The Journey is Over, Back to Minnesota Life

I arrived back in Minnesota safe and sound last Thursday morning. By the time I arrived at my final destination I had taken 2 trains, 3 planes, and 1 car ride to get home. It took 36 hours from the time I left Seoul to the time I reached my home in Austin, Minnesota. So, these past several days have been filled with adjusting to the drastic time zone change and seeing friends and family. Yet, I would like to finish this blog with one more post.

My last week in Seoul was jam packed with seeing some last tourist destinations and visiting some more friends.

I don't know a ton about Korean history, so I was surprised to hear that the Japanese once had a concentration camp in Seoul where they tortured Koreans. During the first half of the 20th century, Japan had control over Korea. But the Korean people did not agree with the imperialists. So, this "jail" was for all those Koreans that actively opposed Japanese rule. The Japanese tortured the Koreans in numerous ways including physical and mental.

 This was an area where the prisoners were allowed to exercise. The walls were meant to prevent the prisoners from conspiring with one each other, so that no large rebellions would happen.

 Learning about this aspect of Korean history, adds another dimension to the personality of Korean people, especially, the elderly.
On a side note, it is very important to respect all elderly people in Korea. A younger person must always bow to the elderly almost every time they speak; they must also speak in a more respectable way than they would to their friends. Along with this, the elderly people in Korea are very tough. If you stand in the way of an old person they will not hesitate to push you, and they are pretty strong. That's why you should always be aware of your surroundings, unless you want to be checked by an old lady. I think this generation of elderly is particularly rough around the edges because of the struggles they had to go through (Japanese Imperalism, Korean War, etc).

This is a night view of the Hangang River. This river splits the entire city of Seoul in half, so there is numerous parks where you can enjoy the scenery. Typical things to do near the river are riding bike, and eating fried chicken with beer.

Probably the most interesting and powerful site I visited on my entire trip was during my tour to the DMZ (demilitarized zone); a.k.a. the border line between North and South Korea. I learned a lot about how immature and idiotic the North Korean government really is.
For example, I got to go into a "secret tunnel" that the North was digging so they could do a surprise attack on the South. But, the South discovered it before the North could succeed. When the South asked the North why they were building the tunnel, the North responded with "We are digging for coal." There is no coal on the entire peninsula of Korea.  So, to cover up their lie, the North decided to paint black on the walls of the tunnel to look like coal. This is just one example of the mastermind behind North Korea's empire.

Here are a few pictures from the last train station towards the North, called Imjingak. This station has many monuments and signs of hope that one day the train tracks will continue even further north; when reunification occurs.

 If you cross to the other side of this fence you will be shot either by the North or the South. In the past soliders from both sides have tried to sneak to the other side, always unsuccessfully.

The last stop on my tour was to the Joint Security Area; the place where the U.N. and the North diplomats can meet when needed. It was high security area, and only certain countries can visit this area.

 The soliders closest to me are from the South. The two on the sides are standing in ready Tae Kwon Doe position, waiting for someone to attack from the north. The blue buildings are the meeting rooms.

 These are North Korean soldiers with North Korean tourists. My tour guide said they must be V.I.P.'s because it is rare for them to be giving tours at that time of day.

 This is where the North (sandy part) meets the South (rocky part). So while I was in the blue building I technically stepped into North Korea. That is the one and only time I will go to North Korea.

On a lighter note, I got to spend a lot of time with some friends my last few days. We would mostly just go out to eat or go to a cafe. But, one time my friends and I decided to go to a "Wii Room." Obviously, you could play Wii, but you could also do karaoke or watch movies. They have many businesses like this in Seoul, and is very popular for friends to hangout there.

My journey in Korea came to an end too quickly. Before I knew it, I was packing my bags and headed to the airport. I enjoyed Korea immensely. The people, the history, the sites, and especially the food.
This trip has taught me a lot about Eastern culture and I have gained an experience that I wouldn't give back for the world. It is still hard for me to believe that I am back at home. I miss Korea and Taiwan already. I didn't get to see everything I wanted to, but that gives me incentive to go back someday. I am so grateful that I got to go on this trip, and I will never ever forget any part of it.

Sincerely,

Alix

Staying Busy in Seoul

Almost every person in Seoul likes to stay busy. Whether it be working, studying, or trying to get a job; the people of Seoul have a very strong work ethic. I have concluded that the main cause for this work ethic is because everything is very competitive here. You have to be the smartest and the best looking to succeed in Seoul. This is probably why they are also obsessed with vanity. There are the same amount of convenient stores as there are cosmetic shops, so there is one on every corner. Nonetheless, I feel very lucky and honored that my busy friends take time out of their lives to meet with me.
I have basically seen every famous area in Seoul within this past week. And I have gone to many of the same areas multiple times, but each time I visit I find something new about it.

My friend brought me to a great mural village in the district of Ihwa-dong. 

 I visited my friends' university, Chung-ang University. Its not a very large university, but very charming.

CAU is very close to the Korean War Memorial/Museum so I visited there next. It was very well put together museum and was surprisingly entertaining for being a free museum!

The photo below is of Namsan tower, also known as "Seoul Tower". Its a tower on top of one of the mountains surrounding Seoul. You can get great views of the city from that area. One thing that I have noticed in Seoul is that they try to incorporate modern with traditional. For example, the tower is a fairly new piece of architecture, while the pavilion below it is traditionally designed.

One of the strangest foods I tried while on this trip was live octopus. I watched a few videos on Youtube before coming to Korea, and I was intrigued but also a little frightened to try some. My friends made sure that the octopus was cut into small pieces so the suckers wouldn't get stuck in my throat and suffocate me (this has happened to others before). The restaurant cuts up the octopus for you but the cut up tentacles are still moving and sucking while you are eating it. So, the key to eating live octopus is chewing it very hard and thorough before swallowing. Once you get that down, live octopus is not too bad. 

I have visited a lot of markets in Korea, but the most traditional one was the market in Anyang (a suburb of Seoul). The most common findings in a traditional market is some street foods, old lady clothes, and a lot of fresh produce, like ginger.  Korea is semi-famous for its ginger, and its people believe ginger is very beneficial to one's health.

I'm not sure if they have these in the U.S. but Seoul has many puppy and cat cafes. I got to visit a puppy cafe where you sip on cafe drinks and play with puppies. It helped me to not miss Kobi (my shih-tzu) as much. 

I have one week left of my trip! I have definitely learned many things about Eastern culture, and even some of my friends even say I'm kind of turning Asian. We all laugh at that because I am so clearly Western looking. Anyways, soon it will be time to come home so I must enjoy my last days in Asia!

Alix