Friday was a Field Trip day! Now I know that teachers love them just as much as kids, because it means we don’t have to use our brainpower! Since my class has been studying insects we went to an exhibit focused on them. There was a butterfly house, a beetle display, stick bugs, grubs and all sorts of critters. The kids really loved it. Our guide through the place only spoke Korean, so the English teachers had no idea what she was saying. It was okay. We were too busy making sure no insects got killed by bored children!
Me and my class along with my Korean helper Jennifer
Toby with a butterfly (I think he's the cutest kid at the school...)
This is Ethan, he's one of my sweet boys. =)
On Saturday morning we left our apartment at 5:30 in the morning and took the subway into Seoul where the meeting point for our trip was. We got there around 7:30 and hopped on the Adventure Korea tour bus. There were about thirty of us going on this particular trip. It was a little awkward at first—because no one knew each other, but as the trip progressed everyone became very friendly (although I’m sure the ridiculous amount of alcohol consumed by some of the other travelers had something to do with it).
The first stop was Goseokjeong, a place bordering this gorgeous river. We had over an hour there for lunch, so David and I went down to the river to snack. It was so nice to get our first taste of Korean nature. We’ve only been in the city for the past three weeks, so it was really amazing to get this view. There were rafters going down the river, and they beached on our shore. They were Korean, and they kept looking at David and talking very excitedly. A girl we met on the trip who’s Korean American told us that they really loved David’s “California Surfer” look. It was pretty funny. We also met two teachers from another Kid’s College there on the riverbank, so it was pretty fun to compare notes with them about similarities and differences.
Me imitating a funny statue.
Us at the river!
After lunch we left the gorgeous river and started the “Security Tour” of the border. This included the 2nd Tunnel, which was discovered by the South Koreans in the 1970s after an infantry soldier heard an explosion underground. There are four known tunnels that the North Koreans dug in order to invade the South and our guide told us that there are probably up to 20 of them total. After the first four were discovered the North gave up and abandoned the rest of them. We hiked all the way to the end of the Southern half of the tunnel—the cave ceiling was low and the taller people hit their heads a lot. Luckily they had helmets on.
After the tunnel we went to the Unification Observatory and got a full fledged view into North Korea. It was really fascinating. From the place we were you could see several propaganda villages that the North has set up along the DMZ. The government won’t let real citizens live there because they’re afraid that they’ll desert. Soldiers stay there instead! Also another interesting, yet tragic fact: there are no trees in North Korea. They’re all cut down and used as fuel since the country has very little electricity. It was a very weird feeling to look out at a land that you’re forbidden to go into.
Me and North Korea!
David in front of the "forbidden lands."
Watch where you step!
After the “Security Tour” the bus took us to the bridge for bunjee jumping!! I couldn’t bring myself to commit to it, so I stood at the bottom of the river and watched twenty-two people make the plunge. Towards the end I was regretting my decision to pass it up. Everyone came back breathless and glowing with adrenaline and I decided that if the opportunity ever presents itself again I will jump. David chose to do an ankle jump. Of course I got tons of pictures. =)
The plunge.
The height! Yikes!
After the jumps (which took quite a while because there were so many jumpers) we went to our accommodations for the night. We stayed in a guesthouse in the village of Odaemi which is only two or so miles from the border. There were no beds, so we slept on mats on the floor. It wasn’t so bad after my Cambodia experience. In fact, I was out like a light for most of the night. For dinner we had Korean BBQ (thin strips of pork slowly grilled over an open fire). The Adventure Korean staff built a really huge bonfire, which we socialized around and roasted marshmallows in. It was really refreshing to be around such a large group of white, English speakers! Americans were actually the minority in the group. There were lots of Canadians and quite a few Brits in the bunch. It was cool to talk to people and hear their stories of how they ended up teaching English in Korea. One really cool thing that happened toward the end of the night was a fire show! A girl named Ashley brought out her “Poi” equipment and started twirling it around. David got some pretty cool pictures of the show. A lot of the people in the group were asking if he was a professional photographer!
The massive bonfire behind us!
Ashley's fire show!
In the morning we got up and rode a tandem bike around the tiny village (it’s a lot harder than it looks!). The guesthouse we slept in was surrounded by bright green rice fields and although it was very gorgeous the air reeked of cow manure, which was rather unpleasant. Still, it was great to be out in the country feeling the cool morning air!
Riding tandem!
David's view of the sunrise...
We went to see a monument on a hill where lots of people died during the Korean War. Afterwards we walked all the way to the DMZ and harvested rice. Of course this meant only two or three swipes with a scythe to get a few stalks, but it was still an enlightening experience.
David harvesting rice.
Me handling a sharp blade!
After the rice gathering we hiked back to the guesthouse and ate lunch (Bibimbop, which is a very traditional Korean dish of rice, vegetables and an egg). Around 1 we got on the bus and drove back to Seoul. Strangely enough my throat started hurting again. It’s more of a stabbing searing pain this time than an actual soreness. It’s quite annoying, I hope it’s just my current sickness making its last stand instead of a new one. Ugh. We got home with plenty of time to clean up and rest for the upcoming workweek. Back to the grind soon. Hooray.
I’m really glad we went on this trip. We got to meet some awesome new people and see some really cool things. We’ll definitely be using this company again in the future.
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