... continued from our previous post.
The DMZ was something that we were interested in seeing before even coming to Korea. The political and social effects that the Korean war and perpetual "cease-fire" have had on Korea as a whole are massive. After the recent artillery incident between North and South Korea, the tensions were high and many people back home were surprised that we were going so "close to North Korea."
We were not nearly as concerned and upon arriving here, have felt no tension or concern regarding the relationship between North and South Korea. We hoped that going and exploring the DMZ and hearing more about the history of this half a century old "conflict" would give us a greater understanding of the current situation.
When we left on the tour bus from the center of Seoul, our guide had filled us in on the history of the Korean conflict on the drive from Seoul, and we had seen guard posts the entire way along the river the bus had followed. Our first stop was a small amusement park near one of the main bridges into the DMZ. We had a bathroom break, got some munchies, and snapped photos of some of the more interesting sites. The coolest thing was a large "peace bell" made from melted down weapons used during the Korean war.
After this, we crossed a checkpoint into the DMZ and headed for one of the North Korean tunnels that had been thwarted during the 70s. The tunnel we were able to see was tunnel 3. Before seeing the tunnel, we saw a short video in the "visitors" center that discussed the conflict, the tunnels, and how they had been found. To those of you that do not know, these tunnels were attempts by the North Koreans to burrow under the DMZ, and come up out of the ground somewhere near Seoul, enabling them to bring in troops and tanks behind the South Korean defences. The North Korean's have claimed that 20 tunnels were started, however the South Koreans have only found 4. Each of the four tunnels found have started from different points along the DMZ. One was within 50 km of Seoul, another was over 150 km from Seoul.
Here is a google link to an article if you want to know more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Tunnel_of_Aggression
We walked down into the tunnel, which was a 400 m walk down an incline (we went down about 22 stories), and then a 250 m walk down a low tunnel (we both had to crouch the whole time). At the end we were met with a large concrete wall, one of 3 that had small windows and a heavy steel door. Instead of completely filling the tunnels, South Koreans have decide to block them with barricades. It was confusing to us but hey, what can we say? There were no pictures allowed in the tunnel although a google search will reveal some from inside the tunnel.
http://www.google.co.kr/search?q=DMZ+tunnel+3&hl=ko&lr=&newwindow=1&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=b-6zTbnSJZHyvQPt99CJBw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CAQQ_AUoAQ&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
After seeing the DMZ tunnel, we went to a large lookout on top of a hill. From this vantage point, we could see the DMZ, the river, the fences, and much of North Korea. We could also see the extremely large flag that North Korea had constructed. Apparently the North and South had had an ongoing contest to see who could construct the largest flag pole within site of eachother's borders. It had gone back and forth a number of times until South Korea built a 100m flag pole and North Korea decided to top that with a 160m flag pole. Apparently this had held a Guiness record for tallest flag pole in the world but it has since been broken we believe. We also found out that South Korea flag flutters in the wind regularly since it is large but weights only 30 or 40 kg, however the North Korean flag is almost continuously limp because it weights a staggering 250 kilograms. Interesting.
We weren't able to get great photos from this lookout because there was a "no photos" line about 15 feet back from the edge, however I did my best and we may post some.
After coming down off the hill, our bus headed for the last train station on the newly constructed rail line that connects North and South Korea. We learned that although no trains have yet passed along the line, there are massive warehouses, a complete station, and all the facilities required to support cross border traffic, in preparation for the opening of the rail line between North and South Korea. This was an expensive move by the South Koreans, but a very optimistic one! We were able to buy "souvenir" tickets and walk the passenger platforms along the rail line. Sadly all the train traffic signals were red. Perhaps some day we will see green signals on the track!
This rail line is intended to connect to the main chinese lines, and in to the trans-siberian rail line that connects East Asia to Europe. It would indeed be an historic day when the station becomes operational. South Korea would longer be a country that relies solely upon air and water transportation.
After these sights, our bus headed back to Seoul. They dropped us at a large Amethyst factory that was purely a tourist money trap and we opted to ignore the "tour" and skip the "buy these big purple stones" segment. There were more interesting things to see and better ways to spend our money.
