Spa on Air

Since I'm chilling in Tokyo-Narita International Airport with nothing to do and 6 hours to do it, let me tell you about the spa at Seoul-Incheon International Airport. Incheon is consistently ranked the best airport in the world, and boy howdy it is true! There's so much to do! 

I wish I had 6 more hours there, instead of 6 hours here at Narita. I'm bored. I'm sure there are fun things to do here...somewhere...probably in the other terminal...that I can't find... 

Anyway. 

Early this morning, I flew from Seoul to Tokyo: the first leg of my looooong day of traveling (around 24 hours in all. Yippee). Because my flight was so early, I needed to find somewhere to stay near the airport. I'd read that there was a really nice jimjilbang in the airport, called Spa on Air, which sounded like the perfect plan! Sleeping at a spa would be super relaxing before the epic day of travel, plus it would make my commute at 6 am literally nothing! 

Jimjilbangs are Korean spas and saunas where you can stay the night. I looooove them. They're usually pretty cheap, ranging from 7,000-15,000 for a night, and you get to sit in the hot tubs and steam rooms for ages, then you usually sleep on a floor mat in a common room. Some of them have restaurants, bars, arcades, Dr. Fish foot scrubbers, nail salons, massages, etc. I've stayed in more than a few over the past couple years. Some are better than others, but they've all got the tubs, showers, saunas, and sleeping rooms, lockers for your stuff, and they all provide baggy shorts and a tshirt to sleep in. 

[side note/tangent/related backstory]

I wasn't entirely sure what my plans were for this weekend, so I didn't buy an airport bus ticket early in the week like I should have. I knew there was a chance they'd be sold out by Sunday, but I had tentative plans to meet a friend in Seoul on Sunday depending on when I finished entering grades and packing, so I didn't want to buy a ticket that I wouldn't end up using, just in case. I finished grades late Saturday (HALLELUJAH) and was just mentally worn out, so my Sunday plan turned into sitting at home in my pj's and resting before this whole *24-hours of flights-and-layovers* experience. 

Sure enough, when I went to buy a bus ticket last night, the buses that run directly from Jeonju to the airport were sold out until the morning. Good thing I had contingency plans! I took the bus to Seoul with the hope that I could take the express subway to the airport. 

Unfortunately, I ended up leaving Jeonju later than I meant to, so I decided I wouldn't make it to the airport that night and I'd need to find somewhere else to sleep. The subways usually stop running at 11 and I calculated that my bus would be in Seoul around 11:30-11:45 or so, depending on traffic. I've been on enough impulsive adventures to Seoul that it's pretty easy to make a backup plan. 

As luck would have it, I made it to Seoul in record time! My bus skipped its 15 minute pit stop break!  We pulled in to the terminal at 11:17. My subway app told me that the last airport express train (at the furthest subway line to get to) would depart at 11:27. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. I flat booooooked to get there, running up and down escalators and through corridors with my suitcases... I can't believe I actually made it! I practically tumbled down the last escalator into the subway car as it pulled away from the station. Praise the Good Lord! 

That's what kind of day it was. Everything seemed to teeter on nope-not-gonna-happen and then *poof* it would just click into place! WIN. I love days like that. 

[back to the spa info]

I made it to the airport and found Spa on Air. Y'all. It is one of the NICEST jimjilbangs I've ever been to!! Its also one of the most expensive, but I think it's totally worth it for the experience and the convenience of being at the airport. It's decorated with ferns, soft light, and contemporary art around the facility, which adds to the relaxing atmosphere. 

Inside the spa area is rather small, compared to other notable jimjilbangs I've visited, with only 2 spa tubs, 1 dry sauna, and 1 steam room. The best part, perhaps, are the showers. First of all, they are semi-private. Privacy is an unusual surprise by itself. Secondly, they are waterfall showers! So refreshing! That plus the ferns... A girl can pretend she's in a secluded mountain oasis ;) 

Since it is a small facility, the women's sleeping room was actually full when I arrived. I (somehow) didn't panic. Everything had worked out so far; surely this would work out too! At the worst, I'd sleep on a bench by the check-in counters. Been there, done that. Anyway, I calmly asked, "Ok, so what do you suggest?" The desk attendant told me that the common room was crowded but if I could find space, I could stay there for 22,000 won, or I could book a private room for  32,000 won. Is that a choice?? Of COURSE I went with the private room-- I had a little bed with 2 blanket-type-towels and a pillow, all things you often go without when you stay in a jimjilbang. And the best part- no snoring old men nearby! I felt like a VIP! 

