비무장 지대 여행 | DMZ Trip

This past weekend, we went on our final Rotary-sponsored trip to see Korea. For this trip, I was able to see a very important piece of Korea’s modern history. This place was the DMZ (The De-Militarized Zone), which acts as the tense barrier between North and South Korea. This one place is what comes to mind first for many when they hear about Korea, so I really wanted to take the chance to see such an important part of the country.

At the Sign for the DMZ

Mrs. Kim, our Rotary Officer, and her husband, the Principal of our school, joined us for the trip, so we went in their car to 임진각 (Imjingak), a park near the border where the tour bus would depart from. Around the ticket window, there were quite a few monuments, and strangely a carnival. We only looked around for a short time before our bus arrived, and we went off to the first portion of our tour, seeing one of the tunnels that was built by North Korea as part of an infiltration plan. We took the tram car down to the area that the third tunnel was in, and from here, we were able to walk quite a distance down the tunnel to the first of three walls built to prevent use of the tunnel past the actual DMZ line by North Korea. The tunnel was very cramped, so I was not alone in my needing to bend down in order to walk through. The alarming thing to me about this tunnel to me was that it was only discovered because of a tip given by a North Korean defector who knew about it. Apparently, the workers had even put black paint on the walls to try disguising it as a coal mine.

The rail for the tram that we took down to the tunnel.

The tour buses ran on a tight schedule, so we had just returned from underground, when they hurried us back onto the bus and off to our next stop, 도라전망대 (Dorasan Observatory), where we would be able to catch a glimpse of 개성시 (Gaesung City) and the surrounding farmland. This city is considered to be somewhat of a fake city set up by the North Korean government, where few people actually live, but it is staged to show a more wealthy style of living. Using one of the coin operated binoculars, I was able to see only  a few cars and people working in the field. The striking feature though is the gigantic flag pole that towers above  part of the city, echoing a smaller one on the other side of the border set up by South Korea. At this point, we could only take pictures from behind a specific point, but thanks to a good zoom on my camera, I was able to capture a few good pictures, but not as many as I would have liked before we had to head back to the bus. This part of the tour was definitely the most interesting to me, as it really was very different to think of North Korea  as a place than it was to actually see the country.

Part of what could be seen of North Korea.

We made one more stop during our tour in order to see 도라산역 (Dorasan Station), which is the final station on the South Korean side of a rail line built to connect the two countries. Unfortunately, shortly after being built the peace talks that had allowed its construction connecting through to Pyeongyang, was not enough to get it so that trains would run. So, instead, this station sits unused. If the connection could eventually be used, though, it would certainly be important, as it would create a connection that would allow one to travel by rail all the way from South Korea to Portugal, completely crossing both Europe and Asia.

Dorasan Station

When we got back to Imjingak, where our tour bus departed, we went by car to Seoul, where we would spend the night. The next day, the major thing that we did was visiting 남대문 (Namdaemun), one of Seoul’s Market Areas, so that we could do some souvenir shopping. Mrs. Kim and the Principal had to head back to Seocheon early, so it was just the exchange students for the day, and from our experience from past trips, we easily made our way home on the train after the interesting trip.

Namdaemun Market

오월 | May Monthly Report

With the end of May coming, I now have less than one month left of my time in Korea, but I have been determined to make the most of the time remaining. This month I was fortunate to go on quite a few wonderful trips along with enjoying some wonderful events at my school.

At the start of this month, I was able to take a week off of school to go to Seoul with the German Exchange Student, Arne. Our major goal for the visit was to do some shopping for music, movies, and books to bring back with us to our own countries. We also wanted to see a few things in Seoul that we had not gotten the chance to see yet. During the week there, we stayed with Arne’s Host sister 송이 (Song-i).

While in Seoul, I bought some movies and music that I plan on sharing with friends in the US, along with a couple of books for studying Korean. More important to me though, is that I was able to try out some new experiences. The one the stands out in my mind most from the trip is a “Dr. Fish Massage”, which I was able to try at a café we went to. For this spa treatment, I had to put my feet into a special type of fish tank that was shaped like a trough. In the tank, the fish inside would eat the dead skin cells off of my feet. It took a while for me to do so, but eventually, I was able to hold my feet under the water while all the fish’s mouths surrounded them. It was a very strange experience, but something that I want to try again, as I ran out of time shortly after being able to hold my feet in.

