North Korea

Saturday, Geoff and I went with some friends and took a USO trip to the JSA(Joint Security Area). I had been wanting to take that trip since I arrived in Korea. Well, we finally went, and I am so glad we did. It is amazing how interesting history is when you are older. If I had been a kid and gone on that trip I would not have appreciated it near as much as I do now. I also learned a lot. I have only posted 5 pictures because blogger will only allow me to post 5. If anyone knows how to get around this so I can post more, please let me know. This first picture is of a ROK soldier, Geoff, and myself. If you are an avid news watcher you might have seen this room we were standing in before. Along the DMZ, there are a series of buildings where half of the building is in North Korea, and half is in South Korea. This is the building where they do a lot of those peace talks. The ROK soldier is guarding the NATO flag there on the table. We were warned not to touch him, or try to go in front or behind him or he would use some fancy Tae Kwon Do tricks on us. In the picture, Geoff is actually standing in South Korea, and I am standing in North Korea. There was another guard at the other end of the room, and he was guarding the door into North Korea. If someone tried to open the door, the North Korean guards on the other side would pull you through and not let you go.
The picture above of Geoff and I was taken in the blue building on the left. Those are North Korean soldiers having there picture taken right on the border. I actually got up close pictures of them while I was in that building. They were taking pictures like regular people. It was a very sad feeling to know that those people, that were not even 5 feet away from me at times, hated me because I was an American. I know my husband and other soldiers deal with this all the time while on deployments. But I had never experienced it for myself. I just wanted to scream you don't even know me. Jesus loves you. We were all created equal. But they couldn't understand me anyways. Plus if I had I would have probably gotten in a lot of trouble. We weren't supposed to speak, point or make any kind of gestures at them.

When I took the picture above I was standing on the steps of a building built by the president of the Hyundai Corporation. He had the building built in 1998 before he died. The purpose of the building was so that the Korean Families that were separated during the war could have a place for reunions. Sadly the building has never been used. Since the building is in South Korea, the North Koreans are not allowed for fear that they might defect.

If you look at the building in the picture there is a guard standing in between a door and a window at the top of the stairs. He watched us the entire time with binoculars. In the window next to him there was someone else watching us also. There was also a guard tower to the right (its not in the picture) full of North Korean soldiers watching us like hawks. I said before that we were not supposed to point. Well you find out how hard it is not to point when you are not supposed to, and you are looking at some interesting stuff.
This is a town in right across the border called Propaganda village. I don't remember the real name of the village. They call this Propaganda village because up until 2004 the North would blast propaganda over loud speakers about how wonderful their country and leader is. Ironically, there is no one that lives in this village. Occasionally, there are people spotted just taking care of the buildings. I think they built this village to make it look like they had a booming economy.

On the South Korean side there is a village called Freedom village. The south Koreans hung a huge flag in this village for all to see. In retaliation, the North created what is know as the tallest flag in the world (in the picture above). The North Korean flag now stands twice as high as the one in the South. The North Korean flag also weighs 600 lbs.

This is the bridge of no return. The last time someone crossed this bridge they were held hostage for 12 years.
This is where the treaty of PanmunJeom was signed. It started the armistice between the two countries. It is actually in North Korea. When I took the the picture above I was actually surrounded by North Korea on 3 sides.

We saw a lot more that we could not take pictures of. We went into a tunnel under this mountain that was dug by the North. It was found in 1978, and the North says that they were doing coal mining. The mountain they were digging in was made of granite. There are 4 tunnels that have been found. The North continues to say that the South dug them, but if you look at the the marks in the rocks you can see that they were dug from North to south. The tunnel I went through was big enough that 30,000 troops could pass through it in an hour. I am sure there are more tunnels that just the 4 found, but they have not been discovered yet.

It was a very interesting and educational day. I wish we could all just get along. It might be a while before I post again because we are on the move again. Plus, I think the movers packed up the cord to my camera. Until next time!

Sweet Tarts

These socks make me think of Sweet Tarts. A favorite of mine. I love the small ones, but I really, really love the big chewy ones. I never would have thought these socks would look like that by looking at the yarn. The colors just remind me of sweet tarts. Geoff thinks I am crazy, and has no clue why I keep saying that. Anyways, they are made from Wick yarn. It is soy and polypropylene. I wasn't crazy about working with that yarn. It snags really easy, and if you don't pull the right end you get a horrible tangled not (speaking from experience). As a matter of fact I came really close to frogging these socks and turning them into a summer tank top. My sister is just learning to knit and is trying to make a ribbed tank top from the Stitch' N Bitch. I thought what fun it would be for us to make the same thing at the same time. After analyzing my yarn a little more I decided I wouldn't like it as much if it didn't make that slight swirly pattern. So socks they became.

