Dmz OMG

Considering our pending departure from Korea, Dan and I decided it might be our last chance to make a trip to the DMZ. We signed up for a USO tour (94,000 won) and traveled to Seoul late Friday night so we could be ready to go EARLY Saturday morning (7:15 am!). The USO was super easy to find and most people had beaten us there, about 45 people were waiting in lobby when we got there. Our clothing and passport were checked, no shorts and no printed tee-shirts or tank tops allowed! Only foreigners are allowed to visit, apparently Koreans could feel such an overwhelming desire to see their families in North Korea that they are a just too tempted to run straight across the border and defect to the wonderful dictatorship to the north. Either that or they might open fire on the North Korean guards. I’m not sure.

Anyway, as always when I am around a group of people that speak English, I cannot help but just sit and listen to everyone’s conversation the whole time. The people next to us were incredibly hung-over, the group behind us was from Australia, and there was an adorable family who had adopted a Korean girl who had come back to show her where she was born. And I didn’t actually speak to any of these people. This eavesdropping problem is annoying as hell, and I sure hope it fades when I get back to the states.

So we went to the border, which is actually just little flags. No fence. No wall. Nothing. Well, except for snipers and land mines. We got to go in one of the buildings that is directly on the border and actually stand on the North Korean side. So yep, we went to North Korea. I thought the DMZ was one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve seen in Korea. Tons of foliage and wildlife. A sharp contrast to the majority of South Korea.

An army dude conducted the border part of the tour. He wasn’t too informed about the history of the two countries. He was also chock full of propaganda, referring to North Korea as communist every single time he mentioned the country, which I thought was pretty off base. Yeah, I think it’s more of a totalitarian dictatorship/ sovereign death-cult, but you know, same same in the the United States government’s eyes. Axis of evil, hate us for our freedoms and all that.

We had an adorable Korean woman for the rest of tour that included going down the tunnels dug by North Koreans to invade Seoul and discovered in the 1980’s and 90’s. We also went to a train station that will supposedly connect South Korea with the Trans Siberian railway. When the two Koreas are reunited. Yep, not holding my breath for that, but it would be pretty cool to ride a train from Seoul to London. All in all, it was kind of interesting but not too stimulating. Kinda like Korea.

How the World Cup solved my moderation problem

I’ve fallen down on the job as a blogger lately… I’m sorry! But I’m back on the boat now. One of the reasons I haven’t written anything lately is that I really wanted to see if my experiment with drinking in moderation would work out. So far, it has. I think so many months off really helped me put some distance and perspective on the whole situation, and now I’m back and better than ever! So how did the World Cup do this for me? Well, in South Korea this world Cup has been a big deal. So of course Dan and my friends want to go watch it at the bar. And I want to go too! So I decided to drink one drink every half (that’s 45 minutes). This works perfectly, my body has plenty of time to metabolize and I get just a bit of a buzz. So we’ve had quite a few successful nights out, just having a few drinks and going home early (you know, 3am). Overall, I think I’m just getting back to my normal self!

In other lifestyle news, we’ve also been eating a lot less meat and generally being healthier which has also helped my motivation to not drink so much. Who wants to ruin a great diet with excess calories in alcohol? I’ve also been taking a Pilates class twice a week and it is AWESOME! I completely forgot how great a difficult workout feels afterward. I can’t wait to have more time to workout! I really crave endorphins, whether it’s from a hard workout or a night out in the club, so when I get that feeling in a healthy way it helps keep me on the right track.

I think this time in life (late twenties) is difficult because I’ve already achieved so much of what I set out to do in my teens (graduate college, travel, get a steady job) and it feels like I should have everything figured out by now. But the truth is I’m still learning and growing, setting new goals and figuring everything out. I just consider myself SO lucky to be in the position I’m in, to be able to have such a good time (even too much of a good time!) with such fun people, not to mention the ability to travel and live “the dream” as they say. Life is a little scary, going back to the states is pretty much the most daunting thing EVER, in my opinion, but it’s all about change.