I have been waiting for Mike to write this post for almost 2 weeks already. There has been other stuff going on here as well but I will write about that later. For now enjoy this post from Mike. He went to the JSA/DMZ with work a few weeks ago, and when he came home he had quite an experience to tell me about. I will get there someday to share my account as well, but for now enjoy the words of Mike!
I finally got the pictures from our JSA/DMZ tour on 26 September so here is the scoop. We started the day off by meeting LTC Brannen at the Dragon Hill Lodge, and then got on the bus to head up to area I. Along the way LTC Brannen played tour guide. All the way up route 1, he pointed out the numerous coastal and land defenses that the ROK(Republic of Korea aka South Korea) has placed along the maritime boarder between them and the DPRK(Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea aka North Korea). We were given an interesting opportunity to observe North Korean Observation posts, which were basically small clumps of trees visible across the river. The civilian people of North Korea can only get so close to an observation post before the DPRK Soldiers will fire on them. So the DPRK actually cleared out the trees around the posts in order to have fire wood and food (yes they apparently are so bad off that the people consume the roots of the trees to survive). Our first official stop on the tour was Camp Bonifas, here we received an overview of the United Nations Command (UNC) mission in securing the boarder and deterring aggression between the two countries, they are still technically at war having only signed an armistice agreement between military forces and have no formal political treaty to end the war.
UN meeting room
If you look close enough there is a North Korean standing in the doorway of the building with binoculars.
From here we got back on the bus and traveled to Panmunjeom (Unification Village) AKA the Joint Security Area (JSA). Standing at the JSA was a little unnerving, it was very quiet and we were under the constant observation from the North Korean Soldiers just a few hundred meters away. It is here at the JSA where all negotiations between North and South Korea are mediated by the United Nations. It is a highly ritualized and mostly symbolic event when the two nations do meet. Since this area is where North Korea gets the most exposure with the world there is a constant rivalry and occurrence of "one up man ship". For example when the ROK built the Freedom House the North actually put an addition onto their Pan-Mun Gak Pavilion just so that is was taller than the ROK structure. This is also the case with the huge flag flown in the North Korean "Propaganda Village" that is over 600 lbs when dry, and if it rains it must actually be taken down or it tears under its own weight. So I guess you could equate North Korea to a spoiled kid, one with access to nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. These competitions got so out of hand at one point that there was a meeting between the two nations to determine the size and design of structures and flags within the DMZ.
Looking out at North Korea
North Korean Observation post, they were watching!!!
The tall thing in the distance of the far left of the picture is the flag pole referred to above
Once we had heard all there was to say and get our pictures taken with the ROK Soldiers on guard we moved on to the site of the "Axe Murders". In 1976 a detail under the command of CPT Bonifas was dispatched to trim a tree that was obscuring the line of sight between an observation post and a checkpoint. Well apparently North Korean folk don't take too kindly to having the wonderful Kim II Sung's tree pruned so they jumped the detail and beat/hacked CPT Bonifas and his Lieutenant to death with the very axes they brought to trim the tree with. The United States was quite put off by this and decided that the damn tree would receive the most expensive pruning in world history. Operation Paul Bunyan was the resulting payback. The entire South Korean/ US military on the peninsula went into high alert, the air force patrolled the skies and an aircraft carrier was sitting right off the coast all to cover one engineer platoon to trim tree. After 42 minutes and a few chain saws the tree was sufficiently trimmed to the point where it was nothing more than a defoliated 20" trunk, we left the trunk just cause we wanted to flip North Korea the big ol' middle finger, the trunk was later removed entirely.
Monument for the tree
Group shot on the bridge of no return
After this little story we were pretty hungry so we rode out on our bus to the seemingly middle of random nowhere to an interesting little restaurant where we cooked and consumed spicy pork compliments of Uncle Sam of course. After the meal we headed out to infiltration tunnel #3. It is estimated that there are about 20ish tunnels crossing the DMZ into South Korea, only 4 have been discovered. Like everything North Korea has failed at we turned tunnel #3 into a tourist attraction just to rub the salt a little deeper in to the festering wound. This particular tunnel was discovered in 1978 in a deliberate attempt to counter DPRK infiltration shenanigans after a defector tipped off the government to its whereabouts. Once discovered a large earth boring machine was used to cut a 500 meter long tunnel 350 meters below the surface. Walking down into the depths of this was like being in one of those cheesy horror movies where you are the first group of people to bust into a long hidden cavern or facility from the past world. I could not help but expect to be attacked by giant ants, or blind cave dwelling mutants on the decent but it was quite un eventful. Once we hit the North Korean portion of the tunnel we all felt very tall as the ceilings were literally only between 4-5 feet high further assisting us in demonizing the North Korean troops into evil midget mole people. Only around 600 meters of this tunnel was still accessible as the ROK military had installed several 10+ meter thick concrete walls to make the tunnel unusable as an infiltration route into the south. At the end was a dilapidated guard post that had been last manned up until a few years ago. The trip back up was far more difficult as the machine had cut a 30 degree slope down into the tunnel that was much easier to feel and hate on the way back to the surface. Upon completing our ascent we took a few photos of the info booths in the visitor center area where I then discovered a little train that ferry's passengers below ground and back, this baby was of course shut down for the day.
