Thanks for sticking with us, and apologies for the long break. I’m trying to go back and cover some highlights from the time we’ve been traveling and oh, so busy. For example, Patrick and I left our little apartment on March 13 and didn’t return until late on March 31. Whew. It’s good to be home. Here goes the first installment of that time away:
Happy birthday to me! I finally baked a cake in Korea. Our oven is pretty small, so I made two smaller cakes, but they tasted great!
My first cakes in Korea. Thanks Mrs. Grimley!
I baked early, because early on my birthday, we flew up to Seoul with a few other teachers to attend a conference of international school staff in Korea.
We stayed in a nice hotel with a tall roof overlook.
This water feature and statue are part of the grounds at Seoul International School. Beautiful!
The conference was interesting, but not very picture worthy. I met with some other Service Learning Coordinators to talk about how we can collaborate across the country on project ideas. Conference ended Friday afternoon, and we were free to explore Seoul a bit!
On Saturday, we got up early for a tour of the DMZ (De-militarized zone) between north and south. Here’s the entrance to the joint security area.
We got a briefing here before bussing to the border. Photos were pretty restricted, but these are some of our few we could take.
We bussed to the border and could stand in front of the South Korean building and look north. The blue buildings cross the border (exactly half on each side) and we’re looking at a northern soldier on the far steps.
We could pose with a South Korean guard who was standing ready in front of the door to the north. We are technically north of the line in this picture!
This bit of cement marks the line between the building. For most of the border they just have metal posts every 10m. And more dense land-mines than anywhere else in the world.
After visiting a viewing platform and seeing the “bridge of no return”, where prisoners were exchanged at the end of the war, we visited the train station.
They keep the station ready for action – a sign that they are ready for peace. Trains could take people and goods between north and south if/when they re-open the border.
We paid about $1 to get a ticket “north” and walk out to the tracks. Nothing there, except beautiful natural space. Since there is no development here, the DMZ is actually a prized wildlife area! It’s a bit surreal to see rare birds next to land mine signs.
Our last stop was at a tunnel where soldiers from the north were trying to tunnel to Seoul to invade. We walked through part, but no photos allowed inside. Here is the monument outside.
A reminder that this is real, now. Land mines are active all around the DMZ. The sign is hard to see here, but it was easy to see in person.
After the tour, we explored a “fun” neighborhood to relax. We found a street festival and some fresh waffles filled with multi-colored ice cream.
Just down the street, we found something I’d heard about but never seen: a puppy cafe!
Order a drink and sit at tables, or grab a fleece blanket to protect your lap, and sit on the floor. Wait. Pet, play, cuddle.
Most of the pups were fully grown, but small. Here’s Patrick with a new friend.
I liked the doggie hair-dos and diapers. It was entertaining, but no one else seemed to think it was odd.
My favorite pooch was shy, but totally rocking the pigtails!
We grabbed burgers in the evening – a bit of american-style deliciousness, with a Korean twist of course. Yum!
The next day we slept late, then Patrick brought me to the airport to meet my 8th grade crew. I joined a team of 7 teachers and about 50 kids to serve and learn in Cambodia! More stories on that in my next post.
Patrick had one more day to relax, then met up with his group of 6th graders who spent the week doing service and educational trips around northern South Korea.
Thanks for all the notes! It has been great to hear from you all. Lots of love from Korea.