The spas were totally empty after midnight, so I had the room to myself. There were jets in the hot tub to massage your back and shoulders, too. I love it when they have those! I could sit there forever. There was also the typical cold tub, of course, to shock your system. It's really nice to jump in the cold tub before you go to the dry heat sauna, though I think I've read that you can die of shock going from cold to hot like that. Oh well, haven't died yet. 

Man it was relaxing. The perfect night before all this layover business with my connecting flights. 

I tell you what, I don't know HOW I have been to Incheon Intl so many times without going to the spa!! I'm never making that mistake again. I'll arrive 6 hours before my flight just to stay in the spa for a few hours! I'll definitely go there after I land next month, to unwind after my flight back from the States. So worth it! 

If you're ever flying through Seoul, do yourself a favor and check out Spa on Air! 

Now...5 more hours at Narita...I'm gonna go exploring. Adventure is out there! 

Duck Dynasty: I don't stand with Phil but I don't hate him either.

If you aren’t American and/or friends with Americans all over the internet, you may not have heard that a reality TV star just got in trouble with his network for saying his opinion in an interview with a magazine. That star is Phil Robertson of the TV show Duck Dynasty on A&E. Different people have ALL DIFFERENT opinions on if he was right or wrong, if A&E was right or wrong for suspending him, with all possible combinations of angry and/or passionate reactions in between. Google it and find out maybe more than you care to read, but I decided to blog a bit about it so here you are.

Hello. I am a white, heterosexual girl from Texas (though I currently live in South Korea). I'm going to talk for a minute about "standing with Phil" ...or not.

I love Jesus. I'm from a hunting family. My family is reasonably obsessed with Duck Dynasty. I wanted to be a Duck Dynasty Man for Halloween but I don't have camo or a fake beard in Korea. Along the lines of #confessyourunpopularopinion, I don't actually love the show itself... I think it's way too staged and caricature-y, but I do love things about it, like it's a home-town-feel-good Christians-who-love-family-and-hunting kind of show. (The episode where the men took their prissy-city-girl wives hunting drove me CRAZY. It was clearly springtime, not huntin' season! And any good woman who lives in a huntin' family knows not to wear perfume in the deer stand! There's no way Missy would have missed that crucial lesson. It was all just a set up for an easy gag involving mud and a bit of “oh look at the princess who doesn’t know what to do in a deer stand, bless her heart.” Stereotypes: 1, Princesses: 0)

Many people who *love* the show have posted facebook post after twitter post about standing with Phil. Just search the hashtag #standwithphil and you'll see a billion outraged conservatives freaking out. Loudly.

Every time the internet explodes with a firestorm of CHRISTIANS-VS-THE REST OF YOU SINNERS, I feel super awkward. I don't want to hit people upside the head with my faith. I'd rather love people in community and tell them to read the Bible, then let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit do the convicting and changing (as it promises to do), rather than condemn and criticize people into change. I don't believe that's my place. I know there's a balance between "calling brothers out in love" and "sitting idly by" but I guess I haven't found it yet. I'm not a perfect Christian; I've still got (a lot of) growing to do. Praise the LORD that by His grace, growing will happen. (Also, that part about calling *brothers* out is about *people who are confessing believers in Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation* not about society at large. Feel free to disagree with me.)

Another #confessyourunpopularopinion moment = I don't stand with Phil.

Now, I don't think Phil is speaking from a place of hate, but I don't think his words were, um, tactful. I think he is a man who fears God; I also think what he said was ...not for pubic consumption. The exact words were more... hmm... well... honestly, they struck me as the type of thing someone would say after a few beers on a family holiday. I know Phil's not a drinking man, but his words are the kind of thing that makes me squirm.

