Fake villages (and real ones)

Friday

Our Butts are on fire. Trying to enjoy an amusement park while your anus feels like acid is slowly dissolving it is not an easy task. Even though I thought it never would, it turns out that the 킴 치 (kim-chee) has finally gotten to me. But I am going to push through and not let a minor discomfort get in the way of my professional tourism.

Today we went to the DMZ. I didn't go in with the expectations that I'm sure many Americans would, but I was excited to have a view of North Korea. This was also the first time I have taken a multi-stop (except Great Britain) tour on a tour bus. I found it funny that the tour bus was filled with many white people as I recall Germans complaining that tour busses are always filled with Asians. The first stop was very touristy and didn't even offer a view of the DMZ which I found quite odd. The second stop; however, turned out to be a lot more interesting. There was a museum as well as a tunnel that brought us within 170m of North Korea. I learned that over four tunnels have been discovered where North Korea was attempting to reach South Korea for an attack. The one we got to walk down was discovered in 1978 on accident and is now triple blockaded and is the only way tourists get to enter the DMZ.

Next, we drove up a hill to an overlook where we were able to see North Korea through binoculars. There, we got to see the fake village that was built in the 50s to make it seem like the North was prosperous. It reminded me of The Interview when David Skylark discovered the fake grapefruit at the fake market and discovered that everything in North Korea was an illusion. 

After seeing the fake village, we got on the bus again to go to the train station that was built for the day that North Korea lets South Korean trains pass through. In my opinion, it is kind of unnecessary because no one really takes transcontinental trains anymore, but I'm pretty sure that it's also more of a symbolic gesture

After a stop at an Amethyst store (I'm sure the tour company is making big bucks off that one), we left the tour and got some quick lunch at a 7-Eleven. I also tried a red bean filled ice cream fish and a red ginseng Americano. For those who don't know, an Americano is simply espresso and water, but red ginseng is a traditional korean root that is often used to make tea. And it turns out that it tastes like dirt. Yum. 

Next, we all headed to Lotte World to discover that only us four children would be going in as the discount that we were hoping to get did not start until later. Based on a google search and my experience of the park, Lotte is a food brand kind of like Kraft, but they also have restaurants, grocery stores and department stores. I can also say that it is very Asian. I'm pretty sure that I used the term "very Asian" at least a hundred times throughout our visit to Lotte World.

There were many rides and we decided that it would be a good idea to eat lots of greasy food before going on the most daunting VR roller coaster.

After it got dark, there was a parade (comparable to a Disney parade) and indoor fireworks which completely freaked me out.

On our way to the outside part of the theme park, we passed a cute panda byt the Panda Express.

Saturday

Instead of seeing a fake village like the one we saw yesterday, today we went to the Korean Folk Village which is about an hour and a half outside of Seoul via public transportation. I guess one could argue that this was a fake village as well, but it was very much real in its depiction of historical life in Korea. 

By far our favorite part of the village was the public flogging square where we got to take turns using ancient forms of punishment on each other.

We also found the sign on this tree funny because we knew that we were supposed to rub our backs on the tree, but that wasn't what it was telling us to do.

After travelling back to Seoul from the Korean Folk Village, my mom claimed to have found a "cool" market to go to where I saw something that smelled absolutely rancid and just had to try. It turned out to be silkworms and I think I ate about one before finding the nearest trash can to throw them away. Best 2,000 won spent on the trip so far.

After splitting with the girls who wanted to go shopping, dad, Josh and I made our way to a stream to walk along to watch an apparently cool light show that my dad remembered from 11 years ago (it turns out it's not so cool anymore). On the way, Josh and I both got colossal Asian pears and discovered our first pit-toilet, which we DID NOT make use of. 

Pictured below is the stream that my dad wanted to find. It also turns out that it is the same stream that they filmed at in Josh and my favorite TV show, Sense8, when Sun was talking to Capheus (I don't remember about what).

This rainbow was also very Sense8 themed. I also found it odd, given South Korea's conservative stance on certain political issues.

After at least a mile of walking down this stream, we finally decided to catch the metro to go back to the guest house. I've just finished some spicy ramen and am calling it a night. 

Sunday

Today we went to church. I've also finally realized that I like going to church in other languages because it breaks me out of the Americans-are-the-only-emotional-people mindset that I never really realize I'm in. I've been realizing that people really aren't all that different no matter what part of the world you go to. At the same time, I've been realizing that people are a lot different no matter what part of the world you're in. From simply observing people on the metro, I have found that Stereotypes come from purposely searching for sameness rather than embracing differences. 

Yoido Full Gospel Church (the one we went to) is the largest in the world with almost half a million members. Instead of going to the English service, our parents insisted that we go to the normal service and listen to a translation. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures, but I get a good chance to practice my Korean reading by trying to keep up with the songs. 

After church, everyone except my dad and I got lunch at KFC. We opted for gas station sushi instead. 

The day only went down from there as my mom thought it would be a good idea to visit the town where Lily was raised for a year or so. After having to backtrack twice and three hours, we finally arrived at the dingy town of  Cheonan where there was supposed to be another "really cool" market. All it really was, was stinky fish and cheap clothes so we found ourselves leaving almost just as soon as we got through the market. We got back to the guest house in about half the time because I found the feature in Kakao Maps where I can find what specific train we have to be on. It was very frustrating to figure this out so late in the game, but we ended up finding the express train and making it back.

Although the latter half of today was a bit of a dud, I learned that sometimes you are lucky enough to find a gem and that sometimes all you end up with is peanuts, so prize the gem while it's within reach. 

Tomorrow we will visit the Raccoon Cafe, the hospital where Lily was born and see Young Seo again. For those that have been to Disney, it's a great big beautiful tomorrow!

Nat