4th of July

This weekend myself and 18 other people (Fulbrighters, friends of friends, and 1 Korean) went to a pension in Daejeon to have a very American 4th of July. Seth and I planned the event together and the whole weekend went surprisingly smoothly. The pension itself was really nice, minus being a little small. The area the pension was located in was beautiful. The only negative part about the weekend was the weather, but it could have been worse. We spent the whole weekend playing games, drinking, grilling, noraebanging, watching World Cup games, and just enjoying each others company since this will have been the last time some of us see each other for a very long time. The best part of the weekend was when all of us saying a very rousing (and for some of my friends, very drunk) rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at midnight on the 4th of July. Only in Korea...

1 Year Anniversary

Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary from when I first stepped foot in Korea. I literally can not believe it has been a year already. I've been excited about going home for months, but it wasn't until today that it actually hit me how close the end is. It feels like yesterday that I was arriving in Chuncheon for orientation with 70 other strangers, speaking no Korean, not being able to use chopsticks, and just being terrified about the year ahead of me. When I look back and read my blog posts from the first couple of weeks, or even months, I realize how much I have learned and the number of unforgettable experiences and relationships I have gained over the past year. Right now Korea feels more like home than America does. As one ETA said recently, I have stopped traveling and Korea has become my home. At this point I can not imagine what living in the US is going to be like. Coming to Korea is the first thing I have done in my life solely by myself and it makes me very sad that my life here has to end. In a funny change of events, I actually scared to go home now. I'm scared that this will end up being one of the best experiences in my life. I don't feel like I'm ready to say that yet. I'm scared that things will be boring and that I will feel like I'm settling by just living at home. I'm scared that all of the time and effort and everything that I have put into this past year will have been for nothing...that I will have nothing to show for it and that no one will really care about it. It's going to be difficult going home because I know that after the first time I see my friends again, they won't really care to hear about all of my stories from Korea. I'm afraid of having to start every sentence with "Well, when I was in Korea..." It's only been one year but I almost feel like it is all that I know now.
The only thing that is making me feel better about having to leave is the fact that I can always come back. I'm hoping that once I get back to America I will feel that I made the right decision not to stay longer. Only time will tell.

World Cup

The best way to describe the World Cup atmosphere in Korea is to imagine that the entire United States population was Philly fans all rooting for the World Series game. Now mind you, I haven't seen any burning couches in the street yet, but the pride in the team is comparable. It has been a great experience watching the World Cup games here, and I think it's an experience a lot of people don't get to have. Every store you go into is selling Korean paraphernalia and every thing you buy is a special World Cup edition. For the first World Cup game, I watched the game at my friend Kate's new apartment with a couple of her students. I missed half of the game because my host family and I had gone to see Mama Mia (which was entirely in Korea...ABBA songs included...but that's another story). For the second game, I dressed up in my Red Devils gear and met my Fulbright friends for grilled meat and beer and then headed to the local university stadium where they were playing the game on a big screen. Watching the game there was amazing. There had to have been at least a thousand people there, all wearing red shirts and red devil horns and shouting "De-Han-Min-Guk" (Korea in Korean) over and over again. Unfortunately we lost the game, but it was still a great time. The third game is tonight at 3:30am and from what I've heard pretty much everyone who is a Red Devils fan (my host family included) will be up at 3:30am watching the game. I still haven't decided whether or not I can do that and still function at school tomorrow.
Here are some pictures from the first two games:

Tammy decked out in her Red Devil gear. In case you were wondering, Korea used to be spelled Corea until the Japanese ruled the country and changed it to a "K" because K comes after J in the alphabet...or so my host mom told me.


Going to the Mama Mia show.





My friend Cait and I at the university stadium for game 2.


Daniel, Laura, and Caitlyn


Sooo many people.


Da-bin, Marina and Laura at the grilled meat restaurant.


