DMZ is the place to be!!!!

Still no internet but I have such a backlog of posts right now that it's ridiculous. I can never complain that life is boring here. So much weird shit happens on a daily basis that it's unbelievable. Say what you will about the Chinese, but they are excellent writing fodder.

Ok I’m going to continue with my Korean adventure and tie up this loose end (by the way, this is a momentous occasion in the history of this blog: I’m actually going to finish a story that I promised to tell. I don’t think this has ever happened before. I know I’ve been promising a Spring Break 2007 story for a year now. I only wrote half of the St. Patty’s Day post. I never finished my series Mass Turnpike Memorial posts, yet here I am finishing up on Korea. I’m patting myself on the back right now [which is making typing rather hard...]). Anyway, we left off after a rather uninspiring day two where I saw a bunch of cool stuff... and was able to document none of it owing to my lack of a functioning camera. Bad times. :-( (yea, I just typed an emoticon, what are you going to do about it?).

However, at the beginning of Day 3 (TGIF!), things were looking up. I had an extra bounce in my step that morning because my long awaited (and much derided) trip to the DMZ. I woke up extra early (like 630...) because I was told I was going to be picked up in my hotel lobby at 715. I woke up and quickly went outside to go to the ATM to make sure I had enough money for the day and to get something to eat. I step outside and it’s raining. Of course I’m not wearing my raincoat so I got soaked. I walked across the street to the Citibank (one of the few global ATM locations in Seoul) to withdraw money. Unfortunately, it wouldn't accept my card, even though it's a global ATM. I was a little worried but decided to walk down the street to see if there was another ATM and because on this street was a stand that sold hotteok (kinda like a toasted piece of pita bread made with cinnamony goodness. ABsolutely delicious). Unfortunately, the stand didn’t open until 8 so I was wet, breakfastless, and a tad cash strapped since there were no other ATMs on that street. I was kinda pissed at this point since it just kinda seemed like everything was lining up against me (which is rare since I feel like I often have good luck *knock on wood*). I walked back to the hotel and decided to try the Citibank again since I couldn’t find another ATM. The doors were magically unlocked! I got some cash then went across the street to McDonald’s to indulge myself in a Sausage McMuffin with Egg since I knew the tour did not include lunch. At this point it was 710 so I ran back to the hotel and quickly up to my room to change out of my wet clothes and get my raincoat. I got back to the lobby just at 715 and sat down with my food and some reading material.

After finishing the food and reading for a bit, I looked up and realized it was 730. Either they were late or I’d somehow missed the tour (which would’ve led to a homicidal rampage). I started getting really antsy around 735, not to mention pissed that I unnecessarily woke up so early. Finally at 745 someone entered the lobby and asked me if I was going on the DMZ Tour. She was lucky she looked almost like Sun from Lost otherwise I probably would’ve snapped at her. Anyway, I entered the tour van. The other people on the tour were a Chinese Malaysian couple and an older American couple from Nebraska with their son, who was stationed at one of the bases in Korea. The mother was a moron. She wouldn't shut up, and didn't seem to understand any type of cultural difference. When talking about dialects, specifically relating to China and Korea, and how it's nearly impossible to understand different dialects, she tried to claim to that Boston people pronouncing car 'cah' was on the same level. I wanted to slap her and, in retrospect, probably should have.

The DMZ was one of the coolest things I've ever done. When they dropped us off, I FINALLY found a souvenir shop with disposable cameras. $20 later, I had two cameras. Thank you Korea for finally accepting my dirty American money. Anyway, back to the relevant topic, tours at the DMZ have to consolidate into larger groups so they can be more easily controlled. In that same vein, there are rules on time limits in certain spots and on where and when you can pictures. You also have to pass through a security checkpoint to enter and there are men with machine guns everywhere. It's probably best I didn't have a working digital camera with me, because I definitely would've broken those rules and incurred the wrath of a soldier...

