The Demilitarized Zone

Today, I went to the DMZ - The buffer zone between South Korea and North Korea. You may have heard of it!

The DMZ is heavily guarded by the North and South. It's supposed to seperate them by 4km (though both countries have built inside of it), and it's also the host of some 700,000 landmines, remaining from the Korean war.

Since there's an elevated level of tension, as of late, the atmosphere is pretty serious all around. Still, the area continues to be a draw for tourists, and has a fair bit to offer.

The first highlight was the 'third tunnel' - one of the tunnels that was dug up by the North Koreans in an attempt to invade the South undetected (by digging 73 metres underground). In total, four such tunnels have been discovered, though it's suspected that the North has built as many as 20. It was interesting for a few minutes, but truth be told, it's just a tunnel that's now blocked-off - not particularly worth the backache.

The next thing we saw was the most impressive, for me. On the outskirts of the DMZ, South Korea has already built several buildings in anticipation of (what's seen as the eventual) unification of North and South. There are empty customs buildings, parking lots, and Dorasan Station.

Dorasan Station is a new, never-used rail station, that will one day work as a hub between North and South Korea. The signs are already up, in anticipation (You can see the 'To Pyeongyang' sign in the picture above.) It's a little eery, but very symbolic. In the picture to the left, you can see (if you look closely enough): 'Not the last station from the South. But the first station toward the North'.

For the last leg of the trip, we headed for the JSA - the Joint Security Area, watched over by both Northern and Southern soldiers. It's the most well-known part of the DMZ, where in the center, half of a building belong to each country.

Quite unfortunately, the North must've had word that I was coming, and feared that my mere presence might've fixed all of their problems. While we were being given our briefing, a few hundred meters away from the JSA, we were told that three bodies had washed-up in the near river, and that a decision had been made - minutes ago - to cancel all remaining tours for the day.

Clearly, I make Kim Jong-il nervous.

It was a dissapointing end to the day, but still a great experience.

Have a good one.

The Renewal Answer

Back in March, I wrote about the ongoing debate I was having with myself, as to whether or not i'd renew here for another year. Since i'm fast-approaching the 11-month mark, I had to come up with a more definitive answer.

Truth be told, i'm happy here. I could easily see myself staying for one or two more years.

But I won't.

I'm coming home for good, the last week of August - although that 'for good' part is conditional on whether or not I can find a decent job within a couple of months. If not, I've the possibility of doing another six months here, which I certainly wouldn't mind.

It'd be easy to try to back up my decision, but what it really comes down to in the end:
It feels right.

With that said, I still have over a month left, which I'll try and make the most of. On that note, the DMZ is on the menu for this Saturday - should be great!

Happy trails!

Return to the War Memorial

I returned to the Korean War Memorial on Sunday - the same one I visited almost 11 months ago, when I first arrived in Korea. That time, I had just gone around perimeter (it's a huge building); this time, I went inside to appreciate the exhibitions.

Most of the rooms, as can be expected, are dedicated to the Korean War. Here are a few interesting things I learned:

-The North began the war with a surprise attack at 4:00 am on June 25 1950.

-Seoul fell into the North's hands in only three days.

By the end of 1950...
-Seoul had been recaptured
-Pyongyang had been captured
-Pyongyang was lost

-In the beginning of 1951, Seoul was captured again, only to be recaptured a few months later.

-The rest of the war was a game of back-and-forth right near where the war started, along the 38th parallel.

Maybe being in Korea has made this war seem more interesting than it would be otherwise, but I really find it fascinating. What's surprising to me is that, according to a recent newspaper article, many Korean youths are ignorant of the War - even though many of them still have living grandparents that lived through it.

I discussed it with my free-speaking adult class awhile back, and while the consensus was that it's definitely something that's not to be forgotten, they did acknowledge a certain level of apathy toward that part of history. It'd be a shame for any sacrifice on this scale to be forgotten (particularly when the pawns in the chess game didn't have the choice whether to play or not).

Growing up, I can't say I really grasped November 11th too well.
I'm glad that's no longer the case.

Good week, good people!

