Trip to Korea

Here are some pictures:

Yes, that is an ad for Starcraft on the side of my plane. Apparently it is really big over there and they have stadium sized tournaments and game show type tournaments head-to-head… it was very interesting, I watched one on the plane.

This is a diorama of the morning when the North Koreans crossed the 38th Parallel to invade. This is a T-34 tank. Taken at the War Museum in Seoul… far more impressive in person.

Soldiers walking through the mountains (mountains are everywhere in Korea). A scene my grandfather would have witnessed many times.

A model of Panmunjom in the Demiliterized Zone: the three blue buildings are the UN buildings where talks gone on even today. On the left of the dotted white fence line is South Korea. On the right is North Korea. You will see later pictures of me in the middle blue building and back in front of the large building on the left, looking across the road into N. Korea.

This a piece of artwork in the museum. It is a teardrop shape hanging from the ceiling made of dogtags from fallen soldiers. The stuff wrapped around the ouside of it is barbed-wire.

Everyone had to go through security in a line… before meeting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. It wasn’t planned for us to meet them, but they happened to be coming the day we were there, so it was arranged for all the Americans (approx. 40 of us) to take pictures with Mrs. Clinton.

This is a photo of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Gates taken from my own camera. Professional photographers were on hand and got pictures of our whole group with them.

Here is the other photo. I am third to the right from Mrs. Clinton. To the immediate left of me is my roommate Lawrence. We joked that in his suit he looked just like President Obama.

This is the group I came with standing in the plaza where we watched Mrs. Clinton walk around. This group was all organized under Military Historical Tours. In the back is our guide, in the front, to the left of me, is his son.

All along the border of the Han River, from Seoul northward to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), was fortified with guardtowers and multiple rows of barbed-wire. It was odd to think that this was a normal sight and that the people in S. Korea just knew it to be normal… so near to where they live. Obviously, to an American, it was an alien thought.

The aforementioned UN blue buildings at Panmunjom… easily one of the eeriest experiences I have ever been through. One could feel the tension in the air. We had to wear certain clothes and we weren’t allowed to point or make gestures, as the N. Koreans were watching and taking pictures. We were told that if anything was to “happen” we needed to run to the buses and the military would get us out of there. (The line of concrete you can see in between the middle blue building is the official divider of the North and South Korean sides.)

Me standing next to a South Korean guard inside the middle UN building. Technically, I am in North Korea at this point because I am on their side of the room. The guards are very distinctive and intimidating. You can’t see their eyes and they stand motionless and expressionless. We were told not to get too close, as they were in a modified Tae Kwon Do pose and were ready for combat.

The only North Korean I saw there… apparently this guy is out there in all weather, at all times. I had to put full zoom on the camera, so the quality isn’t great. He is directly up the steps and to the left of the North Korean building’s doorway.

A photo of the South and North Korean soldiers in their traditional positions. It was very weird the way they just stood there and watched each other. The two countries are very much still at war, and it is evident upon visiting the DMZ, because only an armistice was signed. Like a ceasefire, NOT a peace treaty.

The streets of Seoul are very much alive, especially at night. We took a walk around one of the main shopping areas to have dinner one night. Some very interesting smells to be sure.

Two of our buses outside the Busan train station. Traffic over there is insane. I was amazed that we didn’t get into an accident. Merge first and look after seems to be the mindset… other people will get out of your way… it is just very different from the United States. Often it took us 40 minutes just to get a couple of miles around Seoul, there was so much traffic.

Part of the UN Cemetary in Busan. It was a beautiful, but very hot day.

A wall with names of all the dead at the Cemetary… much like the Vietnam Memorial in Washington.

I lay flowers at the foot of the US section of graves. No US war dead are buried at the cemetary; those that are buried there had made it their wish to be buried there after their deaths. This still occurs. Many are accompanied by their wives.

High rise apartments in Busan. I cannot stress enough how many high-rise apartment buildings there are in S. Korea. They do not end. There are thousands. 50+ million people have to live somewhere… and extreme few live in what Westerners would call houses. The economy there is ever increasing and construction on new buildings is taking place all of the time. But the high-rise apartment buildings are endless. It was quite a spectacle by itself.

