The DMZ and more...

First- I've posted pictures of both March stuff and the DMZ trip. Click the link on the left to seen them. (This is gonna be a long one...) Friday night after work, Tracy, Abra and I rushed to the bus terminal just in time to make the 9:30 bus to Seoul. Once arriving there, we headed to Itaewon to stay in the same Jimjilbang we had a couple weekends ago. Unfortunately, it was closed! We had no prior warning and no other plans in mind. So, we pulled out the trusty Lonely Planet and sought out a hotel. It was small, but it was clean. By the time we actually went to sleep, it was after 1:30 sometime.... Saturday- 0500- wake up, take turns washing up 0645- venture out to find the USO headquarters 0655- arrive at USO to find it closed up and no one knows the DMZ tour itinerary 0705- call Ben to see what he knows, he doesn't answer. Eat to-suh-tuh for breakfast. 0725- back to the USO. This time there are other foreigners there waiting. The building is opened and we go inside to wait for someone who's coming at 0800. We're now quite certain that the tour is later than what the internet said (7:30). 0800- the staff member arrives, and we check in. We're told to return at 0930. 0810- head to Holly's coffee for some caffeine and talking. Got into a discussion of religion, God and the Bible. Learned for sure what each of my roommates believes... 0930- back to USO. Board two busses. Ben's there now. 1000- begin the drive toward the DMZ. Ok, enough of that :). Just a taste of the military-ness of our day. It took over an hour to get to our first stop. However, the tour had already begun. The tour guide on our bus is the daughter of two former North Koreans. When she was a baby (the 50's I think), they escaped and made it to the south as refugees. They fled North Korea in January, using a makeshift raft on an icy river, perched on opposite corners with their baby suspended in the middle. As they made their way South, her mother had a bit of North Korean money that she was holding on to. She wanted to save it for something they really needed, and went quite hungry not using it. Then, when she got to the refugee camp, it was useless. In fact, she could get in trouble for having it, so she threw it in the toilet. Can you imagine, holding onto it as valuable all that way and then having to secretly throw it away? They, along with all the others who fled North Korea, had to say goodbye to those they left behind, with no hope of seeing them again. So many families were separated because of this. Now there are fewer and fewer still alive, but over the past 20+ years there have been some reunions through television shows, etc. But even these events were not entirely happy. After their few hours together, they had to return to separate countries- still unable to communicate. According to our guide, people still can't even send each other letters. It's really sad. The closer we got to the DMZ, the more tense it felt. There were more and more barbed wire fences along the river, then watch towers, then guards, then mines. Really. The road we drove on was surrounded on both sides by areas identified as having mines. That made the danger and seriousness of the situation really come alive to me. Our first stop was some sort of observation building where a Korean soldier (speaking perfect British English) described in detail the diagram of the area we'd be seeing. Out the windows you could see North Korea and various points of interest in the DMZ. Outside were binoculars where you could see better. Unfortunately, the weather was not conducive for seeing long distances- it was rainy and foggy :(. Still, through the binoculars I could make out the two villages of the DMZ- Taesong-dong (S.K.) and Kijong-dong (the North Korean Propaganda village). They each have a HUGE flag pole with an equally large flag. Humorously, when the South Korean village got a taller flag pole (100 meters), the North Koreans wasted no time making theirs even more enormous (160 meters). The flag flown on the North Korean side is HUMONGOUS- it's dry weight is about 600 pounds, and it's 30 meters long. Taesong-dong is inhabited by South Koreans farmers who didn't want to leave their ancestral home for the safety of the South. They live in very tense conditions, yet are well taken care of. They must be in their village by dark, and inside their houses with windows and doors secured by midnight. They are protected by soldiers as they work in their fields each day, and their village is patrolled by soldiers at night. On the positive side, they aren't required to perform military service, they don't pay taxes, and the farmer have about 17 acres each (in comparison to the less than 2 acres of farmers in the South). To live in the village, you must be born as part of it. Only women can marry into the village. Kijong-dong, on the otherhand, is not a real village. Soldiers on the southern side have only observed a handful of people working there to raise and lower the flag and keep maintain the other buildings. It also appears that the windows on the buildings are only painted on, and the lights of the "city" all turn on at the exact same time. Until 2004, propaganda praising Kim Il Sung and inviting others to come to North Korea was blasted from loud speakers for 6 to 12 hours a day. North Korea also uses blocking towers to keep out radio waves from the outside world. The one good thing about the DMZ is that it has become a sort of wildlife refuge. Most of it has been "untouched" by humans since it was established. Even looking over the edge of the wall by the binoculars I could smell nature. It smelled like the woods in Wisconsin :). This is huge in Korea, because most of the South is developed. If/when the two Koreas are united, they hope to keep it as a wildlife sanctuary. I sincerely hope it won't become the kind of tourist attraction that the other national parks are... After that observatory, we ate lunch at a cafeteria-esque restaurant. We weren't the only tour group there (and our group was about 90 people!). It was crazy to be around so many "foreigners." What was really strange was to hear people talking in French and realizing that I'm more comfortable listening to a conversation in Korean than French! Mind you, I've never studied French, but it's got some similarities to Spanish, right? After lunch, we went to the 3rd Infiltration tunnel. It's one of 4 tunnels that have been discovered (the 4th was discovered in the 90's), and it's expected that there