Happy Canada Day

Canada Day came and went yesterday, without much in the way of celebration. Instead of a day off, beer, and fireworks, I had a single beer and went to bed early.

It's not quite the same.

One of the other GEC Canucks, though, had the awesome idea of having her kids sing 'Happy Birthday' to Canada. That would've made a pretty awesome video.

Other than that, things are pretty slow, these days, around GEC. Everyone's nearing the end of their contracts, so they're either looking forward to one last vacation (during the last week of July), or to their last working day. The next wave of teachers should start arriving shortly, so that might make things a little fresher.

Hope you had a good Canada day.

Bryan Murray sure didn't.

Looking Ahead

It was a pretty typical week of work, after last weekend's short adventure to China. I haven't quite caught up on my sleep yet, but at least my legs have finally stopped aching, after the Great Wall trek.

I spent this weekend working at a local Youth Center - the same place as the time where I was handed a Wikipedia print-out and told to 'teach' for 2 hours. This time, I had a different (organized!) Korean co-teacher, and hosted a Freespeaking class - it made the whole experience a lot more pleasant.

Afterwards, I went into Seoul for a free outdoor music-performance, behind City Hall. My Bluesfest-replacement for 2009, I s'pose (that is, if Bluesfest featured Korean versions of Céline Dion).

Still, it was fun.

After playing a few games with the noobs at home and getting a haircut, I started planning my next trip, for the end of July: Japan. Plane tickets seem a heck of a lot more expensive than for China, but I'd regret not jumping on the chance to see Tokyo, while it's still this close.

Have a good week!

Seriously, China

From Beijing - June 20-22

Beijing: Day 2 - The Great Wall

We booked our guide to pick us up from our hotel, to head to the Great Wall, at 7:30am on Sunday morning. The trip from downtown Beijing was about two hours, to the section of the Great Wall we were headed for: Jiankou.

Jiankou is a section of the Great Wall that has fallen under disrepair, and is not technically open to the public. Our tour group (which consisted of seven tourists, ourselves included) was greeted to the area with large signs reading 'This Area of the Great Wall is not Open to the Public'. Still, we were allowed to go through the gates, with our guide bribing the locals who are in charge of guarding it. According to him, the government doesn't want anyone climbing it, due to safety, yet the locals have a serious need of money, so they still let some tourists through.

I didn't think much of it until we finally saw Jiankou, when I realised: holy crap! We actually have to climb the Great Wall. Many, many sections were in such bad shape that we had to climb with our arms and legs, and seriously watching our step.

One bad step meant a 50-60 meter drop.

Climbing this part of the wall is probably the most dangerous thing i've ever done - and I probably wouldn't have done it if i'd kept up with the news. Last week, a newly-wed couple died after being struck by lightning, causing them to fall off this part of the wall.

Still, it was an incredible place to be. Nature has overtaken the wall, with many trees and shrubs growing on it, and there's just something amazing about seeing the wall today, untampered by repair. The ruins felt incredibly historic, and helped invoke thoughts of soldiers once-upon-a-time keeping guard on this gigantic thing.

The most dangerous part of the Jiankou (and of course, most memorable) was a part where the wall was completely gone. The only way to get through was to climb against a wall (and a branch, that someone had put up), and reach a nearby ladder. Again, if you happened to miss it, it was a heck of a dive. I can't say I wasn't nervous, but holy crap, it feels good to have done it. Here's a video of Ryan, reaching the other side (with my overly-worried commentary about the branch possibly cracking).



After about 6 hours of walking on the ruined-wall, we finally reached a section that was being repaired, and what a difference; being able to walk quickly without thinking you might die is a huge relief, when you're getting tired as all-hell.

Finally, we had two choices for getting off the wall: The traditional walk-down-the-hill, or the badass way of sliding down. That's right - there's a slide, where you can ride down a track using luges that go pretty freaking fast.

It was an awesome way to end an awesome day. The Great Wall alone made the entire China trip worth it. Although my legs still hurt, I wouldn't hesitate to do this all over again. Here are some extra scenic shots:






...and in case that's not enough, feel free to enjoy the 483 Beijing pictures I took, here.