We hooked up with our group (Lewis and his cohort) and the bus finally dropped us in Itaewon. We all decided that Thai food was the way to go and it was delicious, although not as fantastic as the Mexican we had the day before! I got a chicken green curry, my favourite, and Nicole got the Pad Thai. Delicious!
Finally, after dinner, we set off for the Seoul subway with Lewis and two of his friends. Two trains and 4 stops later we were at Seoul station. After being worried about actually getting a train back to Daejeon (they're often very busy on a Sunday evening), we walked up to an automated machine and attempted to get 3 tickets on the fast train (KTX) back to Daejeon. There were plenty of tickets available and we only paid 20 bucks each, which is a good price for the high speed train!
Note: The slow trains take about 2 hours, the high speed train less than 1. (about 300 km an hour on the highspeed) Slow trains run about 8 to 15 dollars, but are often standing room only coming back on a Sunday night. The KTX runs between 18 and 40 depending on backwards seat, standard seating, or first class, but there are most likely seats available.
We got back into Daejeon around 9 PM on Sunday and hopped on the tube back to Tanbangdong where we live. It was a wonderful, and exhausting weekend. We were able to see about 1% of Seoul, experience a Jimjilbang, see the DMZ, enjoy some delicious food, and celebrate Nicole's 26th in style!
Hope you enjoyed our update. More to come.
Cheers, lasting peace, and best wishes from the both of us.
Joe and Nicole
Sunday, April 24, 2011
New Kids!
Hello everybody!
So, as you may have noticed, Joe and I finally made it to a PC Bang to update our loyal friends and family and even post some photos! I posted a bunch on facebook, and I am going to try and add some to this blog, but we've been here 2 hours already so ... I am tired. But we will send an email with the links for none facebookers.
I see Joe has posted a rather long update about my birthday, so I will save you the troubles of reading another. I have not read it yet, but I am sure it is accurate! I believe Joe is also working on the DMZ one right now, so I will not extend my thoughts on that at the moment either!
Rather, I would like to introduce everyone to four new students I have in my kindergarten class! Thats right, my morning kindergarten class has now tripled in size, and I have a total of 6 kids. Still not many, but the increase has been a handful! Before I tell you about my new students, I should tell you about the loss of one student I had. As you may know, I had a total of 3 students, but unfortunetely, one was pulled by his mommy. Hyunseo, one of my boys, got into a rather nasty fight after school in his bus waiting room. The Teacher Assistant for the room was not present, and little Hyunseo picked a fight with some older 7 year olds. Needless to say, his mother was pissed and pulled Hyunseo from TILS. I do feel bad, but there really is nothing I could do about it, and it was not in my room!
Anyways, so now, all in the matter of two days, 4 new students joined me. They are all friends on Sean, one of my other kids. My older students were Sean and Jinsung, who are both 5 years old. The new kids are 4 and one is only 3!!! The little ones are extremely adorable, but also frusterating to teach haha. Well, they are not that bad, I just try and have fun with them.
I now have 3 new girls and 1 more boy. The girls are Olivia, Emily and Ariana. Beautiful names eh? They are all super cute and young. Ariana is only 3 (I think) and still wears diapers! She is the hardest to teach, and I feel like holds me back sometimes from teaching since she does not understand as much and has a much lower attention span. Also, she still is having trouble not being with her mom so she often crys in class. At this point, I have to just ignore her when she cries, otherwise she will just keep doing it. Olivia is shy, but she seems to comprehend a lot of class materials. She also is very well behaved, so I like her haha. Emily is so so cute. You will all see photos soon. Emily is very loving, and often wants hugs and will attach to my legs a lot and not let go. This is cute, but also annoying when I am in front of a class trying to get their attention! Justin is the new boy and is a little trouble maker. I will have to work with him. But he is also very smart and can speak very English very well for such a young child.
Anyways, that is my short classroom update! I've now had one full week with the newbies, so I am sure you will be hearing more about them. I am going to go back to working on the photos, but thanks for reading and hopefully I will be hearing from many of you soon!
