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Published: November 25th 2008
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Peace Bell
For a small fee, you can ring the Peace Bell.
WTF?! WARNING: THIS MAY BE HIGHLY EDUCATIONAL
The Korean Demilitarized Zone is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle and is the most heavily armed border in the world. And that is where I was last weekend. Kinda.
A few friends and I decided to do something different for a change and went on a day trip to the DMZ. We started off going to ImjinGak, which is as far as civilians can go to the North by themselves without permission. It was built to console those who had to leave their homes in the North. In ImjinGak there was the Peace Bell which was put there in 2000 as a wish for peace and unification between the two Koreas. We were also able to walk along the Freedom Bridge, which was used to exchange prisoners after the Korean War.
After we left ImjinGak, we headed to Unification Village for lunch. Before entering, a soldier had to come on the bus to check our passports/alien cards. It was kind of
Peace Bell
In ImjinGak there was the Peace Bell which was put there in 2000 as a wish for peace and unification between the two Koreas. scary to have someone check out things. After the soldier got off the bus, my friend snapped a photo of a soldier out of the window. All of the sudden the bus stops and another soldier gets on and come to the back of the bus where we are sitting and asks us if we took a picture, then he watched us delete it. Our tour guide seemed a bit shaky afterwards. Opps…. However, I was a bit sneakier and was able to get two shots, one of the soldier while he was heading off the bus. Hahahaha…
The next stop was the 3rd infiltration tunnel. It was discovered in 1978, years after the Korean War ended. It is a tunnel that was dug by North Korea in hopes to infiltrate into the south. This tunnel would allow about 10,000 armed or 30,000 unarmed soldiers to invade Seoul within one hour! Sneaky suckers… We headed downhill in the tunnel for about 300 meters to reach the North Korean infiltration tunnel. (about 240 feet down) Then we had to head back uphill! ^_^
After the tunnel, we headed to Dora observatory, to get a view of the North Korean
DMZ and Kesung, North Korea’s second largest city. It was so strict up there; there was even a yellow line where we needed to be behind when we took pictures. My power zoom camera did ok…
The last stop was to tour Dorasan Train Station, which is the last station to the north in South Korea. Next stop: Pyeongyang, North Korea. There were soldiers at the entrance onto the platform. They let us go onto the platform to take pictures, it was kind of weird seeing signs to North Korea and playing on train tracks.
It was a long day, but interesting and educational. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to make it into North Korea!
On another note, my last day of classes at my old branch was on Friday. It was pretty sad to say good bye to my students. I never thought that I would miss them so much. I gave a few of my students my phone number to keep in touch…now I know why I didn’t do it earlier. They have been texting all weekend. But I guess it’s their own way of showing me that they miss me. A lot of the
Freedom Bridge
The Freedom Bridge, was used to exchange prisoners after the Korean War. coworkers when out on Friday night for drinks, I never realized how much I would miss them either. When people started to leave, I started to bawl. Maybe it was the drinks or just everything that’s going on in life, but it was sad to think that it would probably be the last time I would hang out with all of them. ~_~
This was the first three day weekend I’ve had in a few months, it was nice. Last night, my friend and I went to get our nails done and in the middle of it, we had a brilliant idea to get a massage. We’ve both been stressed with work and felt that we deserved it. So we went to a few places and they were closed. Finally we found one that was open and she called to see if we needed reservations. The receptionist noticed her feminine voice and politely let her know that this massage place only served men. EKKK!!! Good thing we called before going up. We finally found a legit place, but they only had Traditional Thai massages. Neither of us had tried it and decided what the heck…it was kind of painful
but in an awesome way! I’m definitely going back.
The next few weeks are still up in the air. I’ve been doing some training sessions and meeting some interesting people each week. Other than that, I’m just taking it easy and for the moment living a day at a time. I talked to my parents today, and I was so sure that I would be heading back in February/March, but hearing about the economy and the difficulties people are having to find a job makes me think if I should stay here a bit longer. But then I think there are always going to be excuses to keep me from starting school and “real life”. I’ll figure things out. Life always seems to work itself out.
Peace and love.
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Erica
non-member comment
Love it!
Hey Susan, Thanks for the history lesson. I absolutely loved it and would like to learn more about North and South Korea. You look so amazing in all of our pictures, and I hope that you're doing just as well. Also, remember, that whenever you do decide to come back, we'll be happily waiting for you. Much love! MWAH, MWAH, MWAH...