According to the BBC:

North Korea is the least visited country in the world - only 1,800 Westerners make the trip each year.

Hopefully, by the end of the summer, I will be one of those 1,800 Westerners...watch this space...

Mad as a March Hare

So then there was March.

At the start of the month, we had to say goodbye to a good friend, Miss Fruzsina, who had decided – for various reasons – to quit her job here and head back to the land of greasy breakfasts and Pimms (ooh, Pimms...). So we had a couple of nights out in honour of her departure: one night in Daegu, for the girls, at the legendary Club Frog, and one big night in Seoul. It was sad to say goodbye, but wondrous technologies like Facebook make it easier to keep in touch these days, and we know we’ll see her again. Nights out in Daegu just aren’t the same anymore! Here we are, Char, Fru and myself:



Work started back in full swing; it was nice to be back with the kids again, as we hadn’t taught them for two months (ok...nice to be back with some of them...!) The new seniors look so much more grown up than they did last December, and our new first graders are so young and fresh-faced, and ready to have their souls crushed by the Korean high school system!

We also had some new teachers, due to the Korean system of constantly reassigning: teachers can only stay a maximum of five years at any one school, and most are reassigned after two years. They can be reassigned to anywhere within the province, and don’t always get to choose, so for many, it involves a move or a long commute. So we got a couple of nice new teachers, but lost my favourite one (and I didn’t get to say goodbye, as no one had explained this to me, and I chose not to go in on one day when they said it was my choice, and that was her last day!)

We were landed with all sorts of new demands during the first few weeks of school, so the time went quickly, and suddenly, there it was...St Paddy’s Day! There had originally been plans to go to Seoul, as they have a St Patrick’s Festival every year, but unfortunately, vacations had drained everyone’s finances. Nevertheless, the best celebrations are where there are Irish folk, and so I headed down to Gwangju to celebrate with Miss Califf and the ruffians in that neck of the woods. Char came down also, to celebrate her first St Patrick’s Day with "real, live Irish people"!

A great night was had by all, with much singing, jigging, and drinking of green beer (not really, hate the stuff!) Carol gave some Irish dancing lessons, which is her usual party trick, but was a bit more appropriate this time; we glared in disgust at the obligatory Americans dressed head to toe as leprechauns or Irish cheerleaders (??) because they "have Irish ancestors"; and we spent a good while outside the pub, singing a variety of well-known Irish, ahem, melodies, including a lesser-known one that Carol and I had learned that day, one that was kindly sent to me by my dear father, in which the chorus sang:

Red-headed lasses will ask you so freely is that your shilleleagh or are you glad to see me?
A rainbow and pot of gold wait round the bend, and if you’re not Irish, well you can pretend!

I fear it may be sung at every St Paddy’s celebration from now on!

The following weekend was another biggie...for it was time for me to admit the passing of the years, and face up to the reality that I am not, in fact, getting any younger. Yup. It was my birthday.

It didn’t start off too well, as the night before my birthday, I received an e-mail from Dad telling me that our beloved Pepe, the Labrador who has been with us for 12 years, had finally passed in the night. My brother Simon gives a much better tribute to her on his blog, the link to which is over on the right, so I won’t even try. But it’s hard to imagine home without a dog; there’s always been a dog at the Gordon household, in my lifetime, at least.

So the next morning, I didn’t start off too happy. And for a few silly reasons, my mood worsened during the first couple of hours of school. But it started to get better when Tony walked into the office carrying an ice cream cake for me; and then my co-teacher, Mr Lee, appeared in (having rushed home) with a gift; and then I went to my next class to discover that Tony hadn’t just run downtown for an ice cream cake, but had also bought a lot of drinks and snacks and had decided that we were having a birthday party with one of our second grade classes. There I am with the little dotes; I say dotes, because one of them, one of my favourite students, had taken a poster around for a bunch of them to sign, and had given me a few small gifts.



This student had written me a letter also, and I think it’s a letter I will keep forever. In it, she tells me that I have taught her how to be happy; that she always sees me smiling, and realises that it’s because I think positively. She says I have also taught her patience; that when she gets stressed, she thinks of how I would act, and it helps her to calm down. And she says she sees me as a true friend, as well as a teacher.

