Spring has sprung

We've gotten the warmest of welcomes from the Korean people. Mother Nature, on the other hand, has been a bit frosty. She has finally come around this past week and is showing us a beautiful apology. Spring in Korea is gorgeous.

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King Spanberger

We wrapped up our traditional Korean village movie set tour by trying on some costumes. Jake was chosen to play the king. Nanci was his queen. Jake had no problem keeping his Korean smile on the entire time. We have many guesses but are not quite sure what he is holding. As usual, Nanci is having the time of her life!

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Korean Folk Village

Yesterday, we visited the Korean Folk Village in Yongin. This was a very expansive property, with over 200 traditional-style properties on display. We watched an old blacksmith forge iron to make tools, witnessed what jail and torture were like in the 19th century Korea and shared a few glasses of the traditional Korean rice wine, Makkoli. During a one-hour free period, Jake and I found an empty, open-air temple to relax in. Relax, being relative as there were over 10,000 school kids wildly running around the property for a joint picnic trip. As I laid in the temple, several kids used me as a hurdle during a game of chase. Not a bad day at all.
- Colin

  

English Village

Last week, we visited a unique educational campus in Yeongpeong called the "English Village". They call the design "Virginian", meaning the place looks like Georgetown or D.C. The buildings are very modern and the purpose of the school is to give Korean kids a crash course in English. The typical course lasts only 12 days, though children are required to speak English in the onsite stores. The government supplements part of the tuition and it sounded like the parents are only responsible for around $150 for the 12-day course. Jake, the Florida Gator, found a kindred spirit on campus. -Colin

What a relief!

Over the course of 3 weeks, we have slept in 10 different places, some beds and some floors (aka Korean style). The longest we have stayed in one place is 3 nights. We just found out we get to stay in this place (Yongin) for 7 days. Finally, I get to unpack and settle in. I can't tell you how good this feels.

-Jake

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High-end Ceramics

There's no way to explain how important the role ceramics play in the Korean culture. We've been to at least 10 separate ceramic museums, workshops, etc. For me, none were cooler than our visit to the private studio of Park Kwang Chun in Yeoju. Mr. Park is famous for his artistry and we were told his works are some of the most expensive in the world. His larger pieces retail for $30,000. After watching him detail a half-finished piece, he presented us each with a coffee cup-sized pot laced in real 14k gold. We were told these were pricey. Mine is wrapped in bubble wrap and towels inside a box we had shipped home. Cross your fingers. In 45 days, the ship will arrive in America and I'll be curious to see what I find.
- Colin

DMZ

We visited the DMZ and received special permission to get an inside look at the actual line.  When we got off our bus, we were greeted by a 3 star General.  Then we went to the actual DMZ, the line on the 38th parallel that separates North and South Korea. It was a unique experience that not many people get to do. We were only allow to take pictures in certain spots because the North Korean's might take it as a hostile measure. This whole experience was amazing.

Above is a picture of Colin bowing to the General. We were with a Korean translator who is actually leaving in July to go to the University of Florida (I taught him to say Go Gators, by the way). He served in the army for 3 years and he said he has never met a 3 star General.  It was a pretty special moment for him.

After meeting the General, we were taken to lunch by some soldiers who studied in the States so they spoke impeccable English.  Lunch was served in the soldier's mess hall. The picture above was my meal.

Driving to the DMZ was pretty intense. Our guide said "you are now entering the DMZ", and the whole bus of Korean went silent. This is a shot of one of the soldiers guarding the door to North Korea. He obviously looks very intimidated of me.

This is North Korea in the background.  The soldier is a Major in the army.  It was interesting because other soldiers were asking to get their picture taken with him.  I asked him if he was a celebrity and he said yes.

I added the above shot because this soldier is half looking at a the building, half North Korea. This is done because they only want him half exposed if the North Korean's start firing.

-Jake