The next stop was Dora observatory. This location I found to be very interesting as it provided an excellent view quite far into North Korea. The only signs of life we saw however was a convoy of South Korean trucks crossing returning with some North Korean made swag from the Kaesong Industrial Complex (the only currently open location where trade is permitted between the countries). This location has become very important to the North Korean economy as it is one of the few ways that their goods can leave the country...and who wouldn't want to purchase North Korean lichens of varied size, and I shit you not... baby seal penis wine (I wish I had a camera to take a pic of this). At any rate 250 ROK companies makes out like bandits on this deal as well, (although they supply 100% of the electrical power to run the complex) as they get to turn their raw materials into finished products utilizing very cheap North Korean labor. Other than this traffic there was nothing, it was what I envision the world looking like after the super flu/ zombie apocalypse has decimated 99.9% of the human population. Our final stop was to Dorsan station. This is the last stop northward on the South's rail line...or first stop into the South if you are a North Korean (hypothetically) entering South Korea. I actually was able to purchase 2 tickets to paradise (Pyongyang, capital of North Korea) for 2000 Won, what a deal!!. The point of this train station is as far as we could tell is to serve as a symbol of South Korean willingness to reconcile and unite the two Koreas into one; this too was deserted (with the exception of the "ticket lady) much like a post apocalyptic train station would be.
Tickets to North Korea
So that's it, the ride back to Yongsan was a nice time to nap and we all took advantage of the opportunity. If your ever up in the neighborhood, I would encourage you to take a trip to the JSA/DMZ so you too can catch a glimpse into the worlds most isolated nation. ~ Mike
I am so sorry that I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks. There is so much to catch up on.
The day after our adventure to Seoul Land I hand an adventure of a different kind with my friend Laurie. Since that weekend was a four day which included Tuesday we were able to leave the kids with the men and venture to Dongdaemun Market. This was a very interesting place. The very best way to describe it is a huge multi-floor, multi-building complex flea market, meets Jo-ann fabrics, Micheal's, and AC Moore on steroids.
Here are two YouTube videos of the place, just to give you an idea.
Now to share my experience...
Laurie and I took the bus to get to this market. This was my first time on the Korean Bus and I was very greatful she knew where to go. Adventuring around by yourself is not a real good idea mostly because if you get lost you may never find your way back! It was certinally interesting to be on a bus where maybe if you are lucky one person speaks a few words of english. The bus system runs on a program called T Money (or you can use cash). Mike got both of us T Money cards which I had the opportunity to use. I am not even sure I used it right, the think kept making weird beeping noises at me. Anyway we got off the bus and walked about 3 blocks. These were very busy blocks. They were mobbed with vendors selling everything from sunglasses to clothes and food. One of the clothing vendors had sweatpants for sale that said "Niagara Ealls" (no that is not a typo), with the Canadian Maple leaf on them. So now you know where the mistakes of production go, to countries that don't know they are typos! I think that just reinforces that getting a tattoo written in a foreign language is a bad idea unless you are absolutely certain it means what it says. The area we were walking in contained multiple malls as well. I think I counted 3.
We knew we wanted to get lunch while we were out there before entering the actual market. So we grabbed some street food. I love street food! We both had what can only be described as a hotdog on a stick covered in a batter with french fries stuck to it and then deep fried. Then they drizzle on some ketchup! YUM YUM!!! Us being fat pig like Americans each ate one, supposedly Koreans usually share one.
Laurie likes street food too!
After we ate my dear pregnant friend of course had to pee. So we found a potty. Not just any potty, a pay potty! Oh course I took a picture of it! Laurie said it was quite an experience. I did not get the pleasure but I will gladly relay the message here. So you put in your money and it opens the door and locks it behind you of course. There were various flush settings on the toilet and a video monitor that asks you to input more money if you need more time. And it supposedly auto cleans after each use. The instructions were on the door in 4 languages.
Then we headed to the market. The Dongdeamun market is also known as the fabric market. That is totally misleading, they have fabric and lots of it, but they have stuff to make pretty much anything imaginable. The basement floor is where all the yarn is! The area around the market is really cool, there is a man made river, other shopping buildings (I would like to check out sometime), and a pagoda thing. We don't know exactly what it is for but maybe some day I will get to find out. Here are the pictures.
