Couple of things I forgot...

A couple of things I forgot to mention in the previous post:

The picture of the memorial to the soldiers killed trying to cut down a tree; here is some further explanation...The blue pagoda building was originally a gaurd post, and the soldiers line of sight was blocked by this massive tree, so they took a group of three civilian workers and eight soldiers out to cut the tree down one day. They were met by approximately 30 NK soldiers, and were attacked. They were grossly outnumbered, and the NK soldiers massacred them with axes...Yeah. Pretty fricking grissly...so they put this memorial in the exact place of the tree. The commander of the unit, who was killed, was named Boniface, hence the name Camp Boniface. The blue building, as I said, marks the Southern side of the Bridge of No Return, which is where an exchange of prisoners took place after the war. The soldiers were allowed to walk across the bridge to the side of their choice, but they could never return to the country they were departing from.

Another thing I should have explained further...the soldier that is facing the builing where it looks lie he is peeing...he is actually only half exposed to the other side. They do this so that they make smaller targets for gunfire, and so that, if they are struck by a bullet, it is only on the side of their body, and therefore, less likely to be fatal. Scary, huh?

I also completely forgot to mention "Freedom Village," the South's version of "Propoganda Village" in the North. No, propoganda is not played all day long, but it is a symbol in and of itself. The people that live here farm land within the DMZ, under heavy military guard. They have government permission and endorsement to live here, as they are direct decendents of the people who lived in the original village before the war. They are exempt from the mandatory military service, and their land and income is tax-free. Women can marry into the village, but men cannot, because of the exemption from military duty, which is a compulsory two years in South Korea. The villagers have to be inside the village by nightfall, must be inside their homes with lights off and all windows and doors secured by midnight, and must live in the village a minimum of 8 months out of the year, to maintain their residency status. The village is patrolled nightly by a contingent of soldiers, both American and ROK.

Final thing I forgot to explain...the flag flying above "Propoganda Village." Sometime back, a flag pole totalling 100 meters in height was donated to "Freedom Village" and was considerably taller than the one in "PV." The North Korean Government promptly erected a flag pole totalling 160 meters in "PV." The flag that flies on this flag pole is 30 meters long and weighs and estimated 600 lbs. When it was first erected, it took upwards of 30 men to raise the flag, and had to be taken down in severe weather as its own weight would cause the tower to topple. Later a motor was installed to raise the enormous flag. It is currently the tallest flag pole in the world.

The DMZ!

Wow! Can I say that again? Wow! What an incredible trip and experience this was! I had the most amazing time, and mad props to the USO for putting together such a great tour! We visited Camp Boniface, the JSA (Joint Security Area), The Dora Observatory, the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, and of course the DMZ (demilitarized zone). It was about an hour and 15 minute bus ride from Seoul, which is nice to know, so, in case of invasion from the North, I have a little over an hour to get the heck out of the city! But anyways, there was super tight security getting in, and a ton of soldiers, both ROK (Republic of Korea), and American forces. We were met by our DMZ official tour guide, a Sgt. Bisnett (who was from Bisbee AZ--small world, huh?), at the gate, and he escorted us to Ballinger Hall inside Camp Boniface, for a 15 minute briefing on the history and current status of the DMZ, given by our other guide, another Sgt. (He wasn't as cute, so I forgot his name!) After the briefing, we piled onto buses provided by the military, and drove up to the actual DMZ and the JSA. As we drove, we were not allowed to take pictures, which sucked because we passed anti-tank walls, mine fields, and lots of soldiers with guns and other fun stuff! But then we got up to the JSA, and things became even more surreal. There were ROK soldiers everywhere, and they were all armed to the teeth, and wore these crazy dark aviator glasses, and many of them stood in the Tae Kwon Do first readiness postion. They looked fierce! We were told this was the intention, as they were constantly being observed by the NK soldiers, and therefore put on the most intimidating postures possible! I laughed at first, but then realized that this actually made sense, and in a situation as serious as this one, it was probably very neccessary. As we walked out of the main JSA building, we stood on the stairs of the building, and looked across at the Northern side. From here, we could see a single NK soldier standing on the top of the stairs for the reciprocal NK building to the one we were standing on. We were also told that in the darkened window to the left of the soldier, there was another NK soldier fully armed and wathcing us with binoculars. Can I just say that this was a totally cool feeling to know that someone was scoping us with 'nocs? Kind of gave ya crazy goosebumps. Anyhow, the JSA included several blue shack-type buildings, which had been hastily built when the Armistice talks began. These buildings rested on the actual border line between the North and the South, being half in one, and half in the other. Between the buildings, the line was shown with concrete slabs. Inside the buildings, a table rested in the middle, with speakers for the translators, and a small flag indicating the exact border line. Inside the building that we entered, there were two ROK soldiers, both in a readiness position, and at full alert. They did not move, nor seem to shift their gaze. We were told not to touch them or attempt to walk behind them. They were both black belts in Tae Kwon Do, and their force was the most intelligent of all the soldiers in the ROK army...basically, they were the best of the best. They were incredibly impressive.

