Busy day in South Korea!

Hello Again! 

We spent a lot of time on the bus today traveling to our various destinations, and I will never cease to be amazed by how frugile they are with their land.  Every space that can be used to plant anything green is taken up, even in the city.  Within the city they have flowers taking up the median, trees growing in pots on rooftops, and garden in empty spaces.  Then traveling on the highway you see rice fields where ever you look!  It is neat to see how they overcome their lack of space!

Today we visited the DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone), and it was an interesting experience.  Yes, we have all heard in the news the tension between North and South Korea, but actually being there, seeing the divider between the two countries made it seem so much more real.  We first went to the Third Tunnel (North Korea dug tunnels after the War ended so that they could conduct a surprise attack on the South, 4 tunnels have been found to date.)  We definitely got our exercise for the day climbing back up out of the tunnel!

Next we went to an Observation deck or tower.  There were soldiers there making sure that we did not go past a yellow line to take pictures.  The above picture is the closest I was able to get to capturing a picture of North Korea.  However no picture could have done the view justice.  What you cannot see is that each country had their flag flying on their sides of the DMZ.  When I saw that, I finally understood just how separated the two countries have become.  We left the tour with more questions than we went in with, but all in all it was an eye opening experience.

To end the day we went to the Korea House to see their Korean Traditional Art Performance.  Though many of us were tired, we were entertained by the bright colors and the upbeat music.  During the conclusion Dr. Foster and I were called up on stage to participate with the performers, definitely a unique experience!