As usual, it's been far too long since I last posted anything...nearly a month.
Here is a brief overview of a wonderful experience in northeast Asia with pictures to follow.
In March my brother, Tyler, and I (who both won full scholarships from the Korea Foundation) went to South Korea. There we encountered a very unique culture rich in its own history, language, foods and dress. We flew from Omaha through Dallas to Seoul. The latter of the flights was wonderful, because we got our boarding passes nearly too late and all the economy seats had already been filled, so we were upgraded to "prestige".
We stayed at an extremely fancy hotel in which we ate several buffet style meals, which included both Western food and Korean foods- always including rice and Kimchi. Kimchi is a spicy fermented cabbage dish that is served with every Korean meal. I also ate my fair share of Bibimbap- a dish that is made of a pile of white rice mixed with sprouts and a red (supposedly spicy) sauce.
We got to meet several students from Yonsei University (the host university in Korea) and also attened lectures there. These lectures were each very interesting. They included topics on Korean language, North-South Korean relations, US-Korean relations and Korea's history, culture and society. All the Koreans with whom I interacted were extremely friendly and respectful.
During the days, various activities and excursions were organized for us. We went took a walking tour of Yonsei University, where we saw the Samsung Library, which is a paperless library. I must admit, this defies every sense of what I think of when I think of a library, but it was very interesting. All books, magazines, newspapers, notes, etc are on touch screens of varying sizes like iPads and overgrown iPads. We also saw the largest women's university in the world, which is located nearby in the same district of Seoul. We had the evenings to ourselves to explore Seoul.
Other sites that we saw in Seoul included a reconstruction of a palace, the president's home, known as the Blue House for its blue roof, the site of the G20 Summit talks, the Korean War Memorial with an enourmous hallway which lists the names of all the fallen troops from other nations who helped fight in this war, including giant plaques listing the members of each US state.
Outside of Seoul we visited the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) which was extremely fascinating. It was an interesting atmosphere mixed with tension, armed soldiers, passport checks, barricades and live mines along the edges of the road, yet with gift shops as tourist attractions- asking for our contributions to support their economy. we saw the uninhabited North Korean propaganda village with its flag which weighs 600 pounds and is raised on a pole 160 meters tall!
In addition to the DMZ we visited a Hyundai car plant where a new car rolls off the line every 57 seconds. Hyundai along with SK, Samsung and LG account for the majority of South Korea's economy. Before returning to Seoul we went to Everland (South Korea's Disneyland). This was my least favorite part of the trip, but I can now say that I have been on the world's steepest wooden roller coaster, and I never need to go on a roller coaster or go back to an amusement park again.
During our final evening in Seoul we saw attended "Cookin' NANTA" a primarily non-verbal, comic, cooking, dancing and musical show. I can draw several parallels between Nanta and Blue Man Group.
This is not all that we did, but a brief overview of the wonderful opportunity provided to us. One last note...we tasted Corn Icecream! This was not exactly delicious...but after seeing it we decided we must try it. The corn icecream came in a wrapper and was encased by a thin layer of chocolate surrounded by a wafer-cone in the shape of an ear of corn. The icecream was corn-flavored and had real kernels of corn in it. Where do people get ideas like that?!
