Belated Thoughts on Hellos and Goodbyes

As you can imagine, moving to a new city, meeting a new family, and starting a brand new job are all pretty draining on one's time, which explains the (inexcusable) delay between posts.  Anyway, to catch you up, I have finished with Orientation!  After another week of work and a particularly exciting cooking class where we made kimbap (the Korean equivalent of sushi), I began preparing for the Korean language finals.  After a full weekend of study, I can proudly say that I passed my final exam and have therefore graduated from Korea University's intensive language course.  I received a diploma and everything.     

A plate full of tasty kimbap

I do my best to quiz Charlie in Korean on his feelings about finishing class.  He says he's happy, not sad.

 Class IE culminating our educational journey with squid faces

Our list of Korean nicknames.  Mine, in the bottom right hand corner, means ginger. 

After finishing with Korean language classes, we woke up at 5 am (!) the following weekend to arrive in Seoul early in the morning.  Before we were even able to check our luggage into our hotel rooms, we boarded another bus that would take us to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and, technically, into North Korea.  The trip itself took almost the entire day.  We began by stopping at some war monuments, such as this one for Phillipino soldiers:

We stopped for a lunch of bulgogi along the way.  Mmm!

 And then we arrived at the reunification memorial site.  All of these ribbons run along one of the main fences separating the North and South Korean borders.  On them, people have written notes about their hopes for reunification and their desire to see their families again.  The experience was pretty jarring.  On the one hand, the memorial is obviously emotional and moving, but on the other hand the place is shockingly touristy.  The location is right next to an honest-to-goodness carnival, with rides and games.  Cheesy, chipper music blasts from the speakers.  Even the rusted, destroyed shell of a train on display as a monument to the violence of the war is accompanied by eerie sound effects of train whistles and chugging.  I couldn't help but feel it was almost a little disrespectful.    

 The body of a train destroyed by gunfire during the Korean War.

Finally, we arrived at the Joint Security Area.  We went through a series of rigorous security checkpoints, where armed guards checked everything from our passports to our shoes.  We were given strict instructions not to gesture or take pictures until invited to do so.  And then we walked slowly, single file, outside of the security building facing North Korea.  Originally, we were set to walk across that line on the ground into the UN Peace Building across the way, which is technically in North Korea.  However, once we arrived we were told that the North Korean soldiers were occupying the building and we could not enter.  We soon found out why.  Just as we were leaving to board the bus again after a full three minutes spent looking at the dividing line, we spotted some North Korean tourists walking out of the building, taking pictures of South Korea just as we had been doing mere moments before.  I'm terribly curious which nationalities were represented in that little tourist group, but I'm not sure.   

 While the South Koreans stand halfway behind a wall in a modified taekwondo stance, 

the North Korean soldiers face each other.   

The JSA has a strict dress code.  Some of the people wearing Fulbright shirts had to turn them inside out, since they say 'Korea' on them.   

 The view from the Bridge of No Return, which we could only see outside of our rainy bus window.  This is the bridge where people made the decision to stay in either South or North Korea after the war.

After the DMZ tour, we rushed over to the Korean ambassador's house for a quick BBQ dinner with lots of American goodies!  Because of the weather, the party was cut short, but we were able to meet with some very interesting government officials.  The next two days were open for sight-seeing.  Among other things, I visited the Changdeokgung Palace, where the last members of the Korean royal family lived up to the 1980s. 

Some of these buildings have little figures along the tops of the roofs.  

The greater the number of figures, the more important the building.

The throne room

These are not grave markers, but markers for where people were to stand based 

on their status during important events

The inside of the throne room.

I also visited the Folk Museum that day.

Traditional calligraphy

Hanbok, or traditional clothing

In Korean wedding ceremonies, a duck is carried by the groom to symbolize fertility.

 During the next day I visited the War Museum, which was very impressive and depressing.  Below is the UN Korean War monument made of dog tags.

Almost immediately after returning from Seoul, we prepared to say goodbye to our many friends and went our separate ways with the principals and teachers who had traveled to Goesan in order to guide us to our new homes.

My roommate Lisa and I.

It is late here in Korea, and I have to work tomorrow.  Soon enough I will write another post describing my wonderful host family and my first few days at a real job, but for now, I will leave you with  my new address and a hope that I will be hearing from you all every once in a while in the coming months!

Gina Gordon

#1399-1, Yeondong, Jeju-si, 690-817, South Korea

Daerim E-pyeonhansesang Apt. 206-302