"It seems like, to me, a vagina - as a man - would me more desirable than a man's anus." -Phil Robertson

Excuse me. If someone said those words in my presence, I would cringe. CRINGE. I'm a lady. You do not say words like "vagina" and "anus" around a lady. It's crass.

He also said:

“Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers – they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right” - Phil Robertson

Ok. I am pretty sure that’s all in line with the Bible. Yay, I think he’s mostly quoting scripture! And whether you agree with him or not, the list doesn't stop there. It’s only through Jesus that we’re saved. That’s what CS Lewis meant when he said, “That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither.” – it’s Jesus who transforms the self-righteous prig and the prostitute. Neither homosexuals nor heterosexuals (no anyone else with any other label) will inherit the kingdom of God without the blood of Jesus over their sins.

Phil also said some ignorant and offensive things about black people based on his personal experience (and perhaps limited view?):

“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash. We're going across the field.... They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.” - Phil Robertson

I really disagree with those thoughts. They are incredibly historically inaccurate, but *they are his thoughts* and he is entitled to them. I am entitled to be appalled. You are entitled to feel however the heck you want. I’m much more dismayed about what he said about black people than what he said about homosexuality. It’s not ok.

The reality is, he's got a right to think or say whatever he wants. It's AMERICA. If you’re in America, you have a right to think or say whatever you want. We don’t have to agree. It’s beautiful. It’s ugly. It’s real.

He grew up in a very different world than I did. His paradigm has been shaped by entirely different experiences. Now, I don't think he represents all American Christians and I don't think A&E is wrong for suspending him. I don't think he's being persecuted, I think the company is covering their... business... in line with their company culture. It's all fine. It is what it is.

I would be LYING if I told you I never say things I regret. I hope the internet never explodes because of something I say the way it’s exploding on Phil and A&E right now. I know that Phil loves Jesus with all his heart. I know that he is my brother in Christ and one day we will both be standing before the throne of God, washed in his love and grace and mercy, made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, not by any good thing we have done, not tarnished anymore by the bad things we have done (or the stupid things we’ve said). [cue weepy tears because of the crazy love with which God loves us. ohhhh Jesus!]

***

I read a few AWESOME posts about The Duck Thing over the past few days. Here are a few of those posts with poignant excerpts:

From Jen Hatmaker - The Duck Thing: Is There Another Way?

I know. No one needs to spill any more ink over the Duck Dynasty Debacle. I’m barely online these days, and even I was saturated with the crazy. A quick scroll through Facebook revealed about an 85% DD preoccupation in my feed, whether it was for, against, or that uber cool other response: “I don’t even care.” (But I will go ahead and make that my status...sic.)

As many have mentioned, this is clearly not a First Amendment issue. Phil had every right to say whatever he wanted. He could take issue with any people group or demographic on earth, right into a microphone. This isn’t North Korea [shout out to my side of the world!] where the wrong public statement lands you in prison. Or dead. Freedom of speech means you are free to speak. The end.

It does not mean you are free from consequences. Isn’t this obvious?

...

We are not judges, because how could we possibly be?? How dare we? What right do we have to cut someone to the quick when we are nothing but sinners saved by grace? Sanctification is Jesus’ territory, and we can safely leave Him to it; He can handle the human heart. Our only sane offering to our fellow man is mercy.

...

For me, this is the most extreme obedience to “biblical truth” I can imagine. I think of my gay and black friends watching the outcry this week, and I can’t help but think the gospel yet again feels like a bludgeon to them, not a real balm, a real grace, a real sanctuary. And the tragedy is, Jesus is the most real source of mercy in the history of time, and He loves us all with a fierce, indescribable love, and none of us deserve it any less than anyone else, and THAT is the shocking headline we should be proclaiming.

...

I’m going to choose love.

From Kirstin Howerton - Duck Dynasty, first amendment rights, and Christian values

I don’t even know where to start with this one. Comparing black people to white trash is cringey, but suggesting that black people were happier during segregation? That because Phil never heard a black person publicly complain BACK IN THE ERA OF LYNCHING means that they must have been satisfied with the state of things? This is so racially tone-deaf that it reminds me of the time Paula Deen romanticized the slaves as being “like family”. Not to mention, the subtext of his remarks is that black people nowadays are entitled, unGodly, discontented welfare recipients. So when I see people as “standing with Phil” based on their Christian values, I really have to ask . . . how does an apologist for our country’s ugly Jim Crow legacy represent Christian values?