The building to the left is a huge shopping mall, its like 5 blocks long. The building on the right is the Dongdaemun Market, also very long and several floors high.
An other Shopping Mall
The front of the building seen above to the left of the picture.
Smack dab in the middle of the city, I think we need to check it out in the future.
Now a few from inside the market.
There were people every where. I would never be able to take the kids here. In most of the booths were people sitting around making stuff too. Communication was interesting, Thankfully Laurie knows enough Korean to get by and the Korean's know some english. I bought a few things, safety eyes for making stuffed animals and some huge lots of yarn. I will have to wind them into balls at some point. Laurie got some fabric for a quilt she is planning to make her new baby. Its was a good day.
The rest of that week was a short one. Wednesday, after much begging and pleading Giulianna got her hair cut. She had a few inches trimmed and it looks really cute, but I am sad because all the baby curls on the ends are gone and it falls out a little depending on how I put it up.
On Thursday I had an appointment to get the kids registered with CYS finally. That went great for Giulianna but Rhyon didn't have his PPD done so they wont register him. There are two reasons I would be interested in registering the kids in this program, one for the use of hourly care and two for being able to sign up for extra cirricular activities. While at the building for the CYS registration I stopped into the transportation office to find out about our stuff coming in. Well they basically said they had no idea what I was talking about.
Friday I had to go back to post again to give the paper work to Giulianna's school so she could be registered. Once I knew she got into the morning class at preschool, I went over and registered her at CYS for dance class (the other thing she has been bugging me about!). But before I did any of that I went back to transportation this time with my paper work that showed my stuff arriving on September 9th. The poor girl at the desk was very confused and asked me to come back in 1 hour and talk to her supervisor. So I did, this time Mike came along too. Long story short, we were told that it hadn't even left the states yet, it was scheduled to leave on the 12th. It would be in counrty by October 3rd and to us no later than the 11th. I am not a happy camper! Oh and they only have 4 of our 5 crates accounted for. So this week I will be spending some time sending disgruntled emails and figuring out what is next. This is why moving over seas SUCKS!
That weekend was also a long one. It was a 3 day because of the Korean Holiday Chuseok. It is like the Korean Thanksgiving. "In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans as they return to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of their ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. Other foods commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruits." Wikipedia. On Monday, since a lot of things around were closed, and we had ample room not having any stuff, I got out the kids play tent and borrowed 2 more from Laurie and made a huge tent house for the kids to play in. Gavin and Grace, Avery and Ellie and Giulianna and Rhyon all checked it out. Unfortunately I only have a picture of the tent! It was fun for all anyway!!!!
The first day of the work week also happened to be Giulianna's first day of school. She is attending the Mustard Seed program which is a christian based preschool program. Its twice a week for 3 hours. She already knew a few kids in her class and our neighbor Avery is in the other class at the same school. I am looking forward to getting our schedules together so we can take turns driving the girls to school. At school this week they learned about the letter B, the number 1 and family. She even had homework! She loves it! She is my clone to the core though, she has no interest focusing on getting that home work done in a timely manner! I will be in big trouble.
This is a picture Giulianna took of us for part of her homework project.
On Thursday after noons the girls attend dance class together, which also happened for the first time last week. This class is a little more technical than the class Giulianna was in in Massachusetts. The teacher has them trying to do first position and use the bar. Its very cute. I will take pics this week. Friday I spent with Rhyon on post between the ER and doctors. He started having a rash midweek and when I called for an appointment, which you can never get, I decided he needed to be seen anyway so we went to the ER. Turns out I saw the pediatrician and a dermatologist, which both concluded it was a virus. Rhyon had no fever, no loss of appetite nothing, but red dots everywhere. Thank God it is clearing up. I didn't even have to use the prescription steroid cream the dermatologist gave us. He looks much better and really is a happy little guy.
Saturday was pretty low key. We didn't even go anywhere. I spent some of the day finishing up my lesson plan for my CCD class. Sunday morning we got up early and went to 8am mass, followed by Religious Education Class. My group of 6th graders are pretty cool. They all seem like nice kids. I think we will have a good year together. We played a game I made up and they all earned tootsie roll pops! Giulianna had her class too, but wouldn't tell me much about it. She made a bracelet with her name on it so she was happy. After class we went to the Navy Club and had brunch. Oh how I love going out for breakfast! It was good. Giulianna ate a huge plate of silver dollar chocolate chip pancakes, there were at least 10, not a bite was left! The rest of the day was low key, Avery and Giulianna played together, we took a walk to the library and the repair man came to look at our AC. The AC has been broken for a week and after calling 3 times last week with no results the guy just showed up on a Sunday! Hopefully they will be able to fix it soon now that they know the termastat is broken. That is all for now, have a good day everyone!