Much love from Korea,
Nicole
xo
So, as you may have noticed, Joe and I finally made it to a PC Bang to update our loyal friends and family and even post some photos! I posted a bunch on facebook, and I am going to try and add some to this blog, but we've been here 2 hours already so ... I am tired. But we will send an email with the links for none facebookers.
I see Joe has posted a rather long update about my birthday, so I will save you the troubles of reading another. I have not read it yet, but I am sure it is accurate! I believe Joe is also working on the DMZ one right now, so I will not extend my thoughts on that at the moment either!
Rather, I would like to introduce everyone to four new students I have in my kindergarten class! Thats right, my morning kindergarten class has now tripled in size, and I have a total of 6 kids. Still not many, but the increase has been a handful! Before I tell you about my new students, I should tell you about the loss of one student I had. As you may know, I had a total of 3 students, but unfortunetely, one was pulled by his mommy. Hyunseo, one of my boys, got into a rather nasty fight after school in his bus waiting room. The Teacher Assistant for the room was not present, and little Hyunseo picked a fight with some older 7 year olds. Needless to say, his mother was pissed and pulled Hyunseo from TILS. I do feel bad, but there really is nothing I could do about it, and it was not in my room!
Anyways, so now, all in the matter of two days, 4 new students joined me. They are all friends on Sean, one of my other kids. My older students were Sean and Jinsung, who are both 5 years old. The new kids are 4 and one is only 3!!! The little ones are extremely adorable, but also frusterating to teach haha. Well, they are not that bad, I just try and have fun with them.
I now have 3 new girls and 1 more boy. The girls are Olivia, Emily and Ariana. Beautiful names eh? They are all super cute and young. Ariana is only 3 (I think) and still wears diapers! She is the hardest to teach, and I feel like holds me back sometimes from teaching since she does not understand as much and has a much lower attention span. Also, she still is having trouble not being with her mom so she often crys in class. At this point, I have to just ignore her when she cries, otherwise she will just keep doing it. Olivia is shy, but she seems to comprehend a lot of class materials. She also is very well behaved, so I like her haha. Emily is so so cute. You will all see photos soon. Emily is very loving, and often wants hugs and will attach to my legs a lot and not let go. This is cute, but also annoying when I am in front of a class trying to get their attention! Justin is the new boy and is a little trouble maker. I will have to work with him. But he is also very smart and can speak very English very well for such a young child.
Anyways, that is my short classroom update! I've now had one full week with the newbies, so I am sure you will be hearing more about them. I am going to go back to working on the photos, but thanks for reading and hopefully I will be hearing from many of you soon!
Much love from Korea,
Nicole
xo
We Got Seoul
Hello All,
So it's been a while since we blogged from South Korea. Still no internet at the abode so we are sitting in a PC Bang again, uploading photos and giving everyone back home an idea of what's been going on the past few weeks.
We've gotten around Daejeon a bit more, but we can save that for another blog. The most exciting thing we did lately was celebrate Nicole's birthday in Seoul on April 16th, and take a trip to the DMZ (de-militarized zone) between North and South Korea.
The weekend started with our first Daejeon subway trip to Daejeon Main Station where we met up with the other teachers from our school that were heading to Seoul. We met with Raymond and Chien (who were also heading to Seoul to meet Raymond's sister Megan who was going to be in town for a day), and Jordan and Amanda. Then we got some food and hopped on the next available slow train to Seoul. An hour and 50 minutes later we were rolling in the sprawling metropolis that is Seoul.
It's hard to grasp how large this city is. There did not appear to be a "downtown" or an epicenter where all the skyscrapers were. It looked more like 10 or so smaller cities that had grown together. The horizon was covered with sprawling neighbourhoods, hills, bridges, rivers, and the odd skycraper jutted into the air in every direction. Our train brought us right to the center of Seoul at Seoul Main Station.
We all hopped in a cab and went straight to Itaewon. This is the "foreigner" district of Seoul because a large American military base is located in this part of the city. The first thing we did was grabsome grub. Jordan had recommended a nice Mexican restaurant and since we were all craving something other than our normal Korea fare, we were quick to agree. A street sidetable became our banquet hall as we all ordered something different. After a wait that seemed far too long, the table was soon filled with burritos, quesadillas, tacos, enchilladas, and copious amounts of guacamole. This was some of the best Mexican food some of us had ever had! I thoroughly enjoyed my beef burrito, with it's layers of rice, bean, beef, spices, and cilantro. Rarely am I filled after a meal, and after this goliath I found it difficult to stand.