As a Christian, Phil’s views on gay people and on black people do not represent me, and I’m embarrassed by those who are holding him up as a martyr or an example. I get that Phil is dear to many . . . he’s a likable guy and a very public Christian. But that doesn’t excuse his ignorant remarks, nor does it mean that he gets a pass from accountability.

Regardless of where we fall in the “is homosexuality a sin” debate, as Christians, our greatest charge is to LOVE. I don’t feel that Phil’s remarks were loving to gay people or to black people. And I don’t believe the blind support he is getting from Christians is very loving, either.

And Kristin's follow up to her own post - A short history lesson of racism in Louisiana for those who may be confused 

Again, I don’t think it’s uncommon, nor do I think he intended to be racist. But as we grapple as a nation to move forward with racial reconciliation, we cannot continue to pretend that slavery or Jim Crow were not that big a deal because the mythical happy black person overcame by singing songs.  These were horrible times for black people, and to suggest otherwise is incredibly tone-deaf.

Now, I know that Phil is not a perfect person, and that his views and statements on race reflect what a whole lot of folks of his generation might say on the matter. But that doesn’t give him a pass. I’m not calling for a witch hunt, but I’m am suggesting that we stop defending people who defend racism, because it makes us complicit, too.

And the post that encouraged me to throw in my two cents, rather than sit by and let everyone duke it out on facebook:

From Osheta Moore - Oh Honey! Come Here, I Think Your Privilege Is Showing

Because I do get disappointed with white celebrities from the South.  Like I was with Paula Deen and now I am with Phil Robertson of the A&E reality show, “Duck Dynasty”.   Their ignorance is showing and I’m sad.  Once again, they’ve revealed that the racism of the South is still infecting good and Godly people.

Since I wrote last on racism, privilege, and diversity, I’ve had several white bloggers, most of them happen to live or come from the South say to me, “I really want to talk about this but I don’t think I have the right to, I mean…I’m white”.

To which I say, because you’re white, you need to talk about it.  Because you haven’t had to think about it, you need to think about it now.  Because you’re in your homogenous bubble, you need to hear my story as a black woman in America so you can share it with your white, and at times, clueless readers.

The truth is, your voice matters and it has power. As a white blogger in the South,  your acknowledgement of my experience brings a much-needed validation to the racism I dealt as a young, insecure black girl in a predominately white community. If I know you care enough to listen, then I know I can trust you and can hear the best of your words. Speak up and speak life! Your voice can reverberate across the wounded places of my heart and the echos of your acceptance has to power to heal deep, deep offenses!

...

If you ignore this, then I’m sorry….but Honey, I think your privilege is showing.

Even though you are white please, speak up!  Get on your blogs and tell us that comments like Phil Robertson’s is not ok. Don’t deflect by saying we should care about more important topics.  That invalidates the offense.  Please say to your African-American readers that you know and you understand their frustration.  Maybe you can’t relate and that’s ok…but for the love of God, please, start the conversation!

I need to see that.

...

Put the power of your privilege to work and speak up.  Don’t let the internet be void of your voice on this topic and don’t allow yourself to have distorted views of black people or racial reconciliation for fear of letting your ignorance show.

I can handle it. I’ve borne the humiliation of my letting my dark skin show for over thirty years, I think can bear yours for a bit.

Step out the echo chamber of your privilege and recognize that I am a human being just like you, a woman just like you, a mama who loves her babies something fierce and I weep at the beauty of our Jesus—just like you.  Recognizes these truths and start the conversation with me.

And if you'd like to go straight to the source of all the hoopla, I give you the GQinterview with Phil Robertson: What The Duck?

***

I'll tell you what I do agree with. After it all hit the fan, Phil Robertson said:

“I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.”

