went. But the fireworks were amazing. There were four shows, and each show was 20 minutes. The four countries that participated were Itay, China, USA, and South Korea. So 80 minutes of fireworks with 4 grand finales. Wow I was never bored. Each one was better than the last one. With South Korea just blowing everyone out of the water, at one point there was what looked like the horizon or a horizontal line with just like a dam of fireworks while the show was going on. It was amazing. But my camera was dead so I had to steal pictures from fellow friends who were there.  

I can see North Korea from my house.

DMZ……… Take all your preconceived notions and throw them out the window. It is very safe, I didn’t see any North Koreans. Hell, you don’t even get to go in the actual DMZ. The real DMZ is a nature preserve filled with old landmines and there are no humans in it. We did a semi guided tour. First we went to Imjimgak which is a place with many statues and a small museum. We were there for only half an hour while the tour guide registered us. Everyone must be registered in order to go to the DMZ. There was a bridge there called the bridge of freedom that about 50 meters in was blocked off and you couldn’t go any farther. The Bridge of Freedom got its name when 13,000 war prisoners shouted “Hurray Freedom!” as they crossed the bridge returning home after the Armistice Agreement in 1953.

After a short stop for lunch we arrived at the 3^rd of 4 tunnels dug by the North Koreans under the DMZ. This was probably the coolest part. There was a museum explaining all the tunnels. The 3^rd tunnel is 240ft underground and roughly 6ftx6ft which after the scaffolding they put in it is even shorter. It is about 1 mile in length but we were able to go maybe ¼ mile into it before it was blocked off. There is nothing allowed down so I was not able to take a picture but I did happen to bend over and take a piece of rock. It is apparently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul from North Korea, and can easily accommodate 30,000 men per hour along with light weaponry.

Next was an observatory where you could look through the pay binoculars and see North Korea. There are two big cities that some think are fake and just propaganda so that we think they are living better than they really are. I am sure we all know that North Koreans have a horrible life. It was cool to be able to see building and mountains in a place that few people have seen and even less live in. You were only able to take any pictures from a certain point so you could not get a good picture but here are a few. You can pretty much just see the mountains.

The last part was a railroad. Where the train only comes once an hour, and for 50cents we could play on the train tracks till the train came. The significance of the tracks is that they are the last stop in the south. But the South Koreans and people associated with the DMZ want unification so the slogan for this stop is “Not the last station from the South, but the first station to the North.” If the track ever is able to be connected to the north you could travel from Busan( Southern South Korea) to the transatlantic railway to the trans-Siberian and take you deep into Europe. Overall I am glad I was able to have this opportunity. I guess it was even crazier because the day before a North Korean Solider shot 2 of his superior officers and defected into the South. The South didn’t shoot him, instead they just interrogated him and I can only assume that he will be able to live here. He must have desperately wanted to leave because the punishment for that is that his family will be killed for 3 generations. So that diffraction cost his family many lives.

Tuesday was sports day at school which I was told I didn’t need to go to. But come on its me, I love sports try stopping me. They had many games and relays all for fun, and the whole family was invited. Many parents and grandparents were there. I was asked by students, staff, and parents to participate in many events. It was really cool, my favorite had to be the first one where 4 kids sprinted about 20 yards and opened a piece of paper read a name had to find that person and finish the lap running with them. Well, when I was called I made sure that the kid and I didn’t lose. It was really fun; the parents were all taking photos as we ran by. There not used to seeing a foreigner interacting with their kids. One more was a relay race, but the baton was not small it was huge; it was like 4ft long and awkward to run with. There was the tug of war and many games that we had at ours as kids. Wednesday was a break though day climbing for me, I guy who is younger than most who have been helping me was my trainer for the day. And he took was able to explain to me how to use my legs. Sounds simple but it’s not there is a certain technique that I was not using at all. Once I was shown it I was able to climb the first route 3 times in a row. I had never done it twice in one session. I needed that for my motivation on climbing I felt I had hit a wall. And on Friday my friend Jake came I was able to do the explaining as he climbed the wall with what looked like ease. It was very good the Koreans were impressed with him and me for the teaching skills. They were probably more relived, that they didn’t have to try explaining it again but either way.

Saturday the Climbing team invited me to Seorak Mt. Which is another national park but it is considered the best mountain on the inland of South Korea. I knew about it and was excited. We got there and stayed at a motel then went there the next morning. I expected a long hike to an amazingly high peak. Well I was wrong, in the fact that we were not going to the biggest peak. Instead we went to UlsanBawi which is where some of the group was rock climbing (I am not to that level…yet). WOW Beautiful and a very difficult hike. The park was packed with people and there was basically a natural stairway to the base of the rock then a real stairway up the rock. It was the hardest climb I have ever done but at the top we hit 900 meters which is more than 2700 feet. The view was amazing and the wind was strong and cold, but totally worth it. On the way home we stopped by a traditional Korean country restaurant. Had more raw fish, and snail that was still in the shell. It was not raw but super difficult to pull out of the shell. All in all it was a lot of fun. This week I will be getting my hair cut and going on a cultural trip required by the program.