Turning 24 in Seoul
Some pictures from my birthday weekend:

Saturday Night at the 'HIP HOP bar'... or the 'Black music' club

Korean Street meat...
surprisingly delicious!!!
(for the most part)

Sunday Night at the Platinum Micro Brewery in Gangnam

What's New...
I finally caved in, and for the first time in my life i have a cell phone. Here in Korea - land of technology - every man, woman and child (including ALL of my students) has a better cell phone then me. Mine is old and GHETTO... but it can make and receive calls, and I guess that's good enough. I really struggled with the decision to finally activate mine (which was actually handed down to me by Sarah Cation when she made her move to Thailand), as I've survived without one for so long. But in the end it just makes sense to have one.
It's taken me forever to even figure out how to use the stupid thing. Yesterday, it took me my entire break to send a text message, and for atleast a week i was sending them with no puncuation because i just didn't know how. I'm a technological idiot...
So, my kid's laugh at it whenever i whip it out to check for messages or the time (as i never wear watch, something else i'm apparently against)... but that's the cross i bear as a poor english teacher trying to survive in this mass of foreign asian chaos.

Today, Jessica and i also spent the day shopping in the 'the express bus terminal'... impressive name i know. This is an overwhelming underground laberith of korean shops, similar to a flea market. Mostly we were searching out cheap and funny kon-glish covered clothing (notice the use of illiteration)... it's amazing some of the non-sense these crazy koreans come up with. I mean, there'll just be a grouping of random words on a shirt that have NO meaning... whatsoever.

ie. Love bright the world, apart consign we see you recycled!!! Horse!!!
***i just made that up, but that could very well BE a shirt that you might find in korea... it probably even makes more sense then most of the shirts i've seen around here

Although, there were a lot of pretty funny ones, most were just too ugly to even consider buying... even for the whopping $3-5 they were being sold for. They just can't seem to get it right with fashion in this country. However, when you find something good... it's GOOD. Case in point are the two pairs of shoes that i spoiled myself with by buying today...

1.) these boots are chocolate brown VELVET!!!
i could just eat them i love them so much


2.) how cute are these little white beaded mocks-(short for mocasins)

and the best part about them is - THEY HAVE FOOT PRINT SOLES!!!
(I'm obviously very excited)

Sorry that my shoes are the best things that i have to write about right now... I'm going to HONG KONG in two weeks, so more exciting things are to come.

Long Cold Day... Long Cold War
Being a regular glutton for punishment, last weekend I sacrificed my saturday by waking up before the sun itself, to set out for a visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Although the day was looooong and stinkin' cold, and now come to think of it, NOT FUN AT ALL... it was an experience i wouldn't have been able to leave Korea without. Here are some pictures (there are only about 4 pictures, because i couldn't bear to take my hands out of my mittens long enough to actually take more) and information (taken from K-scene Seoul magazine - 11/26/2005 issue):

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a 4 kilometers-wide strip of land straddling the 151 mile long Military Demarcation Line (MDL). The July 27, 1953 Armistice Agreement established the DMZ along the approximate line of ground contact between the opposing forces at the time the truce ended the Korean War. However, the Korean War is not officially over - there was a truce but not a negotiated settlement.

This is the room where the truce negotiations took place. The half way point of the room is actually North Korea, with a guard continually standing guard over the door opening onto enemy territory.

By being at the DMZ we were literally standing in the middle of one of history's unfolding sub-plots. The ROK (Republic of Korea) Soldiers guard every inch of their teritory with the same intensity as if the war could break out again any minute. Here you can see soldiers standing with only half of their bodies exposed to the enemy side. This simply to keep them, atleast, half conceled and to give the enemy a smaller range of visibilty if shooting were to break out.

This is Kichong-dong, or what the UN troops call "Propaganda Village". It is a small North Korean settlement, named so, because until recently large speakers were set up to constantly air Pro North Korean Sentement through out the village and for miles around. The large tower in the centre is a flag pole that on a windy day dispalys a flag that is equivilant in size to a three story building. Except for a small custodial staff, no one actually lives in Kichong-dong. The buildings are all empty shells, and have no windows or floors. Although North Koreans work the fields by day, they are all removed from the area before dark.

If you're interested in more information here's a good site to check out:
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0307/feature1/