Dr. Fish

I also went to see two shows while I was in Seoul. The first of these was NANTA, which is considered to be one of the most famous theater shows of Korea. This show was a percussion-based music show that revolved around a kitchen preparing food for a wedding. The performance was done in a style that could be easily understood by foreigners, with very little dialogue, and instead relied more on body language to provide comedy and show the storyline. The other show that we saw was a concert that 송이 performed in, playing the piano. She is a professional pianist, so it was a really great performance. We also were able to see her a couple of times playing piano in business and hotel lobbies before we met up to do things.

송이 at the Concert

The next major trip that I went on was for two days the following week with my school. For this trip, we went first to 해남 (Haenam) in the Southwest of Korea, where we went to see a few historical places and learn about some important people in Korean history. This part of the trip was not as exciting for me, as I sadly wasn’t able to understand much of the importance of the things that we saw. The part of the trip that I enjoyed more though, was the next day when we went on the long hike up 월출산 (Wolchulsan Mountain). This is the largest mountain that I have been able to climb here, and I was thankful for the chance to experience it. It was a very difficult hike and I really enjoyed the workout, but the reward of reaching the top of the mountain was wonderful.

Wolchulsan

Later in the month, I went on another short trip with my school to the nearby city of 전주 (Jeonju). For this day trip, we first went skating at an indoor skating rink. I really enjoyed getting the chance to go skating again while I have been here, as it really reminds me a lot of home. Unfortunately, the skates that they gave me didn’t fit correctly, so I ended up getting a blister on my foot, which was rather painful. While in Jeonju, we also visited a portrait museum, which was a palace-like complex dedicated to housing portraits of some of the kings from one of the early kingdoms of Korea that had this area as its capital.

Part of the Portrait Museum

The following weekend, my host family brought me on a short trip to the other side of Gunsan, where there is 새만금 (Saemangeum Seawall), which is the World’s largest seawall. With this seawall project, they are planning to reclaim land from the Yellow Sea, to create a city between Gunsan and Buan. This area is noted for its beauty, so it was interesting to see, and I was happy to share the experience with my host family.

The Gate of Saemangeum for letting out the water.

At the end of this month, we also had the official opening ceremony for the dormitory that was built this year. So, during the final couple of weeks, we did a lot of cleaning around the school, as the province’s educational officials would be visiting for the ceremony. This ceremony thus was quite a large production, and I was given two major things to do for it: the exchange students were required to sing a song, along with many of the Korean students, which began the ceremony; and I also gave a speech. For the speech, I was chosen among the exchange students to give my three-minute Korean speech that I had done for my English Class.

The stage set up for the Opening Ceremony.

This month, we also saw two of the exchange students’ departures. Both of the Mexican students had to go back. It was a strange experience to see them heading off, but I hope to see them again someday. It definitely has opened my eyes to the small amount of time that I have left though. As of the time that I am preparing this report, I have only seventeen days left until I leave Korea on June 20^th. That’s just a little over two weeks, but I still have more great things that I will be experiencing here before I go.

사월 | April Monthly Report

This month was a very busy month, but the most important thing on my plate was certainly my final projects for school. Since exchange students at my school aren’t required to do the same work and tests as the normal Korean students, we are instead required to do projects for each of the classes. This month, I completed four of these projects.

The first one that I completed was my English Project, for which I was required to give a three minute memorized Korean speech in front of the class. I wrote my report about difficulties with learning Korean. The memorization of this speech was especially helpful because I am able to use some of the same expressions constantly, so I can just recycle some of the same sentences. This speech was also helpful, because it has given me some more basic phrases that I can fit words into, which has helped a lot with my speaking in the language.

