SOUTH KOREA

Over the "Golden Week" holidays in early May I took a five day trip to South Korea. Myself and four other English teachers who live in the Noto Peninsula went together and had a blast bouncing around Seoul. We spent the entire trip in very close quarters- from the four hour drive down to Osaka together in a Toyota Corolla to sharing a room full of bunk beds in our hostel. Our trip was full of ridiculous conversations, poking fun at each other, and getting up to some crazy adventures as we explored Korea for the first time.

Right after getting off the plane we were greeted by a welcome committee in the airport, who made us fans with our names in Korean calligraphy.

Day 1- Arrival in Seoul

We arrived in Seoul and checked into our hostel late on Friday afternoon. Upon arriving we met the young owner of our hostel who was very helpful and kind, albeit extremely high-strung and worried about doing everything perfectly. He sat down to talk to us and answer any questions we might have as well as give us recommendations on what to see in the area. He also inquired into what we wanted to eat for our first meal, which was BBQ.  As soon as we were ready he walked us to the area near our hostel that had all the BBQ restaurants and gave us a recommendation. So our first meal in South Korea was BBQ. Korean BBQ is a famous meal where you order your cuts of meat and they are brought to your table where you cook them on a grill built into your table. With every meal we ate in Korea we were served kimchi and other pickled side dishes. And of course everything was spicy!

Korean BBQ, grilled right at the table!

After eating our early dinner, we returned to the hostel to shower and get ready to hit the town. We left again and found an izakaya type place to have a few drinks and some more food. Everything was delicious, and the soju was incredibly cheap! Soju is the rice liquor of Korea, in a restaurant it is only about 3 dollars per bottle and at a convenience store it is only like a dollar and a half! What's more, this cheap liquor is quite potent, so with just a bit everyone is satisfied. 

Day 2: The DMZ

The next morning we woke up early enough to grab breakfast and take the subway to downtown Seoul where we caught our tour bus which took us on a day long trip to the demilitarized zone in between North and South Korea. On the way to the demilitarized zone, we drove on the highway that runs by the Hangang River which flows down from North Korea. On each side of the river there are high fences with razor wire and guard posts scattered along it as well watching in case North Korea sends scuba spies down the river.

Its funny that they call it "demilitarized" when in reality it couldn't be more militarized. The area has a military base and there are soldiers standing guard everywhere. Although there has been a ceasefire since the end of the Korean War, South Korea is in a constant state of defense and readiness in case North Korea chooses to invade. When our bus pulled up two soldiers came on board to check each person's passport, apparently people who are from communist countries are not allowed in all parts of the demilitarized zone. Also, when we left we again stopped at the checkpoint so the soldiers could count and verify that the same number of people that entered were leaving the DMZ. Many of the soldiers are currently still working on a several year project of clearing the landmines that remain in the demilitarized zone leftover from the War.

The tour took us to several spots in the area, the first being an observation point that looks over the river to North Korea. At all of the spots we were provided information about the history of the conflict, creation of the demilitarized zone, and South Korea's efforts to make peace. A North Korean defector accompanied us on the tour to share some of her story.

She was formerly a colonel in the North Korean army, but after 1994 when the leadership in North Korea changed she began rethinking her loyalty and planned to escape from North Korea. She waited over ten years before she was able to leave. Apparently one winter she bribed a border guard with three dollars and crossed the frozen river into China. She had to stay in China for one year working in a restaurant until she found passage through Southeast Asia and then finally arrived in South Korea. Her family, still waiting in North Korea, told the government that she had died in an accident. We were told North Korea does not use computer systems, rather they still rely on paper registries so it seems that it is very difficult for them to stay organized or really keep track of people efficiently.

Our view of North Korea, so close and yet so vastly different from the South

An incredibly dire picture of North Korea was painted for us. We were told about how the capitol, Pyongyang, has the people with money and is built up as an urban city but the rest of North Korea is desolate and poor. There is an incredible amount of deforestation, even looking across the river we could see that the mountains rarely had a tree on them. Outside of the capitol the country is made of poor communities that attempt to farm the infertile soil. Also, the people are forced to farm and give up their crops to the government and are not allowed a share to sustain themselves. So after working on the farms for the government all day they have to have extra jobs or sell other items on their own to sustain their own families. Also, in schools the children are taught about the rise of the current regime and taught to revere it in a seemingly religious manner. It is required for every home and every school to have pictures of  Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung hanging up. Every morning the children have to show their respect to the picture.

