Korea, Part 3

One of Meg’s friends hosts an open mic, and I showed up just as he was wrapping up, so he gave me the go ahead to play as long as I wanted, which was awesome because I had only played alone anymore once before. Sweet.

I spent one afternoon drinking coffee at a Starbucks and writing out Christmas cards containing the worst English I could find, and sending them back home. Felt like I was home again, complete with a snowfall.

One of Meg’s friends was hosting 2 couchsurfers while I was there, and they both were in the process of biking across Asia. One of them had started cycling from Germany 2 years ago and had come through Turkey, Iran, the Himalayas and Russia. The other had paid the North Korean government 1500 Euros to let him bike through for 7 days! A big deal because at this point, North Korea had put a stop on the tourist groups allowed into their country because of an incident with a south korean woman who was shot dead for trespassing into the military zone. Tourists were only allowed in to very few areas though, and only since the last year or 2.

I guess I was in Seoul at the right time, because on a night out on the town we met up with one of Megs friends who was planning a trip to Japan in the near future, and he was a firm believer in karma. He wanted to treat the bikers and I to a crazy night out in Itaewon, the big foreigner bar section of Seoul, in hopes that somebody would do the same for him in Japan. It was pretty awesome…countless bars to choose from. From hookah bars, to dance clubs, to quieter bars that will download any song you request, no matter what genre you want to hear (odds are they have it already in their endless vinyl collection). By the way, at the beginning of this night, we went to check out the band of the guy who hosted the open mic. His band’s name was “U. R. Seoul”. Say that out loud. I laughed.

Anyhoo, the same guy later on took Meg and I out to the fish market for some live squid. Yes, live squid. You walk along the stalls and pick the one you want, and they have it brought over to one of the restaurants bordering the market, and they prepare it there for you. The squid is really just chopped up, but the nerves remain active for quite a while afterwards so the pieces are still squiggling and sticking to anything they touch. Not for the faint of stomach. Requires lots of chewing too if you want to avoid the suction, so don’t show up with a weak jaw. You dip the squid in a special sauce and can eat it with lettuce leaves. Pretty tasty, actually. If you ever see the movie “Oldboy”, probably the most famous Korean movie, there’s a scene where he eats live squid. It wasn’t like that, but check out that scene anyway. It’s gross. Also had string ray...this one was cooked, and was pretty good too.

Now, I saved this bit for the end because I know I can ramble on about it for a while. I’ll try to keep it short though. I hopped on a guided tour to the DMZ (the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea). I had planned on going into North Korea, but as previously mentioned, they canceled all this just before I arrived. This was amongst the most interesting things I saw on this entire trip so far. Here’s a quick story to explain the DMZ as I understand it: after WWII, Korea was still an undivided country, no North or South Korea, but there was lots of pressure being applied on the country, communist Russia and China from the north and west, and capitalist Japan and the U.S. from the east and south (the US had troops in Korea). Korea was in a very unique position to grant either party quite a bit of power because of their geographical location, but Korea was tired of violence. So, without war, they split the country in two: communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea, and everyone had to decide which side they would reside on, and there was no coming back. To avoid violence between north and south troops at the border, they created the DMZ, a 4 km wide zone with no military presence. This is the zone you get to see from a distance on this tour.

The biggest and heaviest flag in the world is there, north korea’s, because there are small villages in the DMZ that existed before it was created, 1 on either side of the border, and they kept one-uping each other on flag size.

So, many years after this split north korea put into action a plant to invade south korea, which they had been working on all along. They took it all the way to Busan. The U.S. decided to step in and helped retake all the territory, and then some, all the way into north korea. China shows up and moves north korea back down, and it goes back and forth like this for a long time. Eventually, there was a cease fire signed, and a limited number of troops are allowed to patrol in the DMZ on either side of the border. Once they go in, they aren’t allowed to leave for a pretty long time.

Surely enough, south korea eventually discovered 1, 2, 3, then 4 tunnels under the DMZ! It’s rumoured that there are 94 more tunnels so far undiscovered. They contacted the UN, and north korea denied responsibility at first, then in the face of undeniable evidence they change their story to that it was a rogue prospector digging a coal mine without realizing where he was. Such an interesting place.

When tourists were allowed, residents were not allowed to make eye contact, let alone speak to them. Only a select few were allowed to learn English and communicate. A giant antenna blocks out all outside information, so they only know what they are fed. They believe their leader has supernatural powers, that he changes the seasons, etc.

Anyway, I just ordered a collection of essays by North Koreans who somehow managed to leave, sometimes by swimming across a river and dodging bullets. The essays are all about life in the country and where the country is headed. Such an interesting place.

My flight back to Taiwan was booked for Friday, 2 weeks after my arrival, but I moved it to Monday so that I could snowboard the second time. Oh yes, and while I was in Seoul, I bought a 2 month visa to go back to Taiwan, the whole reason I had to leave in the first place. Caught my flight Monday, and I was off.