Sokcho

I told you'd we'd be catching up eventually! This is a bit out of order, as we actually went to Jeju before we went to Sokcho, but a) Sokcho was the more "interesting" trip (i.e. we did more than lay by the pool) and b) I already posted a few pictures from Jeju, but none from our super fabulous trip to Sokcho.

Sokcho is on Korea's East Coast, just a 4 1/2 hour bus ride from Seoul. The buses in Korea have the Greyhounds back home beat by like 200 times over. For just $44 per person round-trip we were treated to arm-chair sized leather seats with foot rests and a rest stop half-way there that American rest-stops could learn a thing or two from!

So, we hopped on the bus with a vague idea of what we would be doing over our 4 days there and had decided to pretty much just wing it. Sokcho appealed to us because it had both the beach and the mountains in close proximity. It turned out to be one of our absolute favorite trips we have taken so far and we are already making plans to return this fall!

Sam's family went to Sokcho during their trip to Korea and picked up a brochure for "The House" hostel. We tried to call ahead and make reservations, but ummm... forgot, so we thought we'd just see when we got there. The man who runs this place is super friendly and helpful and came and picked us up from the bus station to show us where the hostel was (it's a bit tricky to find). For just $30 a night we got a small, functional room with a bathroom, ac, a water cooler and a mini-fridge. We also got a modest (free!) breakfast each morning and there was a computer with internet access. Plus the lobby was super cute. The bathroom was a bit dicey, and if you're planning on heading out during the summer I would definitely make a reservation, we had to move rooms the 3rd night to a room with no AC (but they were nice enough to accomodate us even without the reservation).



Our first order of business was to check out Seoraksan National Park. As you can see, it was absolutely gorgeous. The entire time we were there was great hiking weather! The first day we took a short hike up to a waterfall and then the cable car up to a peak whose trails were closed.


Not a great picture, but I post it because when we got up to the waterfall everyone had their shoes off and was enjoying splashing around, and I was amazed by all the tiny kids they managed to haul up the literally 20+ flights of stairs that make up the end of the hike. (Plus, they couldn't get this kid to stop picking his nose for their own photo which kind of cracked me up.)



Sam and I split up on the 2nd day and we both had quite the adventure. Sam climbed the highest peak in the park (which I'm sure he will post about some day) and I decided to set off to find Hwajinpo, a small town north of Sokcho.

Let me just say that whoever writes directions for a certain very popular guidebook might need to be fired. For most of the day I thought I was lost in the Korean countryside and would probably not ever find my way back... but I ended up making to my final destination unscathed beside a minor sunburn from hiking in the direct sunlight (and slight embarassment because they neglect to mention that entrance they guide you to is actually a vehicle entrance so I waited in line with a car both in front of and behind me MUCH to the amusement of the woman at the ticket booth).

While there I was able to see this house, which is where the infamous Kim Jong Il summered as a child. It was pretty interesting, but maybe not so much worth the 1.5 hour bus ride each way and then half hour hike. If only that guidebook had told me there was a great beach nearby I would have brought my suit!

We loved going to the beach at night. It's quite unlike the States where they have to shut the beaches down early so that people don't wreak havoc! Instead it's like a big party with families everywhere shooting off fireworks and walking along the water.

Our last morning there we decided to walk along the harbor and see the fishing boats that had just come in from their night's work. We got to see some fresh caught squid and guys working on their nets.

Then, we noticed these gentlemen gesturing at us and they invited us to sit down for some raw squid with chili paste. It was absolutely delicious! They spoke very little English, and we speak only a very little Korean, but we had a really nice conversation for about half an hour. They were super impressed that Sam climbed the mountain, and they all wanted to touch his beard.

Then we decided to check out the lighthouse. Poor Sam, soooooo many stairs the day after he climbed the mountain! However, it yielded a rare decent photo of the two of us together, so I think it was well worth it!

After all that walking and climbing and such we decided to treat ourselves to the "Sokcho special" of... fried goodness. We got ALL of this food, plus the ddok bokki in the background for $2! The fried shrimp and fried pajeon were amazing, and I'm not even that big a fan of fried things.



So, there you have it, more than you ever wanted to know about our trip to Sokcho!