Tryin' to be devout little North Korean students as Kira lays down the law...

But it was too much, we had to laugh!

After signing the Sunshine Policy with North Korea in , South Korea built factories and a railroad intended to connect the two countries, however North Korea failed to continue the railway on their side of the border. So one of our stops on the tour was Dorasan Station, the last railway station. It is a beautiful station, but it only receives a train twice a day and is hardly used. Some people that do use it are actually employed at a factory on the Northern side of the border- one of the factories that was supposed to use the cooperation of the two states. The factory is primarily operated by North Koreans, but the engineers and any other personnel with higher education come from South Korea. During our tour we were flooded with a picture of how the South Koreans tried to cooperate, and maintain their side of agreements but the North is flaky and breaks promises.

The "Last Station," before the railroad crosses over into North Korea, where they failed to build stations to hold up their end of the deal.

The bridge to North Korea, boarded over due to the North Koreans lack of cooperation

One of the most interesting stops was the Invasion Tunnels. North Korea dug several tunnels under the border clearly with the intent to invade Seoul, obvious since each tunnel points in a direct path to the city. Four of these tunnels have been discovered by South Korea, although a defector has said there are more. With the help of a North Korean defector, South Korea began discovering the tunnels in the late 90's so the North Koreans had to halt their operations. They retreated and built concrete walls to block them and claimed that the tunnels were made to search for coal. They even used coal paint on the walls of the tunnels as a disguise, however coal is not found in that area at all....

Now one of the tunnels is open so visitors can go down into it. So of course, our little party donned safety hats and ran on down! The tunnels are 73 meters underground and the length extends 800 meters past the boundary line between the North and South! After discovering the tunnels, the South Koreans built three concrete walls to block the North Koreans in case they intended to reopen them. But even at the first blockade (the furthest we could go) we were just 170 meters from the border with North Korea!

A huge park with manicured lawns, rides and small shops, right next to the border with North Korea, such a surreal contrast.

Halfway through the day, the five of us really demonstrated just how much Japanese culture has gotten to us by our inability to ignore directions. In fact, we upset a whole bus full of tourists by our adamance to follow directions! Before going to the tunnels, our tour group was scheduled to join a larger tour group and take one big bus with everyone together. So our tour guide specifically instructed us to sit in the first 14 seats of the bus so that he could keep track of everyone on his tour. The five of us were the last to board before take-off to the tunnels, but upon climbing into the bus we found that all of the front seats were full. Rather than going to the back of the bus to sit down in open seats (like everyone else in our tour had done, after the larger tour took up the front seats) we paused in the aisle confused about what to do.

Our tour guide followed us in and immediately recognized the mistake and jumped back out to get the other tour guide officials who had managed the other groups. Soon a couple more tour officials came on the bus to ask the tourists to correct the seating arrangements. So all the tourists from our group had to get up and come to the front, while the other tour groups had to get up and take seats in the back. After a few minutes of shuffling and grumbling among the other tourists, the seating arrangements were righted and the five of us sat down in the very front seats, just like we were instructed to. After watching (and being the catalyst for!) this debacle, the five of us laughed at ourselves and realized that if we had come straight from America we would have taken no notice and sat in any open seats. However we have become so influenced by Japanese culture that we now cannot ignore directions we are given!

Day 3: Sightseeing in the city!

This day was our first full free day in Seoul, so after eating our free breakfast we set off for some sightseeing!

We started with Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was built 600 years ago and was the first palace of the Chusen Dynasty. We spent a several hours walking around the palace- it was so big!

The strip downtown, you can see four attractions laid out in a line- the statue, the golden monument, the Palace, and the mountain looming in the background. 

Main gate to the palace

Palace Guard

Beautiful detail on the roofs

Entering through the gate

The first courtyard inside the main walls of the palace

Changing of the guard reenactment

Main Palace building, one of so many buildings housed within the palace walls

The king's receiving room

Outdoor palace corridors

After spending so long at this one palace, the five of us were tired and starving, so we went on an exasperated search for food until we found a nice restaurant where we blindly ordered some promising things off the menu and were surprised to find that we had selected a gorgeous nabe meal.

Hoettek- the best street food ever. Kind of like a donut with a sweet, spicy, nut filling.

