Blogs from DMZ, South Korea, Asia - page 3

Snow is like a lot of girls I’ve known, beautiful but mostly just a pain in the ass. Similarly, the longer they hang around, the less the initial beauty matters and the more the pain in the ass part bothers you. Finally my blogging fame is growing, as I became travelblog’s “Unknown blogger of the week.” The message cited this particular blog, which doesn’t seem any more genius laden than the others, but that’s still a lot of genius. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/Santa-Marta/blog-348623.html The Kindle has not helped extend my attention span, you can get the first 30 or so pages free via wireless of EVERY book they have. I’ve read the beginning of like 40 books since I’ve got it, and only finished one, very short, book. You know a girl is really into you when she brings ... read more

I get complimented on my complete and utter dominance of chopsticks a lot over here and I have to give a shout out to Teh Yu Sun and our 2nd grade field trip to her family’s restaurant, The Mandarin. The ultimate maneuvers are creating a sushi roll without your hands and eating fish while removing the bones from your mouth with the chopsticks. Speaking of chopsticks, I broke my one day Asian ding sighting record, with six in one day, including a totally naked old dude who kindly helped me open my jammed locker. That’s not a metaphor. Have you ever beaten a homeless guy mercilessly? Of course, we all have. Do you know where you learn those ‘hurt the already wounded’ ‘kick a man while he’s down’ instincts? Middle school. They wear white makeup on ... read more

DMZ Tour..... most would say what is that? We thought the same thing and weren't really interested at first then our curiosity got the best of us. Since we are Americans we can't go to North Korea, but then again why would we want to. It is such an unknown area and also the government does so many cruel things to its citizens we learned more while in Seoul from fliers being handed out in the streets. We figured it would be a once in a lifetime experience and this is what this whole year in Asia is about. We learned so much more about the Korean War than either of us remember being taught in school. I personally don't remember much being taught about this war in grade, middle or high school. Unsure if the ... read more

Things have been pretty tough thus far, mostly due to my poor language skills and the fact that I still haven't forgiven them for Pearl Harbor. I arrived alive and well obviously. Korean Air is crazy nice, I watched four movies and the stewardesses were geishas who could've been air hostesses in the 60's. Plus I was in the middle of the middle aisle so I could pick what side I wanted to get my food and drinks from. Would I like a pack of peanuts even though I just got one from the other side? Absolutely. Is anyone else reminded of Tommy Boy waiting at the luggage carousel watching all the bags nicer than theirs go by? I feel like Koreans don't get enough credit for being tall, there are some Yao tall Koreans running ... read more

The Demilitarized Zone stands 4km wide and stretches the across the whole border between North and South Korea. The Joint Security Area is the only part of the DMZ that allows visitors. It is here that negotiations are carried out between the two sides and where the armistice is seen up close. Armed soldiers from both North and South Korea stand metres away from each other monitoring the ceasefire than has been in effect since 1953. The tension is so high you can see it, and it is not a good place to have diarrhoea. Unfortunately, I did. In a place where the slightest sudden move could quickly escalate into an international incident, I followed my tour with clenched buttocks hoping that I did not 'need to go'. It is quite a strict area, no jeans, ... read more