We all concurred that the food had been excellent, and walked about 100 feet before we all decided that we had gone far enough. Looking up, we saw a pub called Geckos and meandoured up the stairs into the large common room. Grabbing a table for 8 we soon made ourselves at home for what was sure to be a "long" evening.
What followed was a celebration of life that will not soon be equalled. Photos should soon be available (via facebook or this blog) that may shed light on the festivities, but for now I will keep the description short. We had a lot of fun, and spent a fair amount of money.
After Geckos, we all strolled down the Itaewon strip to a Korean BBQ restaurant that was quite delicious. The workers were friendly as they normally are, and we all enjoyed the common Korean practice of mixing food with alcohol, even late into the evening.
When we left the restaurant, a debate ensued on where to go next. It was around 11:30 or 12 and the options were plenty. Eventually we all found ourselves walking into the basement of a Norabang (singing room) for some group Kareoke. The singing and merry making lasted well into the night and around 2:15, after Bohemian Rhapsody and What A Feeling, we filtered out into the street. Everyone headed their separate ways and Nicole and I chose to head to a Jimjilbang (to be described later) with Lewis and his friends (Lewis is a teacher at our school).
A Jimjilbang is kind of the Korean version of a hostel. A backpacker's dream (unless your squeemish), Jimjilbang's are inexpensive ways to sleep the night away in and around East Asia. What follows is a step by step account of the Jimjilbang process:
1) Walk in front door, go to window, and pay 12000 Won (about $11, which is the most you'll ever pay for a Jimjilbang)
2) Receive a receipt, and a set of clothes (heavy but breathable t-shirt and capris pants)
3) Walk into change room area, take off shoes at door, put shoes in locker, and give locker key to attendant
4) Receive a second locker key from attendant for your clothes, and proceed to get naked (public nudity was what my squeemish remark above related to)
5) Stroll downstairs, in the buff, into the common shower, hot tub, massage, etc. area where you relax and rejuvenate your tired body with an assortment of different hot baths
6) Get ready for bed after your shower with a common bathroom filled with fresh towels, q-tips, hair dryers, combs, weight scales, etc.
7) Wander upstairs into the multi-level complex and find a place to sleep
8) Realize there are a million places to sleep, but there are no beds
9) Find a place with a small square pillow on the hard ground
When the morning finally came, Nicole and I were both rested (almost) and had experienced a very common Asian custom. It is common for Korean's to spend a day at a Jimjilbang just enjoying the hot baths and massages that are available.
We then left the Jimjilbang with Lewis and his friends, and we were on our way to Seoul City Hall to find our tour bus and proceed to the DMZ. We will put this in a different blog, since this one is steadily growing into a mini-novel. Hope you have all enjoyed the relayed experience... actually doing it was a blast for us!
Bye for now,
Joe
So it's been a while since we blogged from South Korea. Still no internet at the abode so we are sitting in a PC Bang again, uploading photos and giving everyone back home an idea of what's been going on the past few weeks.
We've gotten around Daejeon a bit more, but we can save that for another blog. The most exciting thing we did lately was celebrate Nicole's birthday in Seoul on April 16th, and take a trip to the DMZ (de-militarized zone) between North and South Korea.
The weekend started with our first Daejeon subway trip to Daejeon Main Station where we met up with the other teachers from our school that were heading to Seoul. We met with Raymond and Chien (who were also heading to Seoul to meet Raymond's sister Megan who was going to be in town for a day), and Jordan and Amanda. Then we got some food and hopped on the next available slow train to Seoul. An hour and 50 minutes later we were rolling in the sprawling metropolis that is Seoul.
It's hard to grasp how large this city is. There did not appear to be a "downtown" or an epicenter where all the skyscrapers were. It looked more like 10 or so smaller cities that had grown together. The horizon was covered with sprawling neighbourhoods, hills, bridges, rivers, and the odd skycraper jutted into the air in every direction. Our train brought us right to the center of Seoul at Seoul Main Station.
