DMZ

I went on a trip through Adventure Korea to the Demilitarized Zone with Kelly, Stephanie, Catherine and Erin. The DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is a buffer zone in between North and South Korea. It is about 4 km wide and 248 km long. Our first stop was the freedom bridge. This area is called Imjingak and it is as far as civilians can go to the North by themselves without permission. Imjingak was built to console those who had to leave their homes in the North. It has a Manngbaedan, an altar where those who cannot go back to their homes get together and pray for their ancestors on New year's day or Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving day). A Peace Bell was put in wishing for the unification between the two Koreas. We walked on the Freedom Bridge where the sign says, “The train wants to run". The Freedom Bridge was also used for exchanging the prisoners after the Korean War.















I also got to see Kesung city from the Dora observatory. This is the second largest city in North Korea. It was hard to get a picture of North Korea because we were only allowed to take pictures behind the yellow line. Some tourists took pictures in front of the line and got their cameras taken away by the Korean military. I got to see the "Propaganda village" Kijongdong designed to give visitors the impression that North Korea is a prosperous nation meanwhile no one lives there and it is purely for show. It also has the tallest flagpole in the world with the North Korean flag. Daesungdong is the freedom village of South Korea. This village actually has some people living in it and they get exempted from military service as well as tax cuts from the government.



















This is me pushing the North and South together. I also got to go down into the 3rd North Korean infiltration tunnel. This tunnel would allow about 10 000 armed or 30 000 unarmed soldiers to invade Seoul within one hour. The South has discovered 4 tunnels but this one is the closest to Seoul. It's pretty crazy that Korea is the only divided coutry in the world. At the end of the trip we went to the Dorasan border train station, which is the last station in the South but the first station towards the North. Hopefully the train will someday run through North Korea.

Insadong and Changdeok Palace

Meghan, Catherine and I ventured out to Insadong last weekend. It is a very cute and very artsy community in Seoul. There are tons of little art shops, craft stores, tea houses, and restaurants. We all bought skirts and postcards (which are coming your way soon). It was a wicked way to spend the afternoon.
We also happened to see a break dancing show in the middle of it all. The Koreans were pulling out some crazy moves but it was hard to capture it on camera. Meghan left us for some cooler friends so Catherine and I went to....
Changdeok Palace. We took a guided tour with an English speaking tour guide because its the only way to see the Palace. The entire property is over 100 acres and its located in the middle of the city. We had a great time at the palace and then got a little lost in the city. Korean people were coming up to us and asking if they could help us find what we are looking for. Everyone here is so nice and helpful.

This pond is in the shape of a square with a circular island in the middle. The square is a symbol for Earth and the circle is a symbol for heaven. I guess they believed that heaven was on Earth.

Yuldong Park

This is Yuldong Park. It's about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. You just have to follow the canal all the way down to the man made lake. It may not be a real lake but the mountains make this a beautiful place to hang out. There is a path all the way around the lake and lots of little cafe's and bars along the way. There is also a bungee tower that offers a frequent jumper card (your 6th jump is on them)... I can't wait to take the plunge! Catherine and I had a great time at the park. I have a feeling I am gonna be spending a lot of time there.

Two weeks flew by...

So I have been in Korea for over two weeks now and I am really getting adjusted to living here. At first everything was looking the same and I needed someone to escort me everywhere but now I feel comfortable venturing out on my own. This is my roomie Allison. She is from Nova Scotia and a great girl all around. We have a lot of similarities and get along really well so I will be sad to see her go in 6 weeks, which is when her contract is over.








I also got a visit from Meghan, my good buddy that I met in the East coast. This was girls night in Itaewon at Gecko's and the Rocky Mountain Tavern followed by some dancing at the Loft. It's crazy to see Meghan in Korea because it feels like just yesterday we were making plans to come here and now we are both actually here.
This is what Seoul looks like from high above!! This is definitely the biggest city I have ever lived in.
They have a lot of communities filled with tall apartment buildings. They have maps of the buldings so that you don't get lost. It's unbelievable how many people this city actually holds.

I'm in Korea!

I'm in Korea. I have been here for a little over a week and it's still a little sureal. I am having a great time and meeting tons of new people from all over the world. This is a picture of the school where I will be teaching for the next year. I's a 5 minute walk from my appartment. I am living in the city of Bundang, which is a 20 minute bus ride from downtown Seoul.





Everything is so bright and colourful here. You always have to look up and try to focus because there are a lot of shiny things that can easily distract you. This is me and Catherine at Samsung Plaza. It's a huge shopping plaza about a 20 minute walk from my house. There are tons of really good restaurants and bars. This is the night we went out to Monkey beach (a Thai bar) and had buckets. There is no last call here!!