Phil Robertson is a brother in Christ. I don’t agree with many of my brothers and sisters in Christ, but, you must see, they are still my “family.” I don’t agree with things Joel Osteen says, but I still think he loves Jesus. I disagree with a lot of what Mark Driscoll says, but I still think he loves Jesus. Ours isn’t a one-size-fits-all faith.

At the end of the day, it’s about Jesus. Do you believe in one God, the trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father who died on the cross as the atonement for our sin? Do you receive salvation by the blood of Christ? Do you believe in one ecumenical church?

We can disagree and still love each other.

The most profound truth that I come back to is something Jim Behling, my camp director at Deer Creek Camp, says over and over and over: “Follow no man further than he follows Christ.” If someone is a brother or sister in the Lord, then hang with them. If they start to go off-course from what God speaks to us in the Scriptures, then you follow GOD. God never disagrees with himself. He speaks through the Spirit and the Word, that is, the Bible. Wanna know how to live this Christian life? Get into the Bible, do what it says, and go love one another.

I don’t stand with Phil, but I don’t hate him. At the end of the day, I hope we all understand: we can disagree and still love each other.

Ice Cream Cakes!!

Baskin Robbins makes the cutest ice cream cakes you've ever seen.

Y'all know my love for Baskin Robbins, right? I have been hoping for an ice cream cake for a while now and... guess who received a zebra cake for her birthday?? This girl! T'was such a happy birthday to meee!!

Naomi, you are the BEST schemer! I love you! 

(and thanks for the photo Marli! Pragtig as usual, my lief!) 

Weekday Reminder.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

    he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

    Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,

    your very bones will vibrate with life!

Honor God with everything you own;

    give him the first and the best.

Your barns will burst,

    your wine vats will brim over.

But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;

    don’t sulk under his loving correction.

It’s the child he loves that God corrects;

    a father’s delight is behind all this.

Proverbs 3:5-12

(The Message)

Parents' Visit 2012 - Day 8 (DMZ edition)

a.k.a. My Parents Visited Over A Year Ago And I Never Finished Blogging About It. 

Oops. 

My bad. 

I kept meaning to finish an awesome blog post about how great the DMZ was, with all these little details about and pictures of our trip... and then stuff got busy and I forgot. Then Mom reminded me and I thought about finishing it and got distracted and forgot again... then the one-year anniversary of the trip came and went... then I realized I'm going home again in a week and I STILL haven't finished this post!! Time to get on that, huh?

Hey Mom. This can be your Christmas gift! 

Speaking of pictures, it's so strange to see pictures from 16 months ago! I think my shirt looked better in person. It's got ruffles on the sides so it comes out a little weird in pictures, like I'm a flying squirrel. Don't you hate when something looks cute until you see pictures? No? Just me? 

Anyway... on to the DMZ...

Dad. Mom. Zara.
DMZ

If you ever get a chance to go on a DMZ tour, I highly recommend it! We went with the USO tour - link here - which departed from Camp Kim in Seoul. We chose the tour that included one of the tunnels, the Joint Security Area, and lunch in the DMZ. It lasted from 7:30 am – 3:30 pm and cost $80 each (96,000 Korean Won), not including lunch. I think lunch cost around $10? I can’t remember, but I would definitely do the full day again!

We had to call the tourist hotline to get directions for the taxi, cause I’d left my printed directions back in Gwangju. Oops. (f you ever need English support in Korea, just dial 1330 on your phone and they’re great! I’ve used it a number of times. (Mom’s notes included “Zara woke up frustrated, but we arrived at Camp Kim with enough time to go for Hollys coffee and muffins.” Bahaha!)

The DMZ, of course, is the Demilitarized Zone at the 38^th parallel which forms the boundary between South Korea and North Korea. It's is about an hour north of Seoul by bus. For the rest of the post I’ll use ROK and DPRK to talk about the two countries, so if you’re not familiar with those abbrevs, it goes like this:

ROK = Republic of Korea = South Korea = Not Communist = I live here

DPRK = Democratic* People’s Republic of Korea = North Korea = Communist = I don't live there

*"Democratic" = LOL yeah right nope. 

I live in ROK, of course. South Korea. Not the communist one. You’d be amaaaazed at how many people ask my friends and me if we live in the communist one. Hello world. 

