A day at the north korean border

This morning, I woke up early and decided to join Tom, a guy from Chicago, and his girlfriend to go have a look at the demilitarized zone, 56 km north of Seoul. It's a tampon area, if I can say, 2 km after the south korean border and 2 km from North Korea (4 km in all). We took a guided tour and I can't tell if it was good, bad, interesting or filled with propagandilistical videos and comments.
It was to be expected though, following a tour is not something where surprises are to be found, but it was clear that south Korea was the only victim of the conflict and that they were white as snow. Whatever, the atmosphere was tense at times, as the soldiers working at the border didn't know smiling can be good for you. We couldn't take pictures at times and had to show our passports quite often. I don't regret going though, this is a very modern conflict and it is nice to see at least one side of the story. Especialy after learning this morning the north korean government had decided to stop accepting the rice provided by the U.N., making it even more actual.
I then decided to go make a quick stop at the World Cup stadium, and it was a nice sight even though there wasn't much to see. I arrived too late to actualy see the field, but the building is a real architectural achievement, the biggest stadium I've ever seen I think.
I spent some time in the giant mall attached to the stadium and that was pretty much it.
Tomorrow is the last day of the year and I hope I'll find a nice place to go celebrate the new year.
I wish you all a wonderful new year and have fun in your various partys.

Mic



Photo section:

Comemorative plate for prisoners of the korean war
Fence separating the bridge in two
Still, picture from the boarder (litlle bit of snow)
One of many lookout posts
South korean soldiers shovelling snow
Train station they're building hoping the two countrys will be connected soon
The message on the board
Soldiers at the soon to be station
Pictures at the World Cup stadium station
The stadium
Lady shooting down bad guys, in an arcade............

Changdeokgong palace

I've had another busy day today as I started my journey by saying goodbye to the English fellow, David. I headed up to Changdeokgong Palace, a much bigger complex than I expected. An Australian dude introduced himself as I was looking on a map where to go, and since we were going to the same place, we first went eating. I'm meeting people faster and faster everyday as I was having lunch with that guy not even 15 minutes after I had met him!!!!!
The Palace was a site really worth seeing. Although the cold is a pain to get your gloves out all the time to take pictures, the long visit (more than 2 km) was filled with nice decorated temples and gates. I had a bit of trouble understanding what the rushing guide was saying, but it was very important to take the time to see everything.
Towards the end of the visit, I met other Australians (5 girls and one man), and I talked a bit with all of them. The man is a chinese teacher and is very educated. Since he was going where I was then heading, we walked and chatted together for about 5 kilometers. We climbed the side of the mountain leading to the Seoul Tower and with the cold and the previous day of walking, my knees were starting to hurt really bad. I'm wondering if all those years of cracking my knees in the morning when I get up are not catching up on me already.......... It was weird telling Peter, who must be 55 years old, that I had trouble keeping up with the climbing. We managed to get down the mountain (since we couldn't find the right path) and hop on the bus bringing people up to the tower.
The sight wasn't that pretty, it was too cloudy.
We then went for dinner and talked about everything and nothing for an hour and a half. He's a very nice man and I had such a good time spending half the day along his side.
I then came back to the guesthouse limping but now I already feel better.

See you soon everybody.



Photo section:

The Seoul subway
Main entrance in Changdeokgong Palace
One of the big gates inside Changdeokgong Palace
First big building inside the palace complex
Me in front of that same building
Nice picture...
Big bird in the garden
Opening on the main temple
The main temple
Nice man, Peter

First moments in Korea

Hi everybody,

I arrived last night in Seoul after a short overseas flight of 2 and a half hours.
It was quite a long day though, getting up at 7:00 am, taking 2 different buses to go to the Tokyo airport and having a few delays here and there. I made it through the cold Seoul night and into my cousy guesthouse. It is very homelike, it actually is a family run business and the people overhere are easy to bond with. After 24 hours, I already have a few buddies, it's crazy!!!
I spent the first day trying to get a good feel of the city and even though it has been a little hard to follow the "maps" from the lonelyplanet guidebook, I managed to see a few temples and a real nice street filled with small shops and boutiques. The weather is very cold, -6 oc, but it is sunny and just a little windy. I think I will have a blast overhere, since I've been kindly guided by this English guy, David. He showed me how the subway system worked and where I should go for the first few days.
Enjoy the pictures!!

Monument vu en marchant le long d'une ruelle
Temple in Gyeongbokdong site, downtime Seoul
National Folk Museum of Seoul
Same Museum, different view
Giant stone dating from 1467, in Tapgol Park
The big Pagoda, brought in Tagpol Park from another place
First real night out for a nice BBQ
Me and my English buddy David, posing between two bites

The Brouhaha corner

Here are the random pictures I took during the last month,
I hope you will enjoy them.


Let's start with the crepes night, in my apartment!!! Johnny just couldn't get enough....



just couldn't... well, you get the picture.





The plays at the kindergarten





What can I say, they were so cute...




Girls, five years old, getting ready to perform.



View outside of my apartment, at 9:00 in the morning




View of Mount Fuji from my classroom.



Example of the monthly board I have to make, obviously this one is for December...





The big marmittes where they cook the rice,
first ingredient for the "mochi"



The most famous japanese sweet, the "mochi"




Yours truly having a snack time




Kanon chan (chan is a nickname for little girls)




My favorite little girl, Chisa chan




Nana chan




Some unforgetable memories for sure.......





My japanese Christmas alone, something to go crazy for!!!!!!!!!!!