We all hopped in a cab and went straight to Itaewon. This is the "foreigner" district of Seoul because a large American military base is located in this part of the city. The first thing we did was grabsome grub. Jordan had recommended a nice Mexican restaurant and since we were all craving something other than our normal Korea fare, we were quick to agree. A street sidetable became our banquet hall as we all ordered something different. After a wait that seemed far too long, the table was soon filled with burritos, quesadillas, tacos, enchilladas, and copious amounts of guacamole. This was some of the best Mexican food some of us had ever had! I thoroughly enjoyed my beef burrito, with it's layers of rice, bean, beef, spices, and cilantro. Rarely am I filled after a meal, and after this goliath I found it difficult to stand.
We all concurred that the food had been excellent, and walked about 100 feet before we all decided that we had gone far enough. Looking up, we saw a pub called Geckos and meandoured up the stairs into the large common room. Grabbing a table for 8 we soon made ourselves at home for what was sure to be a "long" evening.
What followed was a celebration of life that will not soon be equalled. Photos should soon be available (via facebook or this blog) that may shed light on the festivities, but for now I will keep the description short. We had a lot of fun, and spent a fair amount of money.
After Geckos, we all strolled down the Itaewon strip to a Korean BBQ restaurant that was quite delicious. The workers were friendly as they normally are, and we all enjoyed the common Korean practice of mixing food with alcohol, even late into the evening.
When we left the restaurant, a debate ensued on where to go next. It was around 11:30 or 12 and the options were plenty. Eventually we all found ourselves walking into the basement of a Norabang (singing room) for some group Kareoke. The singing and merry making lasted well into the night and around 2:15, after Bohemian Rhapsody and What A Feeling, we filtered out into the street. Everyone headed their separate ways and Nicole and I chose to head to a Jimjilbang (to be described later) with Lewis and his friends (Lewis is a teacher at our school).
A Jimjilbang is kind of the Korean version of a hostel. A backpacker's dream (unless your squeemish), Jimjilbang's are inexpensive ways to sleep the night away in and around East Asia. What follows is a step by step account of the Jimjilbang process:
1) Walk in front door, go to window, and pay 12000 Won (about $11, which is the most you'll ever pay for a Jimjilbang)
2) Receive a receipt, and a set of clothes (heavy but breathable t-shirt and capris pants)
3) Walk into change room area, take off shoes at door, put shoes in locker, and give locker key to attendant
4) Receive a second locker key from attendant for your clothes, and proceed to get naked (public nudity was what my squeemish remark above related to)
5) Stroll downstairs, in the buff, into the common shower, hot tub, massage, etc. area where you relax and rejuvenate your tired body with an assortment of different hot baths
6) Get ready for bed after your shower with a common bathroom filled with fresh towels, q-tips, hair dryers, combs, weight scales, etc.
7) Wander upstairs into the multi-level complex and find a place to sleep
8) Realize there are a million places to sleep, but there are no beds
9) Find a place with a small square pillow on the hard ground
When the morning finally came, Nicole and I were both rested (almost) and had experienced a very common Asian custom. It is common for Korean's to spend a day at a Jimjilbang just enjoying the hot baths and massages that are available.
We then left the Jimjilbang with Lewis and his friends, and we were on our way to Seoul City Hall to find our tour bus and proceed to the DMZ. We will put this in a different blog, since this one is steadily growing into a mini-novel. Hope you have all enjoyed the relayed experience... actually doing it was a blast for us!
Bye for now,
Joe
Friday, April 8, 2011
A Moment with Joe
Morning all,
So I've been sick with a bad cold for the past week but since it's extremely difficult to miss a day of work in South Korea I've been teaching, teaching, teaching and trying to recuperate in the evenings. Thera-Flu, Fisherman's Friend (brought from Canada), Airborne Vitamin supplement, and numerous teas, have seen me through this rough week.
Yesterday we had heavy rain for the first time and many Koreans were very "paranoid" about it being radioactive. We have done a little research and it would appear as though there is no danger from radiation, however we all brought umbrellas and some kids stayed home from school so that was a little interesting!