The letter was enough to make me cry anyway, but since I had just spoken to Dad, and we had talked about Pepe, it was difficult to remain composed in an office full of teachers and students!

So the day got better, and Tony and I had some ice cream cake after lunch (we were going to share it with the other teachers, but they all disappeared!) I keep talking about Tony, so here he is (self photo):


The following day was Charlotte’s birthday, so we had a whole weekend of Daegu shenanigans planned. On the Friday night (my birthday), Char, Carol and I met in Daegu. I arrived first, and got the hotel sorted, and Char soon arrived at the door, bearing gifts! Birthday presents, a cake (my third one of the day!) and a princess party hat, that I was made to wear around town all night, attracting many stares and comments! The three of us went for pizza, and had a bit of a catch up, but, as we are prone to doing, ordered far too much, so practically a whole pizza went back to the hotel room. When we got back, it was time to open presents, eat cake and sing Happy Birthday (first to me, then to Char when midnight had passed – a time which also saw the passing of the birthday hat!) It felt like the sleepovers I used to have when I was a teenager. Ah them were simpler days!

The next day was the big celebration day; firstly, we were going to a bull-fighting festival. Just 30 minutes outside Daegu, the town of Cheongdo holds a festival every year. And I’m not talking about the man versus bull fights that you might be thinking of; these were bull versus bull. It was a great festival: we saw a few bull fights, although sometimes they were reluctant to fight, but more than that, it was all the extra side shows around the festival that made it so fun. There were traditional Korean crafts, games and sweets, and we could go and look at the bulls taking part (my grandfathers would have been so proud!) There were some mighty angry looking bulls, but I’m not surprised! I suppose it was quite cruel, the fights did often draw blood, and they’re forced to fight.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time at the festival, as we had to get back to Daegu, buy some last minute essentials, and then start getting ready for our big night. For it was Korean Night!

I know what you’re thinking: "She lives in Korea, what’s so special about it being Korean night?" We planned a Korean themed night: that meant crazy Korean fashions (think bows, frills, short skirts and leggings, and cutesy); Korean drinking style (can’t pour your own drink, must use both hands when pouring or accepting and must drink turned away from your elders); and Korean photo poses (the victory sign, making a heart shape with the hands, or a heart shape over the head). Any slip-ups entailed a drinking penalty.



Char and I were impressed – and flattered – not only by the turn-out, but by the effort that people had made. We had twenty for dinner (Korean, of course), and more for drinks and dancing afterwards; and almost everyone had made a massive effort to look and act Korean. Also, we had Susie and Mike, and Amy and Sarah, who had to drive nearly five hours to even get to Daegu! Plus, we had Kirsty and her Korean boyfriend, Gil: there is a trend in Korea for couple clothes, ie couples wearing matching bracelets, or t-shirts, or entire outfits. We managed to persuade Kirsty (an Aussie) to give into this trend for just one night; so she and Gil appeared wearing matching hot pink t-shirts with bright yellow hearts emblazoned across the chest, and black jackets. Fantastic.

It truly was a fantastic night, and I was just deliriously happy that so many people had come, and some from quite far. Plus, the gifts that we received were all very Korean-themed, which made everything even more fun. We ended up in our usual Daegu haunt, Club Frog, and I’m not exactly sure what the actual Koreans thought! Actually, I was told by a few Koreans that I looked very Korean, so I must have got my outfit just right! It was fun, but that skirt will never be seen on me again! So, in regards to the last photo in my last blog entry, my Korean outfit explains the glasses, and the bunny ears were a gift.

The next morning, we slowly pulled ourselves out of bed as we had a noon check out time. There were five of us piled into our usual suite, and – all of us being girls – the place was a bit of a bomb site, with clothes and make-up everywhere. So, when noon rolled around, there we were...in pyjamas, eating cake with chopsticks.

We finally made it out, and then quickly dumped ourselves in a restaurant for lunch, where we spent another few hours trying to get the energy to move further. And then…I had a date. With a Korean.

