Soldiers take photos too
A picture of the North Korean view from Dora Observatory
The actual (lack of) view that day
Here I am. Another Monday. Winding down my evening with a little blogging and a cup of peppermint tea.
On Saturday, Karen, Romo, Jennifer, and I took a tour with the USO of the DMZ - that is the demilitarized zone. It's a safety zone between North and South Korea, running 250km in length, and about 4km wide. A US military official toured us around the Joint Security Area (JSA), a part of the DMZ where negotiations are made. We were able to see North Korean soldiers watching us with binoculars, curious about who we were. There are very strict behaviour and dress codes on this tour, you see. There are also lots of bus rides, to various areas. We technically stood on North Korean territory! And we were able to stamp our passports at the Dorasan train station (not operating) that joins North and South Korea. The only path allowing transit between the two is a highway. Unfortunately it was super foggy out, so when we were taken to an observation tower, to have a view of North Korea, we only saw whiteness. That was the only thing the fog effected. The rest of the tour was kind of neat with the fog - it set an eerie mood (we were driving through areas with active mines)! The tour also involved going down through one of the tunnels that the North Koreans built underneath the DMZ. Their cover story was that it was being used for mining. BUSTED. There was too much evidence that it was being used to attach South Korea. It was a very interesting tour, to say the least. It started very early though, so Friday was early to bed, as I had to be up at 5:30am on Saturday: we had to get to Seoul for 7am.
On Saturday, Karen, Romo, Jennifer, and I took a tour with the USO of the DMZ - that is the demilitarized zone. It's a safety zone between North and South Korea, running 250km in length, and about 4km wide. A US military official toured us around the Joint Security Area (JSA), a part of the DMZ where negotiations are made. We were able to see North Korean soldiers watching us with binoculars, curious about who we were. There are very strict behaviour and dress codes on this tour, you see. There are also lots of bus rides, to various areas. We technically stood on North Korean territory! And we were able to stamp our passports at the Dorasan train station (not operating) that joins North and South Korea. The only path allowing transit between the two is a highway. Unfortunately it was super foggy out, so when we were taken to an observation tower, to have a view of North Korea, we only saw whiteness. That was the only thing the fog effected. The rest of the tour was kind of neat with the fog - it set an eerie mood (we were driving through areas with active mines)! The tour also involved going down through one of the tunnels that the North Koreans built underneath the DMZ. Their cover story was that it was being used for mining. BUSTED. There was too much evidence that it was being used to attach South Korea. It was a very interesting tour, to say the least. It started very early though, so Friday was early to bed, as I had to be up at 5:30am on Saturday: we had to get to Seoul for 7am.
Dorasan Station
JSA - South facing North
Saturday after the tour, a friend from Happidas texted me to go out for coffee. Coffee turned into a walk, turned into cell phone shopping for me, turned into dinner. It was fun! I ended up getting a new (used) cell phone. The one the previous teacher left for me was under her name, so even though it's pay-as-you-go, I wasn't able to put more credit on it. I found a cheap replacement though, so that's all settled.
When I got home Saturday evening, I thought I'd beat the Sunday crowds and do my grocery shopping then. I was mistaken. E-Mart was booming on Saturday night at 9:30! Who knew? Anyways, I called it a night after that.
Sunday I was very productive once again, working on teacher's college applications. I'm officially applying to Ottawa, Western, and Toronto. I'm getting close to finishing! I bought myself a bottle of North Korean beer at the DMZ tour! I have yet to drink it...it will be a celebratory drink when I submit all of my teacher's college applications!
Friday was fabulous. No particular reason other than my kiddies were simply wonderful. Liang, big little terror number two, is coming around as well. Perhaps because he admires Julian.
I'm sure there were more observations I had to share, but for now they've escaped me. Pictures soon! Hope you had a lovely weekend. xo
The Bridge of No Return...
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