OMG Japan, DMZ South Korea

A lot has been happening in the last week and it would be crazy for me not to write about it. As some of you know, I am planning a trip to Japan in exactly one month where I will be in Tokyo for three days. Well at least that’s still the plan. There are still travel warnings for Americans on the US Embassy website, so I’m pretty much trying to keep positive and hope those warnings are lifted before my travel times arrive. If not, I’ve already considered reinvesting the Japan funds on another trip, so I guess I’m just waiting now. The devastating earthquakes and tsunami that struck Japan are tragic, and therefore it fuels me to still go because during this time I feel they could use my tourism dollars (much like tourism helped the post-Katrina New Orleans recovery) to help a bit in stimulating their economy.

I was touched to receive emails, tweets, and Facebook messages indicating concern from my family and friends, thank you. I, however, was not affected at all. It’s bittersweet, but Japan takes the fall for any turbulence that may occur along the Pacific Ocean because it cocoons over South Korea and there is a sea in between as Figure 1 depicts below:

This weekend was also personally eventful for me. Some things happened with some friends that are now comedic, and I got to go to Hooters in Seoul for a birthday. Hooters is not something most foreigners know about in terms of finding one in South Korea, but their entire clientele is just that, foreigners. Weird paradox I suppose.

The next day was entirely devoted to Korea, and I mean Korea, both ends. I took a trip with some friends to the DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) on Sunday. The DMZ is the border between North and South Korea. The trip was great and we did it through a great company called Adventure Korea (www.adventurekorea.com) and that is also the company that my friends and I went white-water rafting through. The trip consisted of going to a bridge, the Freedom Bridge, that connects both countries, going into an infiltrated tunnel North Koreans tried to dig in order to sneak into South Korea, watching a DMZ film, going through the DMZ museum, looking through various souvenir shops, getting to see North Korea through a periscope, and going to the train station of the only rail that connects Seoul (South Korea’s capital) to Pyongyang (North Korea’s capital). Needless to say that I learned a lot from each part of the tour, and I mostly enjoyed the film they showed us about the DMZ (I want to look into where I can get a copy) and that I got to see North Koreans going about their day through the periscope. Also, I got to buy DMZ chocolate, North Korean-made soju, and North Korean postage stamps. To be honest, this trip to the DMZ has now lit a curiosity fire in me in wanting to visit North Korea at some point in my lifetime. A big part of me also wants the reunification of both parts to be imminent.

It still baffles my mind that the world allowed this country’s policies to happen. How does everyone in a country just “agree” that they will be isolated and allowed to be told what to do at all hours with no way out? It’s almost magical and I cannot wrap my head around that process at all. The thing that is now engrained in my head came from the DMZ film I watched where the fourth infiltration tunnel (and the last one to be discovered) was found in 1990. That’s crazy! That’s during my lifetime!

So those are the thoughts running through my head about that event. I’m still in the lent process of not eating chocolate, so I guess those DMZ chocolates are safe…for now. Also, happy birthday Jaz!

Moral of the story: Be grateful.