In War

We were on a Ukok field trip to another middle school for special training and everything seemed a bit odd. Traffic was stopped and the streets were flooded with policeman. I police car cut in front of us and parked. He yelled at my co-teacher Ji-Hee in Korean. I asked the students what he was saying and they said he was crazy. I found out later that hey were training for the war.

The Korean War hasn't ended. No peace treaty was ever signed. Every month they train for war. We happened to witness the routine. Ji-Hee explained what the policeman screamed at her. "What kind of a teacher are you? How could you ever do this to these children?"

Two weeks ago a North Korean ship was attacked by the south because it crossed into the southern territory. There was at least one northern casualty. Last year they were offering tours into the country, but its becoming increasingly difficult to gain entrance. All tours have ceased from the south, we can only go in through China and that is extremely expensive especially for Americans.
(Each Square is a person holding a colored square)

Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang would be amazing to see. Its hard to comprehend the capacity of the performance. The North Korean's fill a stadium with acrobats and perform some of the most amazing choreography I have ever seen on film.

You can watch it here:

Vice Guide To Travel

A little warning... It is a great documentary, but these guys are extremely disrespectful and rude at times.

Gwangju

Mokpo

Hongdo Island

View of Heuksando Sunset

Boats Color

More Boats

Heuksando Fishing Boats Day

Almost all of the people living on the small island of Heuksando make a living from fishing. These are some of the photos of their boats during the day. I will also post the other pics from night.

Heuksando and Hongdo

Chuseok is similar to Korean Thanksgiving or memorial day. It is a time to give thanks as well as remember those who have passed away. We took advantage of the four day weekend to head off to Jeollanam-Do to visit two of Korea's most beautiful islands. After a bus trip that involved a good amount of Rum and Makli, we made it to Gwangju. From there we decided to head into Mokpo on the southwest coast of the country. The next day we took a rough ferry to Heuksando island. The sea was extremely choppy and people were vomiting all around us. We had all taken some medication that knocked us out and calmed our stomachs. The next time I took a ferry, I decided against the elixir because I didn't want to be tired when we arrived on Hongdo island. I started feeling worse and worse and eventually succumbed to puking in a bag. From then on I took the meds.

We came back from Hongdo to Heuksando just as the Chuseok celebration was beginning. We played some soccer with some little kids and began to drink soju. The sun wasn't even close to coming down, but the locals had already began to party.

We were the only foreigners on the island. It was a completely authentic experience. The villagers offered us soju and stuffed raw fish into our mouths. We did shot after shot with the men and they invited us to sit at their table. They convinced us to sing karaoke (or noribong in Korean). The villagers were dancing and really enjoying themselves when a man ran onto the stage and grabbed the microphone out of our hands. He proceeded to push Nicky and Sandra. Immediately a fight broke out on stage where a few of our new local friends drug him away. We were encouraged to keep singing, and despite our distraction, we did a decent job.

We laughed it off and had a few more drinks with the islanders. We were back at the table when he pulled the chairs out from under Sandra and our friend Emily. The villagers held him back and we parted ways. They shouted "you must go", "He is Korean gangster", and "goodbye." As upset as we were, we walked it off because you don't fight in Korea unless you want to be deported.

We spent the rest of the night dancing with grandmas and having a blast. The old ladies were really getting down. It ended up being a good Chuseok.

Korean Outdoor Gyms

Korea is huge on keeping the country healthy. In Ulsan you can't walk for long without stumbling across an outdoor store. Outdoor gyms are sporadically placed all over the river. They are extremely weird and at times obselete. I tried to tape some people without getting noticed. The videos are supposed to be less about Sandra and more about what is happening in the background.

Chicago Neighborhoods

Click it to see the full size. This is my favorite map.