The DMZ

I know, it's about time, right? We only went a month and a half ago! Well, as I will apparently do anything to procrastinate from cleaning my apartment tonight (I know, shocker!) I thought I would finally get started catching up on our travels this summer. This could be a long one, but I will be focusing on the time that we spent in the most recognizable part of the DMZ.

We went to the DMZ when Sam's family was here and it was truly an intense trip. I'm not sure photos can really capture the sense of tension you feel while you are there. We also happened to be there the day after a South Korean woman was shot and killed by the North Korean army. You can read more about that incident here. Needless to say tension was especially high that day. It is strange because I don't think we ever felt "unsafe" at any point, it was just a heightened sense of being at a place of deep division.

We started our day at literally 4:30am. We needed to be at the USO office by 7:30 to check in for our tour and didn't want to risk running late at all. The USO tour is the only one that actually takes you inside the JSA (Joint Security Area... where the famous blue buildings are) and it is definitely worth it. Our guides all day were very knowledgeable and we were able to see areas that no other tour is able to see.

The 4 km (about 2.5 mile) wide border between North and South Korea, the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is the most heavily fortified border in the world. Panmunjom (the JSA) is the only place in the DMZ that the two sides meet. Before we actually entered the JSA we had to have a briefing and basically sign our lives away at Ballinger Hall:

Then we headed up to Conference Row where the infamous Military Armistice Commission (MAC) Building is. This is the building where all meetings related to the 1953 Armistice Agreement take place and it straddles the line of demarcation... half of the building is in South Korea, half is in North Korea.

The table is marked down the middle. We are on the North Korean side.

A Hosack family portrait in North Korea.

The lighter side is North Korea, the darker side is the South.

This soldier is gaurding the door that opens onto the North Korean side. I kept my distance...

Soldiers stand only half-way exposed to the other side.

The Bridge of No Return. Where all POWs chose sides at the end of the war. Once you crossed over, you could never go back.

A view of North Korea's "Propoganda Village".

I don't feel like I got many great photos of this experience... probably because I was so nervous through the entire thing. I did manage to break both rules that we were given "don't place anyting on the tables in the MAC building" and do not point or gesture at the Northern side. I blame the 4:30am wake-up call.

However, the relationship between North and South Korea is improving all the time. Reunification is the ultimate goal of most citizens and there is no ill-will between the citizens of either country. A Free Trade Area has actually been established inside the DMZ and the Kim Jung Il has met with South Korean presidents several times. In fact, when we went to watch the World Cup Qualifying match between North and South Korea it ended in an obviously deliberate draw and the North Korean players received a standing ovation when they entered the stadium. However, the two countries are still technically at war, and the DMZ makes this abundantly clear. It was definitely a day we won't forget.

Olympic Fever

We are having a bit of a lazy Saturday morning and I'm waiting for the boys to wake up so we can head into the city for some sight-seeing and errand running. Yes, that's boys (plural) because one of Sam's good friends from college, Mitchell, has been in Seoul this week on his way around the world with two of his good friends from high school, John and Andy. They have been a lot of fun to have here and Sam has been loving all of video games and Texas Hold 'Em and whatever else boys do when girls aren't around stuff that has gone on this week.

Anyway, the Olympics are in as full a swing here in Korea as they are just about everywhere else in the world. It's just SO different to be watching them here than in the states, though! First, the sports that Korea excels in are completely different than the sports America does, except for swimming where Teawhan Park (and the rest of Korea) is not exactly loving Michael Phelps at the moment. Conversations about the Olympics and the TV broadcasting reflect this.

This week I had my kids do a free-write on the Olympics. First we talked about all of the different sports and other vocabulary and then I had them pretend that they were an Olympic athlete and write about what it was like to be in the Olympics and how they did there. The results were pretty funny, but they definitely showed some cultural differences. For example, do YOU know the name of the best US female archer? Because lots of girls in my classes wanted to be like Sunhyun Park or Ok-hee Yun, Korea's "bow and arrow queens". Other really popular sports were swimming, weightlifting, badminton, table tennis, handball, fencing, judo, tae kwon do and soccer.

As I said before the television coverage has really reflected what the country's athletes are best at. I have yet to see gymnastics, diving, beach volleyball, or some of the other more popular summer sports on TV. Although, the fact that we haven't been able to locate a TV schedule might have something to do with this. However, being exposed to different sports has been kind of neat. I have to say, those Korean lady handball players show a lot of heart and never give up! And did you know that the badminton shuttlecock can travel at speeds between 100-200mph during a match between experts?