They showed us a short movie and exhibit before we descended into one of the tunnels the North Koreans burrowed. We walked a steep incline down, then we were allowed to walk like 400m in the tunnel and were actually under the DMZ. It was really cool. The tunnel itself was dark and damp, the rain was making water drip all over the place. We were required to wear hard hat helmets because the roof was very low (I guess North Korean soldiers aren’t very tall) and people kept hitting their heads on the ceiling supports (even me! I felt tall for 15 minutes!). In the tunnel itself, I got yelled at for trying to walk into a restricted area. There weren’t signs (in English at least...) and it looked well lit, so I thought I could go that way even though everyone else was walking in the other direction. I was wrong. Back on the right path, we saw the 3rd line of defense if the North Koreans ever decided to rush the tunnel. It was a bunch of wooden boards and barbed wire. Apparently there are two more even more highly secured lines of defense further along. I hung back and tried to see through a hole in the boards. It was kinda creepy being alone in the tunnel that far into the DMZ. After getting back to the surface, I got my picture taken next to a land mine! Unfortunately it’s on the disposable, so I’ll need to find a way to get that online. It’s probably not as cool as it sounds, but I think the picture is awesome. We were herded back onto the buses and went to the lookout point. Unfortunately it was rainy, but I did get to see into North Korea, including looking at a guard post that was trained on where we were standing! I may have even had a gun pionted at me! You could see the 3rd largest city in North Korea in the distance (can’t remember the name), the deserted North Korean village in the DMZ itself, and the largest state flag pole in the world, belonging to the North Koreans. As I already explained, we weren't allowed to go to the South Korean village inside the DMZ nor the Joint Security Area; apparently there was an incident last month so it's closed. Hearing the South Koreans talk about the North, they're really bitter about the split and blame the US/USSR for it, but at the same time, they're heavily anti-North Korean government. Anyway, it was awesome. I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone.

The last stop on the tour was the train station that links the North and South. One train runs daily, though they hope eventually the line will run to Seoul and the station will be bustling. Now it’s just a random tourist stop. Very clean though.

After returning to Seoul, I went to an electronics market to finally buy a new battery (the one that the girl recommended the night before). The process started poorly. Apparently I couldn't bargain there, and I didn't understand the sales guy. He was trying to chrage me 60,000 won (about $60US) for a camera battery, which I thought was ridiculous, especially when I thought he was saying it only cost him 3000 won to buy. I wanted to pay him 10,000 won, which was still overpriced, but I was willing to let it go to get what I wanted. He refused to sell it to me. I was getting pissed off again since he wouldn’t let me bargain and I thought he was being an ass. I was about to leave and so exasperated that I asked him in Chinese if he spoke Chinese. He looked at me weirdly, so I asked again. He said he is Chinese and how do I know Chinese. Immediately happy times ensued and we had a conversation in Mandarin (college wasn’t a waste of time! HUZZAH!). I remember alot more than I thought I did. I understood 95% of what he was saying and he knew everything I was saying. I finally bought a charger and not a battery (since the battery wasn’t charged out of the package, there was no reason to buy a battery for 60,000 won and a charger for 30,000 won when I already had a dead battery that could be charged, so I saved myself $30US in the process). I ate some dumpling soup (a Korean speciality) for lunch then came back to my room and put the battery the wrong way in the charger so it wound up not charging...

That night I was tired but realized it was my last night in Korea so I went to Itaewon, the foreigner district. I was unimpressed. It was early (like 730)and rainy, but I thought it was boring, so I got myself a shirt and left quickly. I had no interest in spending time with foreigners and the market there was nowhere near as good as the Silk Market. Most of the stuff they were selling was crap. I ate some dumplings and wound up at a jazz bar, which was a ton of fun, though kinda pricy (thanks Lonely Planet for sending me to a place where I spent twice as much as I’d anticipated!).

So I think I’ve gone on long enough for this post. There will be ONE more installment of my Korean adventure coming soon! It’ll include my last half day in Seoul (with more linguistic confusion and me on suicide watch!), and my travails in the airports of two different countries (i.e. Beijing Capital fucks me with me again!).