Our first stop on the tour was the 3^rd infiltration tunnel.  Over the years since the Korean War ended, North Korea has made several attempts to invade South Korea.  The south has discovered a number of tunnels where the north attempted to infiltrate. It’s really interesting to actually tour one. We had to wear hard hats, we weren’t allowed to take photos inside, and it’s a bit of a hike down a REALLY STEEP path to get to the line between the countries (underground, of course). You can peek through these little windows to see the demarcation line between ROK and DPRK. I remember there being yellow powder on the walls indicating blast points, too. Super interesting, plus the crazy-steep walkway was good exercise. 

http://tong.visitkorea.or.kr/cms/content_travelGoods/43/1483943_images_3.jpg

Striving for reunification 

After the tunnel, we went to a lookout for our first glimpse of North Korea. We saw the factory that’s made so much news over the past year, where North Korean and South Koreans work together. In addition to their wages, the North Korean workers are also allowed to have one choco-pie for each day on the job. This is a huge treat: a single choco-pie will sell for more than two times the cost of an entire box of them in South Korea. There are smugglers who run choco-pies into North Korea from China because the demand is so high on the black market. I thought that was INCREDIBLE. Choco-pies aren’t even that good! They’ve got this waxy fake chocolate taste with stale cake and marshmallow goo. They’re pretty significant, though, when you think about them from a sociological case study.

I’m telling you. The social studies teacher that I am was GEEEEKING OUT about this stuff. “The supply and demand of choco-pies in North Korea: How a simple confectionary good represents countless benefits which North Korean citizens are denied. A study on communism vs. capitalism” A person could write a dissertation (or a least a freaking awesome 10-page paper) about that!!! Almost makes me want to go back for an MA in History... almost. 

There it is: DPRK

See the guy in shorts to my left at the lookout station? The tour dress code officially states that you must wear long pants, no shorts allowed. We even bought long zip-off pants (so he could wear them fishing later) for my dad the day before the tour since he only brought shorts with him to Korea. Apparently as long as the shorts were to the knee, people were still allowed in. Dad doesn't own any hipster shorts, so he would have been fine ;) 

After the tunnel, we went to Dorasan Station, where trains used to run all the way to Pyongyang. The line used to connect the two countries before the war. It was restored in the early 2000’s, but it only ran for a short time before both governments closed it down. It was considered a step toward reconciliation, but... well, now it’s a tourist stop.

We stopped for lunch inside the DMZ, which wasn't included in the trip cost but it was only about 10,000 won (~$10). We had bulgogi, rice, seaweed, the usual Korean sides, and... no joke... NORTH KOREAN BEER. It was the coolest thing!! It wasn't bad beer, either. I'd definitely say it was better than Cass or Hite*! Light and flavorful. Each bottle cost another 10,000 won (SO WORTH IT!) I wish we’d bought some more for my parents to take home to share with the rest of the family, but we didn’t think of that. That wasn't necessarily encouraged, but we saw that a few people had done that after we got back on the bus. What a cool souvenir, right?? How many people can say they’ve had beer from the DPRK? Not a whole lot. Check that off the bucket list! It'd be worth doing the tour again just for that (maybe ^.~)

*Cass and Hite are two big South Korea brands

We finally made it to the Joint Security Area. First, we had a briefing about the history of the DMZ and JSA. We learned things that I had never heard in my years as a history student. For example, the Axe Murder Incident of 1976. US troops went to trim a poplar tree for a better view of DPRK movement in the JSA. North Korean troops attacked during the outing and two American soldiers were bludgeoned to death with clubs and axes. This was followed by the retaliatory “Operation Paul Bunyan” to cut down the tree “with overwhelming force” from American and South Korean military (with which the two forces flexed their muscles for North Korea to see). North Korea had been trying to blame it on the “American imperialist aggressors” who sent in “hoodlums with axes,” but they backed down after Operation Paul Bunyan. The US camp at the DMZ was named Camp Bonifas in honor of Maj. Bonifas, one of the fallen Americans. It was a very informative briefing.

And then. 

We made it to Punmanjom.

We finally got to go to North Korea.