So, after we left the JSA, we took the military buses up towards the actual DMZ and border line. From here, we were surrounded by Communist North Korea on three sides, because the DMZ curves and is not straight. It was amazing. There was a watch tower that NK soldiers were watching us from and you could see all kinds of military buildings. We also had a nice view of "Propaganda Village." This is a small city on the NK side of the border, that was dubbed "Propaganda Village" because they used to play Kim Jong Il propoganda 12 to 16 hours a day over loud speakers. The tour guide told us that they used to be able to hear it at night at camp Boniface, and Johnny told me that when he was stationed here a few years ago, and took the tour, he heard it as well. Crazy, huh?

After this, we went to the Dora Observatory, where we could look through scopes and see approximately 17 kilometers into NK. I was so excited, because not only did I get to see actual NK soldiers, armed and moving about their gaurd post, looking back at me through binnoculars, I saw some dude riding a bike...it was just so random, and normal, ya know?

Lastly we visited the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. I'm not going to go into its history too much, as you would learn more to look it up yourself, but the short of it is that South Korea found the tunnels after a series of drilling searches, just as the North Koreans was past the actual border, in South Korea. We walked down a half mile, 80 (I may be exaggerating a little, but it was hello-steep) degree angled ramp, hunched over for another long strech, and finally came to a creepy little cement door, right at the the border. We could see the the holes where the drills had gone, and the blast marks from the dynamite. It was crazy, but totally cool! Anyhow, I then had to walk back up that fricking ramp, proceeded to almost have a heart attack, then sat in the fresh air for a while, listening to Sly and the Family Stone. It was a fantastic trip. Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy!

The Everland Blog!

So, this past Saturday Christie, Jillian, and I went to Everland. It is this knock-off Disney Land that Koreans go ape over. It was actually really fun except for...it was wicked cold, there were way too many fricking people, and everything that was supposedly representing the "culture" of America was so incredily stereotypical, it was ridiculous. Ok...imagine you just walked into the WORST chinese food restraunt a po-dunk midwestern town has to offer. Now imagine the horribly gaudy chintz that would provide the decor for such a place. Take that level of gaudiness, and color over every stereotype of America that you can think of--from cowboys and indians to circus performances...ok, you now have an idea of the level of stereotyping that went into Everland's representation of "western culture!" It was almost too hilarious to be insulting! Almost...But other than that...it was really fun! Here are some slideshows of pictures, as well as some video! Hope you enjoy! And make sure you pay particular attention to my new FAVORITE accessory! Don't fear the Pink Bear!

The Park itself! EVERLAND

Some shots from the day!

The super-fun spinning ride! So much fun!

And now a short video demonstrating the fun!



So, this next part is great...I conquered and tamed the rare and elusive Giant Panda!

Here is video proof of my "Wild Animal Tamer" skills! I'm like the next Jack Hannah! LOL!



And for the final touch, we closed the night out at our neighborhood bar, and our friend Jiro went and bought us Pepero (it was Pepero day...which is kind of like Valentine's Day, only the boys give the girls these chocolate covered biscuits). When we got there, Jiro and his friend snuck out of the bar, to the local store on the corner and bought us Pepero! It was so sweet!



OK...so I hope you enjoyed all the picture fun! Post lots of comments about my fabulousness!

An Adventurous Weekend: Part 1

So, I had a really fun weekend! I am breaking it into three parts...LOL! This first part is of mine and Christie's trip to World Cup Stadium! The morning of the day we visited it, USA beat Canada in the Queen Peace Cup. So the flags of the nations were still up, and we were very excited to get pics of our respective flags! Isn't the stadium amazing? It was really cool beacue it was all opened and we were able to just wander through. The grass was so green!

An Adventurous Weekend: Part 2

After we wandered around the stadium for awhile, we trekked over to World Cup Stadium Park! It is so big, you have to take shuttles to the different parts (there are like 4 parks in total). The one that we were closest to, and really wanted to see was, unfortunately (or, if you are me, thankfully) closing just as we approached. Check out the stairs you have to climb to get to the actual park, and all of the people. So I took some shots on the way out, instead!

An Adventurous Weekend: Part 3

On Sunday, after service, Christie and I went bowling with some freinds from our church. We then hopped the subway to Yeoinaru and rode bicycles along the Han river! Mine was pink, of course! Took some beautiful shots of the water and the city! Enjoy!

Me Teaching!

This is one of my little K-5's (4year olds), Alli. We are reading "A Party." She is a little giggle box usually, and laughs all through class. I was a little sad that she didn't smile here, but she was sick this day.


Another K-5, Chelsey. Also reading...Isn't she adorable? She is my little "princess!" Total girly-girl!


My third K-5, Tara. She has the cutest curly hair...


One of my K-7's (6 years old), Calvin. Aren't we cute doing our little chant?

Another K-7, Eric. What is up with my hair? This kid is adorable, and gives me kisses all the time when he comes to class!

Joshi, my "problem" child. He has some behavioural issues, but he is so smart. And he is just so sweet. Except that he has an unwholesome fascination with my boobs, and grabs them several times a week when I am least expecting it! Kind of creepy...


My only girl in my K-7 class, Kelly. She is incredibly smart, and blows the three boys out of the water. She is also a little instigator, and gets the boys all riled up on a regular basis...what a clever girl!