We'll be traveling to Beijing in September and are excited to see all of the buildings that were constructed for the Olympics. For now, though, enjoy the games!

Weekend Update

So, my computer has decided that our Sokcho pictures are its new favorite snack.... argh! I managed to salvage a few and posted them, along with the best of the Jeju pics, on our picture page. Enjoy! (And yes, someday we might actually get around to blogging about our fabulous adventures, any requests on where to start?)

In other news, I had my first Korean haircut today! Sheryl and I set off to Itaewon to a salon that promised to cater to our beauty needs (aka the stylist promised Sheryl that he could "cut white girl hair"). So, after a brief stop at Pita Time for lunch we headed to the salon. We arrived a bit before our appointment to see if we could get some ideas from magazines to provide more direction to our stylist than "I'd like some swoopy bangs and about 5 inches taken off with maybe some layers, but not too many, and I don't want 'fat face'". What we saw didn't really put us at ease as there was one girl being worked on whose hair was nowhere near a natural shade of blonde and I was really hoping the girl next to me was pre-haircut. Then our stylist introduced himself and he was missing random chunks of hair to form some sort of strange mullet type concoction on top of his head. Oh dear.

Sheryl bravely goes off to suit up while I try not to take the fetal position and hyperventilate. Sheryl returns with a strange look on her face and says "This girl just stopped me and told me not to get our hair cut here under any circumstances, what do we do???" My answer was obvious... "We run like the wind, Sheryl." Luckily, the girl (whose hair was very presentable) gave us directions to her stylist, because as she put it, "Hair is a big deal" and we decided to try that out. What we found was Zen Salon (Ewha Women's University station, Exit 1, take a right at the Giordano, it's on your left... take the elevator in the shoe store to the 5th floor). A haven where all of the stylists are trained at Toni and Guy salons in England and where haircuts are only $30! Lucy was great, but I'm still in shock as to how much of my hair I instructed her to cut off. My plan, though, is to let it grow out until we go home.

Anyway... here's the new 'do... try not to judge too harshly as self-portraits always result in either a)angry face and/or b)terrible backgrounds.

Sam also went to the bookstore this weekend and purchased the Beijing Lonely Planet, so we can start planning our trip over Chuseok in September! SO exciting!!!! How was your weekend?

Well, That Was Odd...

Being foreigners we tend to attract a lot of attention. Sam definitely gets more stares and giggles than me, but I'm definitely used to the stares and the near constant stream of "Hello!" However, every once in awhile something happens that is just plain strange. Since my computer is acting up and I can't post pictures from our recent adventure to Sokcho (hopefully my computer repairman - aka Sam - will have the problem worked out soon!) I thought I would share a couple of recent incidents with you.

1. While innocently waiting for the bus to my Korean lesson a few weeks ago a middle-aged woman came up to me and just started chatting me up in Korean. I politely told her (in Korean) that I, um, don't speak Korean. This did not really seem to deter her, so she just kept chatting away until she finally asks me (in English) "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" I tell her, "Yes, I do" and she smiles. Thinking this is the end of the exchange I go back to staring into space and waiting for the bus to show up and then I hear her speaking again. From behind me. And then she is stroking my hair. And doing the full on reach-around face stroke. And praying over me (I'm 90% sure) in Korean. Loudly. While everyone else looked at me and I just kind of sat there thinking, "Well, I sure didn't see THIS coming!" I waited until she'd gotten done with one particulary vexing knot in my hair (seriously, she was all up in there) and then made a break for the cab that had just pulled up.

2. While in Sokcho this past week we had a fabulous time. One day we were on the way to the bus stop from our hostel and Sam realized he had forgotten something. So, he ran back up while I waited for him down on the street. I suddenly see an older gentleman approaching me and he smiles and waves so I smile. And then he grabs my arm. And starts kissing it. The upper shoulder part. After a very firm "Aniyo!" and a gentle shove I turned around and walked back up to the hostel. I saw the same guy 3 times that week, but managed to avoid further incident with the Sokcho Stalker (as I now refer to him in my head).

Since both of these incidents happened in broad daylight on a busy street they didn't freak me out too much. In fact, 90% of the encounters we have with Koreans are very pleasant. They were more just funny stories that make me shake my head and say once again, "Only in Korea."