Punmanjom is the conference area. It is also the name of a village that used to be here, which was destroyed during the war.

"You may take as many pictures of North Korea as you'd like, but do not photograph towards the South Korean side of the JSA for security purposes."

The blue buildings themselves are not remarkable, but the official demarcation line runs horizontally through the middle of the room, marked by and a desk in the center of the space and a concrete slab outside the window. The South Korean soldiers stand at “ROK ready” (pronounced like “rock ready”), a taekwondo stance of preparedness. Just so you know, the guards in all of my pictures are not North Korean. Before we went, I assumed that all the “Hey look! We’re in North Korea now!” pictures were with North Korean soldiers, but no, they’re not allowed in the room at the same time as ROK soldiers.  During the briefing, they told us about an incident when an ROK soldier went to close the door facing the North Korean side and some DPRK soldiers tried to abduct him and drag him into North Korea. Yikes. So, yeah, basically the two sides share the space for tours, but *not* at the same time. The only times the two sides meet in the room are when they need to agree on something, like how tall the ROK/DPRK flagpoles in the JSA are allowed to be. 

South Korean soldiers standing at ROK Ready, facing North Korea

And we're in!

ROK soldier, straddling the demarcation line that runs through the center of the table, where the flag sits

*Officially in North Korea*

 As we drove through the JSA, we saw the memorial where the poplar tree used to stand, as well as the Bridge of No Return, which looks nothing like the Bridge that Hollywood uses. It’s just a little thing, nothing much to look at, but oh so significant in political/military history. The Bridge of No Return was used at the end (cease-fire agreement) of the Korean War. Prisoners were allowed to decide which country to remain in, but once they crossed they could never return. Whoa.

Our guide, a US Army MP, was animated and informative and made the trip so enjoyable! He talked about hazing new soldiers stationed at the DMZ. There are legends about landmines and horrible animals up around the border that they use to mess with each other. Pretty funny stuff if you ask me. (Not the landmines, cause those are real and not funny at all...)

The North Korean "Propaganda Village"

The memorial for the Axe Murder Incident 

The Bridge of No Return 

Later, we got to go through a JSA/DMZ museum with all sorts of history I’d never read before! [*HISTORY NERD TALKING*] I could have spent hours reading every information card, but, alas, we didn’t have very long. There were some dioramas of the Axe Murder Incident, though, that really stick out in my memory. I can’t even imagine the horror... One minute you’re following orders to trim a tree and a KPA soldier tells you that Kim Il Sung personally planted that tree, so you better stop trimming it, but you ignore him, then you’re being attacked by 20 North Korean guards with clubs. The incident happened very quickly but... I can’t even imagine.

Info about the two villages in the DMZ:
Freedom Village in South Korea and Propaganda Village in North Korea

The Armistice Agreement from 1953
No "final peaceful settlement" has been made yet, so of course we are technically still at war

What an incredible, memorable day. I can’t believe it was so long ago! Going through the pictures makes it seem like just the other day, but, wow, it has been a while! I'm amazed at what a difference a year and change can make. 

After we returned from the DMZ, we stopped off at our guesthouse to rest a minute before heading out for their last evening. We were staying in the Yellow Submarine guesthouse the last two nights since our first guesthouse/penthouse wasn't available... I love staying in hostels, but then again I *am* in my mid-twenties. Turns out it was a *little* young (read: loud) for my parents. Muaha... Oops. Next time, I think they'd prefer to spring for actual hotels. I definitely succeeded in giving them an accurate picture of my life last year! 

Mom LOVED the guesthouse.

For their last evening in Korea, we headed up to N. Seoul Tower to watch the sun set and see the Seoul skyline at night. We actually happened to run into some friends of mine from Gwangju up in the tower! I think their parents were visiting for the week also. It was a beautiful end to a fantastic trip. 

  

 

The next morning, we packed up and I took my parents to the airport. Saying goodbye is neither easy nor fun. Little did we know that I would fall so much in love with living abroad that it would be another full year until they saw me again. And yet! I’ll be home for Christmas, then I’ll begin my third year of life in South Korea. It’s hard to believe! 

See you soon!