Cait, Kate, me and Young-jae (Kate's host brother)





Cornelius, Laura and Cait


Kelly and I


Cornelius and Dan


Stadium

Dancing Ajummas

One of the more interesting/weird things I have seen in Korea is the method for campaigning for local government office. Imagine my surprise when one morning at 8am, while I was in the car on the way to the bus terminal with my host mom and we approached the big intersection near my house to find about 20 ajummas dressed in matching neon outfits dancing choreographed dances to very loud Korean music on each corner of the intersection. They not only had matching neon shirts on, but white gloves, white pants, white visors (an ajumma clothing staple), etc. The sight was by far the weirdest and most horrifying thing I have ever seen at 8am. After some questioning I learned that these women were helping a politician campaign for a local position. That morning was the first day that they were allowed to campaign. Over the next couple of days a bazillion large posters featuring faces of old Korean men (and occasionally a woman) began appearing all over the place. Ajummas came out in droves to dance and bow to passing cars on street corners. Apparently this method of campaigning is relatively new. I know my surprise is not just a cultural difference, because my whole host family thinks it is strange. While the whole thing is mildly entertaining, I still can't seem to get my head around the reasoning behind the dancing ajummas. As I said to one of my friends...How do you decide who is the person you vote for? Do you vote for the person who can convince the most ajummas to wear ridiculous outfits and dance on the street corners for you?
Very bizarre.


Bowing ajummas.


Dancing ajummas.


The best banner for a politician I've ever seen.

DMZ

Two weekends ago Seth and I were able to go to the DMZ (de-militarized zone) that is the border between North and South Korea. It was something I had wanted to do since I came to Korea, so I'm glad I was able to go before I had to leave. I was worried that due to the latest political tensions between the North and South that we wouldn't be able to go or our tour would be limited, but luckily everything worked out.
The tour was led by the USO in Seoul. We took 2 buses with a bunch of other foreigners to the Camp Bonifas army base right outside of the DMZ. There we received a briefing by an army soldier and also met our army tour guide who happened to be from Pennsylvania like me. During our briefing we learned about the history of the DMZ and small scuffles between the North and South Korean army along the DMZ line.
The DMZ is a very interesting place and I think its unlike any other place in the world. There is an actual line that divides Korea, but there is also an area around the line that is off limits to people. Because this area has been basically untouched by people for years, the wildlife in the DMZ area is very unique. There is even a rumor that a tiger lives somewhere in the DMZ. Another interesting thing about the DMZ is that a town of South Korean people actually live in the DMZ. Their town is called Freedom Village in English and the people who live there are exempt from taxes and from the military service. The people in the village farm to make money. New people are not allowed to come to the village, and only women are allowed to marry into the village. The people in the village have a strict curfew and are not allowed out of their homes after a certain time at night. They also have to keep their windows and doors locked after that time as well. Another interesting thing about the DMZ is the fake city on the North Korean side that Kim Jong Il had built in order to make it seem that the North is more prosperous than it actually is. No one lives in this fake city, and rarely are people ever seen walking around there.
I'll explain the rest of my experience using some of the pictures I took.


DMZ briefing with Seth and 3 Fulbright friends


our army tour guides


South Korean soldier


on our bus with our tour guide


Seth and I in front of the DMZ. The blue buildings are halfway in the North and halfway in the South. The tall concrete building in the back is in North Korea.


The blue buildings are used for diplomatic talks between the North, South and other involved countries.


The horizontal cement line connecting the middle of the two blue buildings is the actual line that separates North and South Korea.


If you look closely you can see a North Korean soldier looking at us through his binoculars.





"The Bridge of No Return"
After the armistice was reached, POWs from the North and South were lined up on either side of this bridge and told they could cross to their respective sides but were never allowed to come back.


Inside the blue building. The microphones down the middle of the table mark the DMZ line and also record everything that goes on in the building 24 hrs a day.


We were told not to go too close to the guards because they were allowed to use their black belt skills on us if they felt threatened.


I'm in NORTH KOREA!!!


Tour guide explaining the uses for the blue building.


A bottle of North Korean soju I bought as a souvenir.


Dorasan station is the last station in South Korea on the railroad that connects the two Koreas.


You can see the blue sign says to "Pyeongyang". The railroad is used to transport cargo between North and South Korea.


DMZ


Holding my North Korean currency I bought at Camp Bonifas.