Now my first Korean dating experience was nowhere near as amusing as Char’s a week earlier, so I shall refer you to her blog, listed on the right, for that story. Mine was a fairly standard experience: dinner, and coffee, and very stunted conversation. Thought I’d just see how things go, and it was nice of him to call me when I got home to make sure I’d got back ok. When he called three more times and texted four times that night, however, even after I had said I was going to sleep and I wasn’t answering, I started to have my doubts. Nearly a month later, during which I haven’t answered his (many) calls once, and he’s still trying! He’s stubborn, I’ll give him that.

Thankfully, I had that following Monday off school, so I was able to recover a bit. It was a day off because it was the school’s birthday. I love this country!

That week, we had some great thunderstorms, which entertained me for hours as I stood at the window watching. Not much else happened for the rest of March; except for going to Daegu to have lunch with Char and her parents, who were visiting, I stayed home that weekend to prepare for my next excitement: Mum’s visit!

Which I shall write about tomorrow. For these two entries have taken me all day, and now it is late, and I am tired, and I want to read my book.

Seoul-tripping

I'll start with a trip that Char and I took in February, merely a few days after my return from Down Under. We decided we hadn't seen Seoul properly - it is, after all, this wonderful nation's capital, we needed to give it some attention.

So we headed up to Seoul on the KTX - Korea's super-fast train. It cuts the travel time nearly in half, and even though for part of it we were travelling at around 190 mph, it certainly didn't feel like it.

We had planned the weekend as a cultural, sight-seeing trip, as in, no alcohol involved. I made the mistake, however, of taking Char to an Irish pub, the Wolfhound, where we had a couple of Baby Guinnesses, and she decided we had to go dancing. After a quick look at the world's least lively salsa club, we found a standard club, and hit the dancefloor. The night unfolded from there, and we ended up at 4am in a food tent, eating mussels (which I hate, but felt like I had to eat because it was service) and what we can only assume was rat. We made it home around 7am, which affected somewhat the plans that we had made to start our sightseeing early!

But if you know me, you know I don't sleep late, and you know when I'm going sightseeing, I'm irritatingly awake and perky early. After pestering Char (who likes her sleep - sorry Char!) for hours, we finally got going around 1pm.



Our first stop was Gyeongbokgung, which was a principal palace up until the 16th century. As with most palaces in Korea, it was burned down during a Japanese invasion, and lay in ruins until the 19th century when restoration started. But, once again, the Japanese stepped in* and during Korea's occupation by imperialist Japan, most of the 330 buildings were destroyed. Since the liberation of Korea, restoration has continued, and work still goes on.

Palace sites here are all basically similar: main halls and pavilions, courtyards, residential quarters. My favourite part of Gyeongbokgung was the island pavilion, a hall set in the middle of a lily pond.



It's always a history lesson visiting places like this (although the history of wooden buildings often reads: "Burned down in 1348; rebuilt, struck by lightning and burned down in 1510; destroyed during an invasion, 1578; struck by lightning and destroyed in 1650" and so on...!) At this palace, they also have a ceremony that folks back home would be familiar with: a changing of the guard. I've never seen the changing of the guard in London, but the one at Gyeongbokgung was interesting: the fresh soldiers marched up and down a few times in front of the entrance, with their flags and their drums, and then turned to face the guards on their way out. The leader of each exposed a large medallion to the other leader, on which was a symbol - we assume this was to prevent imposters, as the symbols had to match.

While we were in the palace, Char and I were suckered into paying a few quid to be dressed up in traditional Korean wedding clothes (hanbok) and have our photos taken! It was fun though. We were parading through the grounds like royalty!

From the palace, we went to find dinner, and headed on a long walk in the direction of something that I had read about and wanted to see. A Statue of a Hammering Man....that moves! I don't think Char was suitably impressed, but, wow! It was very tall indeed, but only a few inches thick, and the hand with the hammer slowly moved up and down. Very relaxing. I could have looked at it for days, but had to give in to Char.

Our next destination was Insadong, an area famous for arts and crafts, and tea. There are lots of Korean souviner shops, and many delightful pieces of Korean art to look at: ceramics, paintings, sculptures. There are also art galleries and many tea shops. We had a gander for a little while, but were feeling quite tired, so decided to head back to the hotel for a nap before heading out for dinner. At 11pm, we woke up and ordered pizza!

