Seoul

Seoul has been an interesting experience, and in many ways very different from what I expected. Instead of staying in a hostel, meeting other foreigners, and wandering about the city to different sites and markets, I have spent most of my time getting to know a group of Chinese students who are learning Korean. They are friends of one of my friends from Hong Kong who has been studying abroad in Seoul and 3 of the guys have been kind enough to let me stay at their place. Like when visiting other friends throughout China and Korea I have felt less like a traveler and more like a resident. Yet I have also been able to tour the city and experience much of what Seoul has to offer. In many ways I have been able to get the best of both worlds.

Living with and hanging out with the Chinese students has allowed me to practice my Chinese before returning to China as well as experience Chinese cultural elements as much as I would be able to in China. And on top of all this, I have been able to taste some incredible home-made Chinese cooking that one of the guys I have been living with is able to so professionally prepare. I have also had the chance to share some American culture with them. On one of the nights I was lucky enough to be able to prepare one of the only dishes I know, spaghetti with meat and veggie sauce. It was pretty funny watching everyone put the spaghetti in small bowls, pick it up with chopsticks, and slurp it into their mouths like a noodle soup. It was the first time I was able to really appreciate the Chinese concept that the louder you eat the more of a complement it is to the chef.

Yet getting to know the Chinese students has mostly only occupied my nights here. During the day I have toured the sights of Seoul, including the national palace, associated museums, all sorts of markets, and my favorite site of all, the demilitarized zone (DMZ). I have always been fascinatd by the division of North and South Korea, and have always wanted to tour the line that cuts the peninsula in two. Early this morning I set out on a tour set up by the United Service Organizations Inc., better known as the USO. We were thrown right into the heart of it all, as the first sight we saw was the Joing Security Area (JSA), where North and South Korean forces stand face to face and where military negotiations have previously been held between the North Korean forces and the United Nations Command (UNC). As soon as we entered the sight we could see the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas, and on the other side a North Korean building where a guard was staring at us through binoculars. Next, we entered the UN building where negotiations between the two sides took place. After our tour group had moved throughout the building the American Army soldier who was leading the tour informed us that this building actually sat on the MDL dividing the peninsula, and the area where I was standing was technically in North Korea. Pretty wild.

The next sight we saw was an observation tower allowing us to see approximately 27km into North Korean territory. I spent a while looking through the provided binoculars staring down the propaganda village where no one actually lives, the world's tallest flagpole, and an industrial complex where South Korean companies have set up factories employed by North Korean labor. The last part of the tour consisted of walking through part of one of the 4 tunnels that North Korea secretly tried to build under the DMZ and towards Seoul. All around, it was an absolutley fascinating tour. If I ever have the money and time I would love to visit the North. It is just an incredibly mind-blowing country.

Tonight is my last night in Seoul and tomorrow I depart for China by the same ferry that took me here. I will miss Korea but am pumped to began digging into China.

Also, I have finally uploaded my photos to facebook and they can be publicly viewed. For the South Korea album go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274122&id=10614491&l=a2f877ed6d

For the Hong Kong and Mainland China album go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267105&id=10614491&l=71c6bdca62