Last weekend Nicole and I (but just me since she is vegetarian) experienced our first Korean "fried chicken place" consisting of a platter of fried chicken pieces (1 entire chicken) for 12 bucks and 2.50 beers. There were a range of hot sauces, from mild to melt your intestines, and all were delicious. After 2 chickens (split between 6 people), a dried squid, some crunchables, and a copious amount of beer, we all cabbed home. The entire night cost Nicole and I $40 which was a wonderful change from a Canadian night out.
We both also got our first month's pay so ... YES!!! We can now live and enjoy ourselves in this fine country without drawing on funds from back home. Soooo ... that means more adventures are soon to come, as well as more blogs. Hopefully we'll have internet soon! Then we shall be connected. For now...
Cheerio!
Joe
So I've been sick with a bad cold for the past week but since it's extremely difficult to miss a day of work in South Korea I've been teaching, teaching, teaching and trying to recuperate in the evenings. Thera-Flu, Fisherman's Friend (brought from Canada), Airborne Vitamin supplement, and numerous teas, have seen me through this rough week.
Yesterday we had heavy rain for the first time and many Koreans were very "paranoid" about it being radioactive. We have done a little research and it would appear as though there is no danger from radiation, however we all brought umbrellas and some kids stayed home from school so that was a little interesting!
Last weekend Nicole and I (but just me since she is vegetarian) experienced our first Korean "fried chicken place" consisting of a platter of fried chicken pieces (1 entire chicken) for 12 bucks and 2.50 beers. There were a range of hot sauces, from mild to melt your intestines, and all were delicious. After 2 chickens (split between 6 people), a dried squid, some crunchables, and a copious amount of beer, we all cabbed home. The entire night cost Nicole and I $40 which was a wonderful change from a Canadian night out.
We both also got our first month's pay so ... YES!!! We can now live and enjoy ourselves in this fine country without drawing on funds from back home. Soooo ... that means more adventures are soon to come, as well as more blogs. Hopefully we'll have internet soon! Then we shall be connected. For now...
Cheerio!
Joe
Friday, April 1, 2011
Our New Outdoor Gym
Good Morning or Good Evening, whichever it is back there in Canada!
So Nicole and I just wanted to give another update on our activities over here in South Korea. We still do not have internet so the photos and more regular postings are not yet possible. This post will be about our second walk-about adventure through our neighbourhood in Tanban-Dong, Daejeon.
From the bus stop by our house we could see a large hill in the middle of the neighbourhood. From the first week we were here I had been interested in making a trek over to get a view of the city. We asked the teachers at school about this hill and our South African friend Fred told us it was most likely a large athletic complex that had walking paths and a sizable hill on the property.
When we headed over there last weekend, we found out that this was in fact the case. We approached the closest side of the hill and found a 45 degree stair case leading up about 80 steps. From there, we saw walk paths of hard packed earth and wood going in all directions.
For the next 2 hours we strolled these paths, looking at the new wildlife, finding a small temple-like structure at the top of the hill, and snapping photos of the surrounding city (through trees before the leafs start budding). We also found a large military tribute statue that was quite impressive (photos to come) as well as some "heritage" looking sites (piles of stones, and large builders on smaller stone legs). We had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day.
However, our greatest discovery came when we got to the center of the walking trails. We happened upon a large outdoor gym! There were chin up bars and numerous exercise machines. The place was filled with older Korean men and women doing slow repetitious exercise and strolling around the park. Now we know why all these people are so slim!!!
Nicole and I would like to get out to this exercise area more often and try to stay fit as well! I found out I can barely do 2 chin ups when I could do 25 in highschool... depressing. Nicole could do more than me!
Anyway, we ended the walk with a nice picnic of spicy tuna, crackers, cheese, apple and wine. It was a perfect afternoon with a perfect lady.
That's enough about our random walk. The next blog may be about the pink love seat we found on the side of the road walking home, and decided to carry 8 blocks back to our house. Yes, this is how shopping for furniture works for a teacher in Korea.
Over and out,
Joe and Nicole
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