That didn't actually happen. But who knows, theres still time. Anyway, we did head to the DMZ to take a little tour and gaze into North Korea from afar. The experience was not too shabby and I learned some interesting things from the tour, but for some childish reason that I don't really understand, the best part was seeing the North Korean flag waving off in the distance. The whole idea of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea has seemed unbelievable and almost mythical while I've been here. We live a mere 10 miles from the DMZ, yet it doesn't seem possible that we could be that close to someplace so bizarre. Of course there are little reminders: the stacks of cards blowing through the forest with Kim Jong Un's face on them; the muffled sound of cannon fire every night somewhere far off in the distance; the trenches winding through the forests by our house. But none of those things really increased the how tangibly I perceived North Korea. Those reminders are striking at first, but they rapidly fade to the back of your thoughts as they become routinely involved in our everyday life. I'm not insinuating that I in any way didn't believe in North Korea; that would be ridiculous. But it did kind of seem like a ghost story told to children to keep them in bed late at night; only aimed at a much older crowd. But all of that is irrelevant as I have a (contraband) photograph to prove to myself that its not a myth.
The signs said that photography was prohibited, but the soldiers stood by calmly as hundreds of people disobeyed so I figured I'd give it a go. The large pole holds the DPRK flag, which unfortunately stopped waving while I was taking the picture. The tour guide said the buildings are part of propaganda village and mostly just for show. That being said, it did become evident that South Korea also levels a fair share of propaganda against North Korea as well, so I'm not sure whether all of the information was given completely honestly, or if some of the facts had been inflated to some extent. This is not me trying to back North Korea at all, just a thought that the relentless tension between the two nations may require a little extra urging on the South Korean governments behalf to keep people from forgetting that such a hostile enemy exists so close.
One thing I never realized until our tour was that South Korea is still pushing for the reunification of the two nations to form a united Korean peninsula. I was under the impression that South Korea had accepted that the North was now a separate nation. The video they showed us, though, suggested otherwise. The theme of reunification was evident throughout the tour and was visible in the art as well as in slogans painted on the buildings.
One thing I never realized until our tour was that South Korea is still pushing for the reunification of the two nations to form a united Korean peninsula. I was under the impression that South Korea had accepted that the North was now a separate nation. The video they showed us, though, suggested otherwise. The theme of reunification was evident throughout the tour and was visible in the art as well as in slogans painted on the buildings.
One of the highlights of the tour was the tunnel built under the DMZ by the North Koreans to infiltrate South Korea. Four large tunnels have been found on the border between the west and east coasts. The one we toured was the third one that was discovered and was capable of translocating 30,000 soldiers across the border in under an hour. At least that what the video said. I find that hard to believe as I could barely fit myself through the diminutive passage. But then again, I'm like a giant here, so maybe it's possible.
Other Things
The DMZ was not the only adventure we had last week. Kyle and I decided to go to one of the islands on the west coast and climb a mountain and go to the beach. This adventure, however, did not go as we had planned and we ended up just walking for about 15 miles. We never did make it to the mountain, but we were successful in locating the beach.
Yep. Thats a beach that runs into a mudflat instead of the water... It was interesting. But the trip wasn't actually bad. It didn't go as planned, but we had fun and saw some interesting things. We even toured an abandoned building and found an ancient fortress from the 1600s. There isn't much to say about this trip since it was mainly just endless wandering. Its probably better to see in pictures rather than read my soporific commentary anyway.
Bill Nye stuff
Research this week was the same as last. I've looked for matches of frog pictures among thousands of photographs. Its definitely as bad as it sounds. But I'm ticking away at it and we should have some usable data for our next presentation on the 18th. I should be finished with the analysis within another week, then I can focus on putting the presentation together.
We're still looking for frogs in the forest too. And they're still not there.
We're still looking for frogs in the forest too. And they're still not there.