The rest of my projects have all been two-page papers that I have had to write using only Korean. For my Korean class, our topic was “한국에서 배운 것” (Things I Have Learned in Korea). I enjoyed writing this one, because it allowed me to notice just how much I have gotten to do in my year here. For my Engineering class, we had a research paper on 한옥 (hanok), the traditional house style of Korea. This one was much more difficult, because explaining some of the things was difficult. I enjoyed it a lot though, because I learned a lot more about the houses. The last report of the month was for History class, for which we had to write about differences between the food and culture of Korea compared to where we come from. This wasn’t very difficult, as it has been all that I have noticed since I came here in August. I think that I only have two or three reports left to do, so it will be nice to finish.

The other major part of this month, besides the time I have spent at school, would be the trips that I was able to take this month. Since this month ushered in Spring here, there were many flowers blooming all over Korea. In order to take advantage on this, Mrs. Kim, our Rotary Officer brought us exchange students on a trip to a town near 지리산 (Jiri Mountain), one of the largest mountains in Korea, where we were able to see the flowers coming out there.

The flowers around Jirisan

The day after I went on this trip, my host father kindly brought me on a trip to see the sea. This trip came to be because my host family found out that, although we live so near to the ocean, I had not actually been to it. It was a nice trip where I was able to see more of my region of Korea, so I really enjoyed the experience and eagerly await getting the chance to go on more similar trips.

By the Yellow Sea (West Sea)

Because of this trip, I made another goal for myself – I want to make sure to see more of my region. One of the other things that I did this month in pursuit of this goal was that I went on a short trip to the neighboring town of Hansan with Josh, the Taiwanese Exchange student. Here, we went to see 한산모시관 (Hansan Textile Museum). The town is famous for their production of a specific type of light fabric, called Ramie. It was an interesting museum and I enjoyed going to see it with Josh.

A statue in Hansan of a woman using one of the traditional Korean looms to make Ramie cloth

The final major trip for this month was a trip to Daejeon with my Rotary Club for our District’s Annual Conference. Although the conference was geared towards the Rotarians (understandable because the only five exchange students in my district are the five in Seocheon), I still had quite a bit of fun. I was also given the surprises of having to give a speech in front of everyone and almost winning a refrigerator, so it was definitely a very interesting experience.

At the District Conference

With this month over, I have only a little over a month left in Korea, so it is good that I have been able to use my time wisely and pull in some good experiences. Hopefully, I can continue to use my time well and get to experience and see as much as possible in my time left.

로타리 지구대회 | Rotary District Conference

Last weekend, I spent a day in Daejeon for my Rotary District’s District Conference. At this event, all of the Rotary Clubs from 3680 came together. Although there were not any other exchange students there outside of the four others in my town, I still had a great time. Just like earlier in the year when we went to Geumsan with our Rotary club, we had to get up early in the morning to get on the bus.

When we got there, it was raining, so we went straight inside to the auditorium where most of the event would be taking place. As we walked in the door, we were given nametags. They hadn’t made any for us exchange students, so we just got nametags for people that had not been able to come. So, for the day, my name was 강노영. When we were given the nametags, they also made sure to point out that there were numbers on the side for a raffle drawing that they would have at the end of the conference.

The District 3680 Exchange Students

The conference was welcomed in with a drumming performance, which was a very well done performance. After they finished, The District President began the ceremony, emphasized by a short pyrotechnics display on stage that caught me by surprise. After the explosions the Rotary clubs brought their club flags up to the stage. This was done by the representatives of each of the ten zones in our district.

When the flags were all in place, the Rotarians sang a Rotary song, then the District President gave a speech, followed by Rotarians visiting from India and Japan. After the speeches, they gave out some awards to different clubs and Rotarians for their service, and when this part of the ceremony was finished, we took a break for lunch. The lunch was planned to be outside as it has been very nice out recently, but because of the rain, we were instead crammed at table underneath tents set up on the parking lot. When we finished, we had a bit of free time, so we went to some of the booths that were set up at the event. While looking around, the only thing that was really interesting to me was the Rotary Store, where I purchased a few more pins for my blazer.

