DMZ

The first thing we did in Seoul was to tour the DMZ on Saturday.
That was a strange experience. It seemed to be almost too light for what may happen, but at the same time taken too seriously. It definitely is serious, but it had a strange feel to it.
We started off at the "Third Tunnel". This was a tunnel dug past the DMZ by North Korea that was apparently capable of moving in about 10 000 troops in under an hour. It was very short (we were given helmets, thankfully) and very jagged. One amazing thing was that it was built at a very gentle but steady angle so that water would not stagnate.
Using the direction of the drill holes for dynamite use, South Korea was able to prove that it had been dug by North Korea, although they deny it. South Korea says they were looking for diamonds or something when they found it.
One funny thing about the tunnel was that the North Korean had apparently rubbed charcoal on the walls in places and then claimed that they had been "digging for coal". Hilarious. It's obviously just rubbed on, you dolts.
They showed us this video that was also strange. It was basically talking about how the DMZ had become the last refuge for wildlife in the Korean peninsula. It made it sound like a magical wonderland, and actually referred to it as "a place we call our home."
Uhh... my home will not have barbed wire and land mines, thank you.
We then went to a few lookout points where you could see the DMZ. The lookouts were less than spectacular, because the weather was not really clear. We got our first glimpse of the North Korean "Propoganda Town", which is a town that is largely uninhabited, but built to look very modern for the benefit of South Korean telescopers. South Korea put up a 100m tall flagpole, so North Korea's Propoganda Town has a huge flag up on a 160m pole.
The bus driver told us about the propoganda that used to be circulated in the past. They used to put music on loudspeakers that would show North Korea what they were missing, popular culture-wise. Then, the North Koreans would play it back, to say "Yeah, well we got that too!" They also posted huge billboards on hillsides with slogans like "South Korea: a paradise" which would get responses like "Americans, go home!"
The actual Joint Security Area, where they hold conferences and such, I guess, was also strange. They have guards positioned so that only half of their body is visible. Like they were going to walk by the building, but didn't quite make it. They choose their biggest, tallest soldiers to stand guard and intimidate the North with the evil eye (literally, only one eye is visible). They stand twenty paces or so away from eachother and stare, and that is their shift. Also, they clench their fists and hold their arms stiffly at their sides.
Inside of the conference area, there is a guard standing between the table and the wall. If you stand on one side of him, you are in North Korea. If you stand on the other, South Korea. You can't walk between him and the table though, because then he is authorized to taekwando you.
And hard.
When South Korea built a new visitor center, North Korea added another floor to theirs so that it would be taller. Oddly enough though, there were not a lot of North Koreans visiting the DMZ to see South Korea. Maybe it's just not their big tourist season right now.
Lunch was also pretty exciting, because it was the first time eating Korean food with Jessie's parents, Ralph and Jackie. They did pretty well... it was pretty hard for Jackie here, because she is vegan, and Koreans like to sneak meat into everything. It's funny, because the portions of meat are very small, they're just in everything. Actually, I think I was the only one to spill anything at that meal, which was not so good, because I had brought only one sweater for the whole vacation. haha.

Okay, that's all for now, but there will be more stuff coming to me once I put pictures up too.