Back in Seoul… a bike ride for peace. The official name of the program was Peace Camp for Youth 2010… Grandchildren of Korean War vets from all the nations who fought with the UN were invited, so it was very much an international event… like nothing I have ever experienced. The white balloons were doves which we let go into the air.

This is the stadium that hosted the 2002 Fifa World Cup. Big I guess, but not as big as I had expected. I am not much of a soccer fan either… I like to play it though. On our last full day we stayed at a youth hostel and I was able to play a large, international game of football with guys from all over the world. That was a cool experience! USA, England, Canada, New Zealand, Korea, Columbia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia, Ethiopia, Norway, Turkey … and others. It was a great feeling to be having fun with guys from all these different countries… an amazing time. Since I was playing, I have no pictures, unfortunately.

This is actually the National Folk Museum within the Royal City in Seoul. It was pretty cool inside too, but we didn’t have a lot of time to go exploring, and since we didn’t have a lot of other time to shop… I spent all my time in the gift shop.

Me in front of the main Palace building. The artowk and colorful designs on the underside of the roof and inside all the buildings was marvelous and must have taken forever to do. I guess the best way to describe the Royal City would be to call it a miniature Forbidden City (Beijing, China).

My “back of the bus” crowd. We took buses just about everywhere… besides a boat ride and a bullet train to Busan. Starting from me and moving clockwise: Lawrence, my roommate from California; Gabrielle, from New Orleans; Nicholas, from Belgium… some of us just called him Belgium; Dayne from Pittsburgh, I flew to and from Korea with her; Ryan from New Zealand; and Bryce, also from California. The USA had the largest contingent of attendees, followed by England I believe.

(Not sure why this won’t flip) Me and the five New Zealanders. I was made an honorary Kiwi, which made me proud. I am wearing a French hat given to me by one of the Frenchmen in attendance.

At the farewell ceremony. Our motto for the Camp, as shown on the stage, was “We are Peacemaker!” … I believe they simply forgot the “s” in Peacemakers, but it sounds much more authentically Asian to leave the “s” off when saying it. I was in a drag competition at the farewell party… as part of the festivities, but we can leave those photos out. The less they are circulated the better. I nearly won though.

Me and the righteous fanny-pack at Incheon Airport waiting for departure. This was the only time I wore it. My mother gave it to me thinking I would wear it for the whole trip. … Sorry mom, but no. That goes against man code… but then again so would being in a drag competition and dressing up like a woman. I gave it to Dayne as a going away present though; not like I was going to wear it again.

My stewardess on Korean Air homeward. We got back to O’Hare in Chicago and I creepily asked to take her picture. They were all very, very nice and they provided excellent service. They all wore these nice little uniforms too. Being that they were pretty didn’t hurt either. If you ever get a chance to fly Korean Air I would certainly recommend it. 13 hours was one long flight though.

@Dylan:

You wear a lot of late 60’s and early 70’s band’s concert shirts.

Yes I do… gotta wear my heart on my sleeve… or my chest rather. I do own other ones though… such as my Detroit Red Wings shirts. But you are a Canucks fan aren’t you?

@Dylan:

Yeah I like the Canucks.

I was rooting for them for a while in the playoffs… unfortunately they got taken down a notch. But if you are going to get beat, it might as well be by the to-be champions. No shame in that.

@calvinhobbesliker:

Do you want to be buried there when you die?

Is this a serious question Calvin?

First of all I couldn’t be buried there because I did not fight in the War.

I like Korea a lot, it is a beautiful place with wonderful people, but the United States is my country… if anywhere, I’d be buried here.

@calvinhobbesliker:

I misunderstood when you said “no US war dead are buried here.” You said those that wish to be buried here are. I didn’t realize that mean only veterans

Oh, I see. Sorry for the confusion.

Yeah, You have to have served in the War, in some capacity, to be buried at the UN Cemetary. Therefore, I could not be buried there. It was a very nice place though. Still… Even if I had the option, I’d rather be buried in the US.

Having my body ejected into space seems kind of cool too…

@Dylan:

@calvinhobbesliker:

I misunderstood when you said “no US war dead are buried here.” You said those that wish to be buried here are. I didn’t realize that mean only veterans

Where have you been lately.

Yeah, literally… Have you been out of the country again or something? It seems like you were not posting as much as normal.