Surviving Seoul

Over the past few years of living in Asia, I have typically utilized all of my vacation time to visit new countries...and especially new beaches. Spring Break is the holiday that seems to call out the most for beach time as it serves as a reminder that summer is close and gives a brief respite before digging into the home stretch. This year, however, I decided to spend my Spring Break a little differently: chaperoning a school trip to Seoul, South Korea.

How did I get sucked into technically working during my holiday, you might ask? Answer: Jordan is very convincing. He sponsors a club in the Upper School called ConNeKt - a group of students who work to raise money for North Korean defectors living in South Korea. They are connected with an organization in Seoul called Durihana run by a pretty spectacular man named Pastor Chun who personally goes to help rescue North Korean refugees. [Click here for a PBS video that is quite informative and moving about Durihana and Pastor Chun's work]. I decided that actually having an educational [not to mention free] Spring Break that might actually give back to others sounded well worth it!

The other question you might be thinking is: why in the world did you go to South Korea in the midst of Kim Jong-Un's crazy threats against the US and S. Korea?? Answer: Once again, Jordan is very convincing and assured me that it was safe. BUT I was still thinking the same thing as we got on the plane last week [especially since I was in charge of 10 students] - yet when we got to Seoul, Jordan was right. There were no signs of war or concerns from the people there. It seems as though North Korea's rhetoric has been heard so many times in the South that they just ignore it now.

We spent the first two days of the trip working with North Korean refugee children who live and go to school at Durihana. None of them spoke English, but most of them spoke Chinese and/or Korean, so it was easy for our students to communicate with them [though Jordan and I were left in the dark for most of the interactions, for better or for worse]. The last two days we spent going to various historical sites, shopping districts, and eating areas...and yes, we did go to the DMZ and saw North Korea! Pretty intense. And now that I've rambled on, I will explain the details of the trip via photos. Note: there are no pictures of the North Korean defectors because it's too dangerous for them to have pictures online as many still have family members in North Korea.

Arrival at Incheon Airport - definitely one of the nicest airports in Asia. Wayyyy better than Taipei's...

The first of many meat grilling meals. Yummy but my body was seriously craving veggies by the end of the week.

A view outside of Durihana. This is where we spent the first two days working with the North Korean defectors.

Seoul City Tour: stop at the World Cup Stadium.

GANGNAM STYLE!

Posing in front of one of the many palaces in Seoul, which was actually destroyed by the Japanese and has been completely rebuilt.

We missed out on the English tour, so the guidebook was the next best option!

Walking the back streets of old Seoul.

Locks of Love at the Seoul North Tower. Apparently it's a tradition to leave a lock to have everlasting love, but we didn't have a lock with us...oops!

I had to get a picture with this dude after I saw him chop bamboo in half with one swipe of his sword!

Enjoying the sunset at the Han River.

The official DMZ photo. Glad we didn't get caught in a war!

One of the kids was a great photographer, so he kept snapping pics of us!

Posing in front of the Korean War Memorial. Quite a dramatic statue.

Strolling along the Cheonggyeocheon Stream that runs through the middle of Seoul on our last day in the city.

All in all a very good trip, but I must say that I was a bit relieved to get off the plane in Taipei and know that we were on neutral ground.