Our last activity for the day was to make a trip to the one and only Gangam, an area of Seoul recently made famous by a Korean pop star who sang a song called "Gangam Style." We took the subway an hour and a half from our hostel's station to get to Gangam- committed to staying all night until the first train back the next morning. Upon entering a new up and coming trendy club we got a free drink and hit the floor to dance. Kira and I met the manager of the club at the bar who invited us to a VIP table. At the VIP table we were introduced to the party, four middle aged men, two younger and incredibly gorgeous guys, and several other guests who came back and forth. Later we found out that the two young guys were models and the other men were their agents from a modeling agency. We spent about an hour enjoying their fancy champagne and chatting with them, everyone spoke great English. We got back to our hostel at 5:15 in the morning, walked in as the sun was rising, after a completely memorable adventure, Gangam Style.

Starting the night off right.

Day 4: Running around Seoul

On day four we roused ourselves  after just a few hours of sleep and met Kira's friend who promised to take us sight-seeing. We met her for lunch and then walked around Myeong-dong, another hip shopping area. We were surprised to see that many of the signs in this area were written in Japanese as well as Korean, so we took the opportunity to chat amongst each other in Japanese to show off our language skills to nobody in particular.

Yummy family style lunch

We also went to Seoul Tower to look over the city. Seoul's topography is great since the mountains are everywhere and even are part of the cities. We were there through dusk and were able to watch the sun set behind the city skyline. After we were done we took the cable car down the mountain and ambled toward the station. We ate from a vendor in the station and browsed through the shops before parting ways and heading back to the hostel for the night.

Seoul Tower

The city of Seoul, with mountains in the background

Popular street food- mochi sauteed in spicy sauce and blood sausage.

Day 5: Last Day

Our last full day in South Korea. Our first destination in the morning was Chyanggyeonggung Palace. This palace too was large and beautiful and we enjoyed our tour and learning about the different buildings inside and hearing stories about the royal families of the past. In particular we enjoyed learning about the last crown prince of Korea, Yu Ki.

He studied architecture at MIT and then married Julia Mullock who he met at his first job in the United States. They got married and returned to Korea, however since they did not produce a child the Korean family pressured them to divorce. It is such a sad love story which also accounts for the end of the Joseon dynasty, since an heir was never produced. After finishing the palace tour we were able to enter the "Secret Garden," in back. It is called Secret since during most of the year people are only allowed to enter on closely guided tours. Luckily we were there during a period that visitors are allowed to walk around the gardens at their leisure (after initially entering with a tour guide). We started out with the tour but soon broke off to explore the garden on our own.

Main Gate

Royal Throne

Very little is known about these figures perched on the ridges of royal buildings, except they are believed to be guardians

After finishing with the palace and garden, we headed down the street for lunch. Next we went to Jogyesa Temple which is the largest Buddhist Temple in Seoul. That day, May 6th, happened to be the Buddha's Birthday so they were having the annual Lotus Festival at the temple. We made our way to the temple to find the temple grounds covered in a sky of lotus paper lanterns, a stage set up for music and dances, and hundreds of people lining up to bathe a buddha statue and give offerings.

A Lotus Festival we stumbled into at Jogyesa Temple

People lined up to the bathe the buddha

Lotus Lanterns

After leaving the temple we made one last stop, the historical Seodaemun Prison. The History Hall was built so visitors can get a glimpse into the history of the Seodaemun Prison which was built during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The prison was opened in 1908 to accommodate 500 prisoners, however over time the prison housed 3,000 prisoners. This prison was built as a place to torture, execute, and keep Korean leaders of the Independence Movement during the colonial period. Now seven of the original 15 buildings are preserved and used as a memorial for the independence leaders once imprisoned there. It was very creepy to walk through the buildings, peering into the jail cells and torture rooms. Even the original execution building remains intact.

After finishing our self tour of the historic prison we spent a couple hours walking up and down the open market streets before going to our last dinner in Seoul, BBQ! Since befriending neighboring tables last time we ate BBQ and chatting with them about how they do their BBQ meals, we were determined to do it again right. We ordered the selection of meat we wanted and it was brought out to us on a platter along with dishes of kimchi, lettuce, sauces, and other side vegetables. In the Korean way we grilled the meat and then cut it into pieces as it was ready for everyone to share. After dinner we walked around for a last evening of people watching and passing around a bottle of soju as we walked before heading back to the hostel to pack and sit around reminiscing about the week's adventures.

Over all, Seoul was a blast and I would love to take another trip there!

The Oku-Notians hit Korea.