The un-DMZ

I just returned from a trip to Seoul to tour the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone). It is kind of an ironic name for the place since it is probably one of the most miliarized places on Earth. The tour was super interesting and I learned a lot about the history of Korea since its division. We began the tour at the JSA (Joint Security Area) where there are both American and Korean troops as a part of the UN Command of the area. You could just feel the tension there. The North Korean soldiers are carefully monitoring everything and vice versa. There are microphones and video cameras that are monitored 24/7. There are also several watch towers and we were told each place we went from where we were being observed. We were told several times not to point, make gestures, or communicate in any way with the North Koreans so that they wouldn't have anything to use as propoganda. I wondered if we were being fed any propaganda, but I guess there is no way of knowing for sure. Some highlights of the JSA were going ito a negotiation room which is split right over the border of the north and the south, the view from Checkpoint 3 where we could see into a North Korean village, visiting the infamous Bridge of No Return (where the POWs from both sides were released and told to pick a side and stay there), and learning a lot of the current state of the division, as well as the history.

In addition to the JSA we had a nice Korean lunch, went to an observation deck where we could see 25 km into North Korea, and went into a North Korean infiltration tunnel, one of 4 discovered by South Korea in the 1970s. As can be imagined, these tunnels caused quite a scare at the time so South Korea had the tunnels filled with water so they could not be used for an attack. Now it is just opened for tourists. The tunnels were 75 meters underground and went under the Armistice Agreement line to the city of Paju. The one we went in, the 3rd one discovered, caused the most fear since it came out only 52 km from Seoul. It was pretty cool, but they wouldn't let us take any pictures.

Because we had to be at the USO by 7:00 am this morning, we stayed overnight in Seoul. We stayed in an ondol, which is a traditional-style Korean room where you sleep on matresses on the floor. It was fun and more comfortable that you would think. I slept like a rock. Our hotel was located in Itaewon, which is like the foreignor's area of the city. (I guess kinda like Chinatown would be to us. hehe) It was so awesome because everyone was speaking English. And, I found some size 10 shoes--basically impossible here--but the best part was the food. We had burgers, ColdStone, and Mexican food. Yum!

A statue at the 3rd Tunnel representing the division of Korea

Kijong-Dong(peace village), North Korea from checkpoint 3

A North Korean guard tower...and beautiful fall scenery

Sleeping in our ondol

I took lots of pictures this weekend. I also have captions on all of them explaining some of the previous info in a bit more detail. Follow the link to check them out! "A look into my Seoul"--updated pics

I'm alive...barely

Sorry, time has been flying and it just realized that it has been almost 3 weeks since my last post. Things have been crazy here. School has been hectic lately due to ISA testing (International standardized tests similar to ITBS) and the MS creative arts show other various missed blocks. It has been stressful trying to plan, but even more stressful was first quarter progress reports, which came out last week. We do not give the typical letter grade with the IB program; instead the students receive a "level", determined by a rubric (and our professional judgment) for a variety of criteria in each subject. They also are assessed on 7 skills--some related to behavior and others to study habits--which are all given a level. So pretty much they get 100+ numbers and the parents are left to figure out what they all mean. :-P  We have parent/teacher conferences in the upcoming week and we are expecting a lot of confused parents.  Anyway, in Spanish they receive five levels. So I was busy giving each student their five academic criteria, their ATL levels, as well as writing a narrative using the specific guidelines and language of the middle school. This weekend is pretty much the first Saturday that I haven't gone into work. There was just so much to do!

Life isn't all bad though. I really do like teaching. Some days are hard, but most days are very enjoyable. My 8th graders are my favorite because they are such a fun group of kids. They aren't afraid to do the crazy dances or sing the songs I teach them. hehe. They even helped me make an Emociones poster by taking pictures displaying a variety of emotions. It turned out pretty funny. Now they are trying to get me to take them to Spain since the Korean classes all went on a field trip. I am trying to find someplace local I can take them to see the culture, but we'll see what I can find here. 

Besides work, not much has been going on these past few weeks. Last weekend was our Homecoming/50th Anniversary celebration so Friday we had a big assembly. They brought back distinguished alumni, some of which had amazing stories about how much has changed since they were here 50 years ago. After the assembly on Friday there was an awesome buffet, however it got really cold and we were eating outside! Saturday was when most of the festivities were held. They had an event in conjunction with the XC meet down by the river where people had 50 minutes to visit 6 stations, do tasks, and get points. I helped man one of the stations. After a BBQ lunch, they had a lot of yard games, soccer, frisbee golf, food, crafts, etc. I went to visit the location of our new school (to open Aug. 2010). It was really nice, but really far outside the city compared to our current location. Then, I came back to school to work a bit before joining everyone for dinner. It was fun to see so many of my students outside of school and with their families.  And the food was delicious. We had a hog roast...real pork!! Like IA style! :) Afterwards was a great fireworks show and a good night's rest. 

Well, this post is kind of long considering not much has been going on other than school, volleyball games, local shopping, and resting when I get the chance. I promise it will not be so long until I write again because I have some travel plans coming up. Next weekend DMZ (I'm going to N. Korea!) and the following Thursday Tokyo!