The next morning, we once again struggled with getting up, but finally made our way to Namdaemun market, which is one of the biggest wholesale markets in Seoul, selling all sorts of goodies. We didn't do too much shopping, as we were both just back from pricey winter vacations, but it was interesting to see. At one point, we engaged in conversation with a male seller who was dressed in women's clothes, and we became the talk of the street for a while as he was still "talking" to us when we were halfway down the street!

From the market, we headed south of the river to the monstrous COEX complex. There's a mall, food courts, department stores, cinemas, games places, and - what we were going to - an aqquarium. I love aquariums. Except for the Japanese spider crabs that I'm terrified of (saw them first in Osaka...evil looking things). This one was quite good: it had a tank full of sharks (that Char provided a soundtrack to. No prizes for guessing what song), lots of pretty little fish and enough ugly fish to make fun of, and - this is the best part - a two-headed turtle! I kid you not.



From the aquarium, we headed back to the Irish pub that had started the trouble on Friday night. We were returning for dinner, as Char had discovered that they served Toad in the Hole, and I had been before and knew how good the food was (best chips this side of London). We were also meeting Katy, who is a friend of a university friend of mine, and had just moved to Korea less than a month earlier. (Incidentally, this was the day after we beat the English in the rugby, and I managed to catch the last 10 minutes of the replay in the pub!)

It was a nice relaxed evening, some good homely grub, and good conversation with new people. But Char and I were having a (relatively) early night in preparation for our adventures the next day: we were headed to the DMZ.


The last Cold War border

The DMZ is the Demilitarised Zone, the area that stretches the length of the North-South border and extends 2km on either side. The phrase "demilitarised zone" is a bit of a misnomer, as it is actually the most heavily fortified border in the world. And it is the last remaining Cold War border: in most of the rest of the world, the Cold War and the communist/capitalist struggle is but a distant memory. Americans and South Koreans cannot visit, and other visitors have to go in a group, so Char and I, and a few other English-speakers were tagged onto a Japanese tour group.

As you might know, North Korea is my particular area of study, and the motivation for me coming out here. At some point before I leave, I hope to make it to North Korea proper, but this is also something I wanted to do.

The closer you get to the edge of the DMZ, the more visible the security fears: watchtowers, anti-tank barriers, barbed wire, a distinct lack of housing or development. The first stop in the DMZ itself is Camp Bonifas, and from here it is only a stone's throw to the JSA - Joint Security Area - which is occupied by Korean People's Army soldiers to the North, and to the South, by a UN Command made up of South Korean and US soldiers. The UNC's motto is "In front of them all".

While being taken to the first checkpoint (one of four) we were instructed not to take photos, not to point, and not to gesture towards the NK soldiers. These last two instructions remained in place throughout all out time in the DMZ, but we were allowed to take photos at certain points.

At the first checkpoint - Checkpoint Alpha, the entrance to Camp Bonifas - we were taken off the bus to a briefing room, where we were given a short history of the area, a rundown of the rules, a guest badge, and a declaration to sign. The declaration contained rules such as:

1. The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjeom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action...Although incidents are not anticipated, the United Nations Command, the United States of America, and the Republic of Korea cannot guarantee the safety of visitors and may not be held accountable in the event of a hostile enemy act...

2.c) Fraternisation, including speaking or any association with personnel from the Korean People's Army/Chinese People's Volunteers (KPA/CPV) side, is strictly prohibited. [Military] personnel...are identified as follows: brown or olive drab North Korean uniforms...

2.d) Visitors will not point, make gestures, or expressions which could be used by the North Korean side as propaganda material against the United Nations Command...

2.i) If any incidents should occur, remain calm, and follow instructions issued by security personnel.

It was the last one that I particularly liked, its matter-of-factness.

After the briefing - and some of you will appreciate this bit - we had a group photo taken, with a banner saying where we were, and this photo was available for us to purchase later, in a book that explained everything that we would see. Most of us opted not to buy, partly because of the price-tag, and partly because we were already mildly uncomfortable at how such a flashpoint has been made a tourist attraction.

