Im here

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Yesterday the 18th of March I finally landed in the buzzing city of Seoul, South Korea. I was met by a familiar face and a great big hug. And after a quick money exchange we were off. It took about an hour to get into the city and to Jennifer’s apartment by bus and subway. It flew by as Jen and I filled each other in on the events of lives in the past year. When I arrived it was 3am my time and only 6pm here. So to try and make my jet lag minimal I took a shower and we headed out for a few cold ones. Jens boyfriend Jason, a world traveler from England, joined us and we drank beer, ate interesting things on a stick and had informative conversation till around 12:30am. By this time I was feeling like I was on a boat and really needed to get some shut eye. And so I did.

The apartments here a very small, there are almost no houses in the city and lots of high rises. It is a far more developed city than Edmonton, I was quite surprised. Most of the young people speak English and few of the elderly. There is a little bit of English on the subway and they use the same numbers so it’s okay getting around. Ah that’s a lie, Id be completely lost without Jen. This is a very developed country though, especially in comparison to there neighboring country North Korea. It is actually almost like a little island here because you absolutely cannot cross the boarder into North Korea. They will shoot you down when you’re caught up in the barbed wire fence that strings all along the boarder. There are man posts all along as well, each manned by 2 armed militants, and I guess you’re not supposed to take pictures of them. I got some anyways, I know I’m bad.

Today was a great day; we got the opportunity to be guided by long time locals to the Demilitarized Zone at Imjingang. It was with a man Mr. Lee; Jen does English lessons with (a CEO for KSwiss) and his wife. They were very hospitable and informative. It was quite interesting seeing I didn't come here with much knowledge of the country and there bad blood with North Korea. I guess it’s not really the people, it’s the communist leader of North Korea wanting to keep his people sheltered form the ever evolving world. North Korea will not allow entry to any citizens from the US or South Korea. It’s really sad because a lot of the people living here are from the north and came here seeking refuge when the war was alive and there country was in complete chaos around the 1950's. They estimate between civilians and military there were around 2 million casualties in the 3 year war. Anyways, now there is absolutely no boarder crossing permitted and they have troops from the US that live here year round to keep the peace. Crazy hey, so we checked it out and then Mr. and Mrs. Lee brought us to a traditional restaurant where we had a very interesting lunch served in very many little dishes. I found it somewhat odd that we all ate out of the same dishes with our metal chop sticks, a lot of germ swappin goin on. I had never tried any food like it before and really enjoyed most of it. They seem to like raw baby seafood, there was baby baby octopus and then crab legs you sucked the insides out of. It wasn’t really bad just weird a little. And after that little cultural experience we headed back to the city.
Now we are just relaxing at Jens apartment looking into what we will fill our day with tomorrow. Till next time......

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Photos

Demilitarized Zone
Memorial Altar

Demilitarized Zone
Peace Bell

DMZ
this is where Koreans hang messages to family's and people in the north expressing there greif and hopes to re-unite

DMZ
the guards I wasnt supposed to take a pic of. La da da

DMZ
Mr and Mrs. Lee

DMZ
Peace Bell

DMZ
Train that used to pass through to North Korea

DMZ
They have these all along the boarder of Korea, about every km or 2

Comments

[Song]

Wecome to Korea!!
Welcome to Korea! Hi ~ I am Song, Korean national live in west coast. I read your travel essay, while i was searching my next travel destination. I hope you enjoy Korea while you are here.

[Rob Crozier]

Hi
Saw your name, I dont bump into too many Crozier's. Dont know if we're related but have a fun time. My parents are from Scotland and immigrated to Canada then to California via Australia. We all like to travel still, must be in the Crozier blood. Let me know if you want to send a message sometime.

[Megan Crozier]

Hey Rob
You'll have to sent me a message, not comment, and thay I can reply direct to you:) I'd be interesting to know seeing as I don't know much about my fathers side, it's possibly we could be related!

[Reggie]

for Philippine trip
Hello! I am reggie penamora from the Philippines. If you are interested in going around the country, you can ask me. I've been around quite well and I know the places where you can find cheap accomodations and peaceful places. By the way my email address is [e-mail]. Hope to hear from you! reggie