Goodbye Korea, hello...destination #2!

Although the crew and I have moved on to our second destination, we are operating under some tight security regulations, so I can’t publicly reveal our current location. Unfortunately, you are all going to have to wait until we reach destination #3 in a few weeks before I can tell you about all of my amazing experiences here!

But as I mentioned before, we were lucky enough to visit the Korean Demilitarized Zone on our last day in Korea, which is the 4km x 247km buffer zone between the North and South. I’ll admit that nothing about the fieldtrip really interested me when I heard about it -  it seemed like a really weird tourist spot. But I’m so glad I went.

That's North Korea right there! Behind the yellow line.

Our tour guide was so bubbly and delightful and endearingly disheveled J And she was so proud of her country. I chatted with her on the bus on the way back from our tour and she told me about herself. She pretty much taught herself to speak English and became nationally certified as a tour guide after graduating from college. Her father has siblings who were trapped in North Korea during the war. Her family still wonders whether they are alive. It was fascinating to hear about the war from someone who was so personally affected.

Here is some pretty basic history about South Korea and the DMZ that I learned on our tour:

• The Korean Peninsula has always been an area of dispute as it is a port country between Japan and China. There have been wars all over the Peninsula for thousands of years.
• After WWII the Soviet Union occupied the northern region so as to keep some communist control in the Peninsula. The United States occupied the south.
• South Korea began free democratic elections, while the soviets nominated Kim Il-sung as leader in the North.
• Kim Jong Il, Sung’s oldest son, takes over after Sung’s death.
• Kim Jong Il is a cray-cray-crazy.
• He apparently has multiple wives and illegitimate children, whom North Koreans are not allowed to speak of.
• His government seeks beautiful women to be taken and trained as “dancers” for the government leaders.
• Kim Jong Il’s birthday is a national holiday in North Korea.
• It is illegal to fold a newspaper or magazine if the crease happens to bisect a picture of Kim Jon Il.

I realize this all may not be 100% true, considering where it came from and the limited communication that North Korea has with the outside world. But nevertheless, the whole situation is pretty mindblowing.

The most surreal part of the tour was a “village” in North Korea that is visible from the south. 

South Korean nicknames this village “Propaganda Village.” Until 2004, public speakers in this village would continuously play recordings of propaganda about the prosperity and happiness in North Korea with the knowledge that it was within earshot of the South. They hoped to convince the South Koreans to move North. Crazytown. For real.

Even weirder is the fact that the village is nothing but dozens of skeleton buildings – no floors, no doors, no furnishings. Only walls, windows and lights. No one lives there! The buildings are kept up by a skeleton crew and made to look real in order to preserve the illusion of activity and prosperity.

That was probably my favorite part of the tour. Afterwards, we had a great Bulgogi lunch. 

I like the communal aspect of Korean food. Everything is cooked together and taken from the same pot. Everyone is always reaching over the table with their chopsticks for the side dishes. There aren’t really even individual plates for each person. It felt weird to me at first. But I got into it.

I can’t wait to tell you more about what’s currently going on with me, but I have to wait. I’ll give you a hint though: big Buddhas, bunk beds, and bathroom troubles. Get ready!