We changed buses for the journey into the JSA, but we were all to stick to our assigned seat numbers, for security and to keep us in line, I guess; our passports were checked maybe three times throughout the whole trip.

The short drive into the JSA was quite eerie; the DMZ is largely unoccupied, except for one village on either side. The South Korean village, Daesong, is famous for rice and ginseng, and the 200-odd residents all must have been resident there before the Korean War or had family who were. They have an 11pm curfew and soldiers stand guard around the clock. One might wonder who in their right mind would choose to live in a place that is so close to the most potentially dangerous border in the world. They pay no taxes, and are the richest farmers in all of Korea.

During the drive, we passed under a number of odd looking bridges, and were informed that they were in fact anti-tank mechanisms: were there to be an invasion, these "bridges" would be blown up, and the rubble would block the road, halting the progress of tanks and troops. We were told that much of the land we were passing by is littered with land mines; but it is also an incredibly ecologically diverse area, because it has been left practically untouched for over 50 years.

We were told a bit about the North Korean military force, some information that I was already aware of: it is the 5th largest military in the world, and is the most militarised nation in proportion to population, and every NK male has to perform ten years of military service.

(I should point out that as we were going, I was discreetly taking notes.)

A short time later, we arrived at Panmunjeom, the village at the JSA. Here, on the South side, are two buildings: Freedom House and Peace House. This is where defectors are received. We were taken firstly through to the blue UN buildings that straddle the border, where negotiations still sometimes take place. And this is about as close to North Korea as most people usually get.



Inside the main building is a few desks and chairs: one side is South Korean, the other, North Korean. Only one side is allowed to have a tour group in at any one time, thus preventing any communication between the two sides. And while there are SK visitors, the SK soldiers stand guard, and vice versa. A soldier stands guard over the door that leads into North Korea, and I couldn't help but imagine this as a Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe style situation: a doorway that leads to a (for me, in a sense) magical, curious and unknown world.


We obviously weren't allowed to speak to the soldiers, but we were permitted to take photos with them. Many people did, and Char had one taken also, but I never feel entirely comfortable having my photo taken with soldiers on duty, and this situation left me feeling even more uncomfortable.

While in the room, we were able to walk in and out of the North Korean side, but I do hope to make it into NK proper later this year. We could see the concrete ridge outside that marks the border itself - you're never allowed to forget even for a second where the line is.

The soldiers on guard in the hut and outside all stand in a rather peculiar taekwondo stance, so that they are standing in readiness: they are leaning forward slightly, and their fists are clenched by their side. They also wear dark sunglasses, probably as an intimidation technique.

After leaving the UN hut, we were led to a pagoda that sits next to Freedom House, and from here we could see into the North Korean side. NK has a Welcoming House, which is where they receive defectors, and a watchtower, from where we could see NK soldiers watching us with binoculars. The white posts just in front of the watchtower indicate the border.

From here we were driven to a SK watchtower, where we were allowed to go outside and look into NK, and towards Gijong, which is the DMZ village on the NK side. It is uninhabited except for a few caretakers, and is solely used as a propaganda village. The flag tower is 160m (525 feet) tall and bears one of the biggest flags in the world, weighing nearly 300kg (660 pounds). The village used to broadcast propaganda messages through massive loudspeakers for 6-12 hours a day, which could be heard in Daesong.

We could see across the border that most of the forests had been cleared; we were told this was because of the fuel shortage in NK. And the horizon gives an indication of one of the North's problems: it has very few resources or suitable agricultural land partly because it is so mountainous, even more so than the South.



We could also see the Bridge of No Return: at the end of the Korean War, thousands of prisoners were brought here and told to decide - once and for all - which side they were going to return to. The bridge was manned until the Tree Chopping Incident of 1976 which led to the death of two American soldiers.



(Anyone who knows the Korean movie JSA might recognise the Bridge of No Return, as it is featured in the story. And the movie is an amusing look at what happens when soldiers from both sides end up becoming friends; it gives an interesting insight into the conflict, if you're interested.)

We left Panmunjeom, and headed back towards Camp Bonifas. We passed the site of the UNC's quick reaction force, which is able to respond to any incident withint 60-90 seconds; a soldier in full combat gear sits in readiness in a truck constantly.

