The first time I went back to Seoul I went to watch The Hobbit in 4D. That's right 4D! Not only is the movie in 3D, but the seats move and they blow wind on you. It's very similar to the movie rides in Disney World. The Hobbit was a bit disappointing, but I'll always have my loyalties to Lord of the Rings first. Watching it in 4D was an interesting experience though. A one time thing for sure; it was like $20.
While in Seoul, I met up with one of my friends from Cornell. It was nice seeing a familiar face. At night we decided to see the foreigner night-life in Itaewon. Oddly enough we ran into a bunch of people I trained with, so it was nice to see them again. However, after meeting a bunch of people in Seoul, I realized how lucky I am to live in Gangneung.
First off it's a lot harder to get by with English is Gangneung, so the little Korean I know is much more than most of the people I met in Seoul. Second, I get to eat real Korean food ALL THE TIME! It's great. Also, the food in Gangneung is much better than most of the food I had in Seoul. I know it seems like I'm ragging on Seoul, but you have to understand that I don't like big cities to begin with. Seoul does have a better night life compared to Gangneung though. One of my friends is gay, so he took us to a gay bar. Gangneung doesn't have gay bars, so I've been going through gay men-detox. It was nice to get some flamboyancy back into my life for the night. :)
Then my friend Francesca and I stayed in a jinjilbang (a Korean bathhouse). That was wonderful! It's pretty much a public shower with a bunch of hot tubs. It was so relaxing. Also, you can sleep there. We slept in a sauna; which was way to hot to comfortably sleep. Koreans can sleep anywhere though and the jinjilbang proved that: the floor, a bench, a broken chair, a workout machine. It's crazy.
Okay, now on to the second trip to Seoul.
Last weekend my co-workers and I signed-up for a DMZ tour. We took the night train to Seoul; which takes 8 hours (the bus takes 3). Once again, Koreans where sleeping all over the place, so we tried to sleep on the train too. Once our 8 hour trip was over, we took the subway to a restaurant called "Butterfingers Pancakes." It's an American breakfast place. I cannot tell you how much I miss a Perkins, so I was really excited. I got an omelette with a side of bacon. It was HUGE and I couldn't eat all of it, but it was just okay and it cost about $25. ! .
Afterwards we met up with Adventure Korea, the company providing the tour. We got to the DMZ, had a shitty 'Korean' lunch and started the tour. The first stop was a park where Freedom Bridge is; the bridge connecting the North and South.
It was quite strange though, because it was a sad place. It's the DMZ, right? Yet, there was a small amusement park there. Koreans are trying to make the DMZ have a positive connotation. It's not working.
We went to one of the tunnels that North Korea had dug to try and infiltrate Seoul (there's 4 that the South has found). It was really interesting; I wish I had pictures, but we weren't allowed to take any. Don't want to give away 'secrets' of the tunnel. I mean, the North dug it, so I'm assuming they know everything there really is to know.
Then we went to the observation tower to look at the North's capital. We could only take pictures from one spot, so the picture isn't good. Here is the capital of North Korea:
It's really small. Also, in the 80's the North cut-down all their trees for firewood. Now there's no trees. The mountains and plains look like a barren wasteland. It's like Nevada. (Sorry Nevada). They also have huge statues of the previous leaders on the base of the mountains. Can I just say that the leaders are also all funny looking:
Point, set, match.
Our final stop was the train station that connects the North and South. The countries plan for unification, so the train is suppose to eventually connect the two capitals without have any forced-stops. Clearly right now people cannot go between the two countries freely. Does it sound like an interesting stop? Well, it wasn't. The only fascinating thing about it was the guards who controlled the entrance to the platform. They were intense.
My final comment on the DMZ is this: they are trying to make it a hopeful place; a symbol of unification. However, everything about it screams about the turmoil. A barbed-wire fence marks every part of the boarders. There are little, triangle signs with skulls on them telling visitors they can't go off the path because there are mines everywhere. Maybe one day the countries will unite, but I can't see this happening soon. The DMZ will always be a place of tension. I guess we'll see what the future holds.
Nice to blog with you!
<3 Stine
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