are as many as 20+ tunnels in total that were begun along the DMZ. After watching a video about the DMZ, we donned hard hats (the ceiling is rather low), ditched our bags and cameras (bummer), and headed down. It was a very surreal experience. The tunnel was just low enough to make me stoop just a bit (mostly because the hard hat made me 2 inches taller), and wet. The stone inside is granite, but it was covered in coal paint. The North Koreans claimed it was just a coal mine (riiiiiight). We followed the tunnel to the first "door"- a metal divider with a small door. It was scary to think about the secretive operation to invade the South through this and other tunnels. We exited sweating, because the exit/entrance is at quite an incline :). (oh, and the whole parking lot of this place was surrounded by fences with signs warning of the mines on the other side). From there we went to Camp Bonifas, the camp of the UN Security Force. Before entering, we had to have our passports checked. Then we were ushered into another briefing, telling us more details about the situation, and giving us behavior guidelines for the JSA (Joint Security Area). Basically, no fooling around, and no pointing or gestures. We were frequently reminded not to point or make any gestures toward North Korea, 'cause they would be watching us. Everything was very military. Everything was under the supervision of soldiers. Here we also got badges identifying us as legitimate guests, and we had to sign a waver indicating that we wouldn't hold South Korea, The UN, or the US responsible for anything that might happen while we were visiting the JSA. That was a tad unnerving. If you think about it, it's really, really strange that this area is open as a tourist attraction... North Korea hosts visitors as well. So, we loaded onto a military bus, and headed to the JSA. Along the way we weren't allowed to take pictures. Inside the JSA, there are separate buildings controlled by the South and the North. We exited the bus and were instructed to walk in two rows, and we weren't allowed to stop. Just walk. So, we walked through the big building on the South's side, and then to the MAC (Military Armistice Commission) building. This is the building where all the important meetings happen regarding the MAC. We were instructed not to go beyond the guard on the opposite side of the building. This building as well as the others next to it all straddle the line dividing Northern and Southern control. The JSA didn't used to be so divided, but various incidents made it necessary. We were allowed to take pictures, as long as we didn't attempt to communicate with the soldiers at all. In opposite corners of the room were little translation booths. These used to be used for translators during the meetings, but now they sit at the table. On the Southern side there are plastic representations of the flags of the countries involved in helping the South. Apparently they used to be real flags, but once when (or before?) President Bush was visiting, a North Korean soldier defaced the American flag, causing them to switch to plastic. After that building, we stood looking at North Korea while a soldier briefed us on the details of each of the buildings. It's so weird. Each side is just constantly watching the other. It made me think of the Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss. I'm pretty sure the book was regarding the Cold War, but it certainly fits what's happening in Korea. It's constant tension, hoping today will pass by uneventfully. After this we reloaded the busses and drove by a couple other points of interest, including the site of the Axe Murder Incident and the Bridge of No Return. The Axe Murder Incident was when some North Korean soldiers attacked while a UN soldier was trimming branches from a large poplar tree that obstructed their view of the North Koreans. The Bridge of No Return is so named because of a POW exchange that took place there. The POW's were given the opportunity to cross to whichever side they wanted, but once there they could never go back. From there we returned to our original bus and headed back to Seoul. While it still seems so impossible for there to be a peaceful reunification of Korea, there have been a few steps made in that direction. South Koreans are continually hopeful of reunification, and they'll make sacrifices toward that end. Very recently, an industrial compound was established just over the border of North Korea. North Koreans provide the labor, and South Koreans provide the funds and power. It's another area that can be seen from the observatory on a clear day. Because the tour started later, we didn't get back to Seoul until after 6, so by the time we got to the bus terminal, the remaining showings of Pride and Prejudice would've been too late for me to make the last bus to Dangjin. So, I split ways with the others (Ben and Tracy were headed to Boryeong for a party, and Abra stuck around Seoul to try to catch a play on Sunday), wandered about the terminal for awhile, and then came back to Dangjin. This morning, Juliet called me to inform me that today would be the last day of English service. The reason why is a little complicated, but basically we don't have enough people to keep it going. It's not important enough for the church to continue having Benjamin come, and there aren't enough people committed to making it work. So, service today was a little sad. There still will be some English stuff, however. First off, Brian has asked me to teach the kids class on Saturdays just until they finish the book they started. Also, we're planning to have a small group Bible Study sort of thing so that there's some sort of ongoing English ministry- especially in the event that there are more foreigners who become interested in it. I am so grateful for the time that English service was in action. If I hadn't found those people in my first couple months here, I would've been so much worse off. Now that I have the friendships, the service itself doesn't matter as much to me. Yes, it's a shame to see it go, but honestly, it needed some revamping anyway if we ever hoped to attract more people (either foreign or Korean), and no one was stepping up to do that. There's only so much I can do without knowing Korean and without being here more permanently. So, we said goodbye to Benjamin today. We plan to get together with him again before Pastor Moon leaves (he's planning to go to China in May). Anyway, it's been quite the weekend.