It has been a really busy week. I really thought I would have been able to write this post by now, I am sorry for making you all wait. I promise it will be worth it, lots of pictures and videos! I took 503, but don't worry I won't post them all!
Seoul Land was a lot of fun! We made it a big group excursion which was great! We went with Mike's friend Doug, The Hirsch Family and the Rauhala Family. There was no one in the park but us which was really great. It turned out that it was a good thing we went in a group because otherwise there would have been no one to play with! We went on Labor Day which was a US Holiday but not a Korean one so that made it even better!!!!
The drive to Seoul Land took us down the highway about 20 to 30 mins with mountain views!
The bottom right shows agriculture domes. Not an inch of space is wasted in this country, and check out those mountains!
Seoul Land is one of many attractions in Seoul Grand Park. Here is Ellie, Giulianna and Avery waiting to figure out where we had to go get our tickets.
Seoul Land had a giant ball right in the middle which was quite reminiscent of Disney's Epcot but much smaller. And the main entrance walkway was all little building store fronts kind of like Main Street USA. The rest of the park was more like an amusement park like Six Flags. It had your standard rides, merry go round, bumper cars, roller coasters and kiddie rides. Seoul Land is broken up into several small sections which even includes a wild west town.
The entrance...
Giulianna's Ticket
The Hirsch's and The Raulaha's
Yay! The Hirsch Family in Seoul Land!
Copyright infringement?
Family pic at Seoul Land, Seoul Grand Park, Korea
All the kids (except Rhyon) in the carriage.
Giulianna and Ellie riding the horses.
Doug and Mike in trouble already!!!
The kids got to do most of the rides, and the 3 big kids even got to hit some big people rides. Turns our Giulianna loves the big rides and is very adventurous. However just like her Mommy and Grandma Linda, she hates the dropping feeling rides. She got away with some of the big rides but depending on the ride and the person running it she was sometimes a centimeter too short. It was horrible telling her they wouldn't let her ride, but she was really cool with it most of the time.
Mike riding the merry go round.
Giulianna having so much fun!
Rhyon rode this too. I think it was his only ride!
Cool horse with Korean Flags.
Kiddie Bumper cars, Giulianna and Gavin.
Avery and Gavin.
The kiddie bumper cars was hilarious! Check out the video. Our kids definitely drive like Koreans! LOL There were big bumper cars too, but we aren't as fun to watch or look at, we did have fun riding them though!! It was nice actually being allowed to crash into the terrible Korean Drivers!
Above the kiddie bumper cars was something they called the Sky Cycle. It was a fun low speed ride. It gave an interesting little view of the park.
Doug cruising on the Sky Cycle.
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! Avery and Giulianna
Little Ellie, she is so cute!
Mike and I on the Sky Cycle.
Gavin and Kristjan on the Sky Cycle
We also took some time to check out the archery range and haunted house. We learned that haunted houses are much scarier in ones own language. We totally missed out on the scary story because we had no idea what they were saying! Ben and I were the only brave ones to ride the crazy twisty ride of DOOM! (I don't remember what it was really called.) It flipped you over and barrel rolled you at the same time. It was fun, but one thrill was enough!!!
Leaning Tower of Pisa? Not sure why but we will go with it...
Kristjan, Mike and Doug testing their Archery skills.
Not sure why we had a Dutch Windmill either...
Or a phone booth?!
Everyone loves a sleeping baby.
One of the coolest things in the park were these huge stuffed animals that you could ride for 1,000 won. The kids got a kick out of this.
There was a kiddie land that everyone seemed to enjoy. There were two huge ball pits, a trampoline, the biggest bouncy house ever and this huge jungle gym ropes course.
This is the drop ride I was referring to. Giulianna wasn't a fan. Avery loved it!
I made this one huge so you could see Rhyon, look just beyond my back! He was not happy!!!!
Avery, Gavin and Giulianna diving in!
Rhyon was much happier spectating.
Gavin, probably up to no good!
Grace loved the ball pit too!
This ball pit had huge balls! Giulianna was all about it!
"It's a grown up, ATTACK!!!"
Mike and Doug thought the sign said that No Clowns or Soccer Playing Robots were allowed in the bouncy house!
One of the only rides Laurie got to participate in.
This is my favorite picture of Gavin for the day, just look at his face!
Christina and I both love angel wings!
They told me to look angelic, I think I failed!
Doug, he is certainly no angel!!!
We needed more pictures of Rhyon, not sure he appreciated this though.
And that concludes our day at Seoul Land! It was a great day of fun with some great people. We are really enjoying spending time together as a family and with our new friends! We can't wait for more adventures!