The District President and his wife, with the Rotarians from India

At the end of the break, I was told by Mrs. Kim that the district wanted the exchange students to go up on stage later in the show and that she had volunteered me to give the three minute speech that I had prepared for school a few weeks earlier. So, for the next part of the event, while they gave out more awards, I was having to practice my speech. When I finally was able to present it, I was extremely nervous. This was mainly because I wasn’t very sure that it was the most appropriate topic to present on to my entire Rotary District, as it was a bit more negative than I would have wanted. But, the Rotarians seemed to enjoy it a lot as I presented. After I finished, the emcee for the event had this same sort of reaction and gave some advice, but I couldn’t hear him to well, especially after one Rotarian in the audience that I think had a little bit to drink at lunch started shouting out 아저씨 repetitively, to emphasize part of the suggestion that the emcee gave me.

When the presentations finished, there was a magic show. The first part of the magic show was the part that I found most interesting, because it was a type of performance that I hadn’t seen before. In this performance, a man in traditional clothing and a mask was dancing on stage, and when his face was obscured for a brief moment, the design on the mask would change. After the magic show finished, each of the ten zones had their own portion to present as part of a talent show. All of the acts were very well done, but each group took a lot of time, so by the end, I was feeling a little exhausted from all of the shows.

The Mask Magician

After the talent show finished, they had their raffle drawing for a couple of prizes. the first was for a 3D television and they gave out ten of them – one for each of the zones. When that finished, they had the drawing for the other major prize, a Refrigerator. For this, they actually ended up drawing my number, but because I didn’t have may actual name on my nametag, I was unable to win the prize. I was kind of happy though, because I would have felt bad winning when it was meant for one of the Rotarians and I have no idea what I would have done with the thing.

With the raffle finished, the District President gave the closing speech and presented a few gifts to the visiting Rotarians. With the closing finished, we got back on the bus and made our way back to Seocheon, very tired from the long, exciting event.

작은 여행들 | Small Trips

This weekend, I was given the opportunity to go on a couple of day trips. It is an especially nice time for these now, because Spring has come here and the flowers are blooming. It has also been a nice break from the work that I am doing on my projects from school.

The first of these trips was on Friday. Mrs. Kim, our Rotary Officer, had organized a short trip to a town near Jirisan, a mountain in the southern part of Korea, because the cherry blossom flowers were blooming there. When we got there, we drove along a slow moving road with a light pink canopy of flowers above to a hill nearby the mountain. Here, we had lunch, then went for a short walk to see the flowers by walking along the road. We stopped at a greenhouse and had some tea before getting back in the car.

The Covered Road

From here, we went to another small village to see a type of yellow flower, forsythias (개나리), that had also come out. Unfortunately, it had started raining. We pulled out umbrellas and walked around for a short while, but we were back in the car to head home rather quickly. Still, I enjoyed the trip, even though it was a little short, because I got to see some interesting things. The flowers were not the same ones as there are in the US and Jirisan is the largest mountain that I have seen yet, but my favorite part was getting to converse with Mrs. Kim and the exchange students on the way.

The Yellow Flowers

The next day, I went on another short trip with my host father. Although I live just a short distance from the West Sea (Yellow Sea), I haven’t ever been to the beach. When my host family found out, they wanted to make sure that I would be able to get there. So, I went with my host father by car out to Seomyeon, a nearby town where there are a couple of beaches. The tide was out when we went, so the first beach that we went to had a few people there scraping the ground searching for clams. At this beach, I was able to see some fish and small crabs that lived under the rocks.

At the first beach

Next, we went to a place where I was able to see another of the spring flowers, a large red one, and after this, we went to a popular swimming beach in my area. Since it hasn’t warmed up yet, the beach did not have many people at all and because it was one of our first warmer days, there was a thick fog coming off of the water. It was and interesting experience to walk out to the water here.  Since the tide was out, we had to cover some distance to get to the actual water line. The interesting part was when the fog blocked our view of the normal beach, so it appeared as if the muddy sand stretched on forever. It was a very surreal experience. Although it would have been far too cold to go swimming, it was nice to see the water and I will be sure to go back when the weather gets warmer.

At the Foggy Beach, getting my shoes out of the mud.