Given the severity of the potential security risk and the fact that negotiations are constantly remain in a constant state of uncertainty, it was surprising to see many of the UNC soldiers waving and smiling at us as we drove past. I was always led to believe that American soldiers were deathly serious about their work. (Although, I suppose the Abu Graibh fiasco should have taught me otherwise.)

Before we left Camp Bonifas, we were taken to a souvenir shop, which simply added to the surreal atmosphere that hung over the whole trip. Available for purchase were presentation cases containing sections of barbed wire taken from the border after the end of the Korean War, and the usual t-shirts, postcards, and keyrings.

The tour then took us to an area further outside the DMZ, to see Freedom Bridge, where South Korean prisoners were released at the end of the war. As they crossed the bridge, they supposedly called out "hurrah for freedom", hence the name of the bridge. Part of the bridge also now holds on of only two (unused) railway lines that cross the border. As with any other Korean tour, the day was not complete without some famous Korean food for lunch. Back on the bus, hour's drive back to Seoul, and then back home to Gumi.

The whole ultra-tourist vibe of the day didn't sit very well with me. But I know that it'll be worse when I do get into North Korea proper. But it was fascinating for me to see, and it has only fueled my desire to see the North even more; the idea of going back in a few months and seeing the JSA from the other side is quite exciting.

So that was the February Seoul trip. It's taken a bit more writing than I expected it to, but I wasn't going to give short shrift to something that you all know is so interesting to me.

The March update will come soon, when I'll explain why I'm wearing glasses and bunny ears:





*The Japanese and their destructive effects are a recurring feature of Korea's history. Korea's geographical position has, for thousands of year, left it vulnerable to attack from China, Russia and Japan, and the latter have definitely come out as the bad guys.

Working 9 to 5

I wish! What I would give to just be working 9 to 5...

Greetings all, and welcome to the blog of the Jeni which I am finally going to attempt to update. I'm sorry it's been so long, but I do have very valid reasons! I haven't updated about anything since I came back from the Oz trip, and that's because, since then, life hasn't quite stopped!

In between various trips and travels and celebrations, which I will elaborate on later, the main reason for the lack of bloggage has been the start of the new school year. Which has been super-busy!

The academic year here runs from March to December, so the new semester brought new teachers, new schedules, and new working hours. I've started helping out with some of the evening programmes - remember, my kids are super smart, so in the evening, we have classes for students who want to go to college in the US, and for those studying for the TOEFL exam (test of English as a foreign langauge). As of this week, the school also started a programme for gifted middle school kids from around the province. So I now work 8am-9pm four days a week. My only free day is Friday, which I left open so that I could go away for my weekends.

So, I hope you understand why it's been do difficult to keep up with this! As well as the actual teaching hours, there is so much preparation for the evening programmes, never mind the regular classes. But it's interesting - it challenges me more, I get to teach a greater range of topics, and it's also some extra money, which is desperately needed.

I'm going to talk about what else has been going on in individual blog entries, so that it'll be a bit easier on the eye, and you can read it in smaller chunks. A lot has happened, much has been seen, and many photos have been taken!

Stay tuned, hopefully I'll get it all up this weekend. And at some point, I'll explain this:

Spring is here in all its glory

Spring has arrived here in Korea, and it's like the springs we used to get: changeable, rainy one minute, sunny the next. We had five thunderstorms last week, and it's gotten a little chilly again. But the skies are clear, leaves are appearing on the trees, and the cherry blossoms are out in force.

Well...clear skies except for Sunday, when the view across Daegu was this:



The reason for this gloomy looking "fog"?

Yellow Dust.

It comes across from the deserts of China every spring, coating cars and windows, and forcing even more people to wear face masks than usual.

And yet, today, two days later, this was the view aw I walked home from work:



B-eautiful, innit?


PS I'm aware that it's been a while since I wrote, and I do have quite a lot to catch up on...but honestly, I'm very busy these days! School is taking up most of my time and energy at the minute. And it won't be anytime soon that I do catch up - my dear Mum is coming to visit on Thursday, so I'll be travelling around with her for a while. Yay!