We are getting really close to leaving. In a week we move into the Casey Lodge. It is all so mind boggling to think about. I can't believe 10 months has already past. Sometimes being and adult is such a pain because time goes by so fast (compared to when you are a kid). Thinking back we should have done more. I never made it to Insadong or Namdaemun. Those are just different shopping districts in Seoul. But after seeing several parts of Seoul they all look the same. To be quite honest I have found that South Korea is a pretty expensive country.

Every now and then I have brief moments where I freak out because were on the move again. Those moments pass very quickly as I remind myself everything will be fine, you have done this before, God is in control. I've thought a lot lately about everywhere we have lived as a married couple. It is hard to believe that in the last 7 1/2 years we have never lived in one place longer than 3 years. Technically that only applies to me because Geoff spent a year out of those three years deployed. That doesn't include him going to the field either. As of right now our next 2-3 years should be in on place. I don't mind moving all the time. It is always fun to see where we end up next. Until next time!

Don't Ask

Many of you already know that my husband is in the military. Hence the reason why I am living in South Korea. In a couple of week we will be moving back to the states where we will eventually face the inevitable, his deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. The other day Crystal sent me this email.

The Worst Things You Can Say to a Woman Whose Husband is Deployed

I have a lot of friends with husbands who are deployed right now. For most of them this is at least their second or third deployment to go through as a couple. So the other day I was talking with a friend whose husband is currently deployed and we started talking about the most annoying things that usually well-meaning people say to us regarding deployments. We agreed that we are always polite in our responses and that we realize that the offending person usually had only the best of intentions. But here's what we came up with as the things we get asked or told that really make our skin crawl. They're not in any particular order. Feel free to add some of your own in the comments.

1. "Aren't you afraid that he'll be killed?" (This one ranks in at number one on my "duh" list. Of course we're afraid. We're terrified. The thought always lingers at the backs of our minds ---but thanks, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they're scared of dying.)

2. "I don't know how you manage. I don't think I could do it." (Though this is really annoying, I feel bad about mentioning it because I know that it is intended to be a compliment. Still, it's not like all of us military wives have been dreaming since childhood of the day we'd get to be anxious single moms who carry cell phones with us to the bathroom. We're not made of some mysterious matter that makes us more capable, we just got asked/told to take on a challenging job and we rose to the challenge.)

3. "At least he's not in Iraq." (This is the number one most annoying comment for my friends whose husbands are in Afghanistan. As one friend put it, "What do they think is happening
in Afghanistan? A huge game of golf? Guys are fighting and dying over there, too."

4. "Do you think he'll get to come home for Christmas/anniversary/birthday/birth of a child/wedding/family reunion, etc?" (Don't you watch the news? No. They don't get to come home for any of these things. Please don't ask again.)

5. "What are you going to do to keep yourself busy while he's gone?" (Short answer: Try to keep my sanity. Maybe there's a military wife out there who gets bored when her husband leaves, but I have yet to meet her. For the rest of us, those with and without children, we find ourselves having to be two people. That keeps us plenty busy. We do get lonely, but we don't get bored.)

6. "How much longer does he have until he can get out?" (This one is annoying to many of us whether our husbands are deployed or not. Many of our husbands aren't counting down the days until they "can" get out. Many of them keep signing back up again and again because (gasp!) they love what they do.

7. "This deployment shouldn't be so bad, now that you're used to it." (Sure, we do learn coping skills. And we figure out ways to make life go smoother while the guys are gone. But it never gets easy and the bullets and bombs don't skip over our guys just because they've been there before. The worry never goes away.)

8. "My husband had to go to Europe for business once for three weeks. I totally know what you're going through." (This one is similar to number two. Do not equate your husband's three week trip to London/Omaha/Tokyo/etc. with a one-year deployment to a war zone. Aside from the obvious trip length difference, nobody shot at your husband or tried to blow him up with an I.E.D., your husband could call home pretty much any time he wanted to, he flew comfortably on a commercial plane, slept between crisp white sheets and ate well, paying for everything with an expense account. There is no comparison. We do not feel bonded to you in the slightest because of this comment and, if anything, we probably resent you a bit for comparing a combat deployment to a business trip.

9. "Don't you miss him?" (Like number one, this one gets a big "duh" from me. Of course we miss our husbands. If we didn't, we'd get divorced.)

10. "Where is that?" (I don't expect non-military folks to be able to find Anbar Province on a
map, but they should know by now that it's in Iraq. Likewise, know that Kabul and Kandahar are in Afghanistan. Know that Muqtada al Sadr is the insurgent leader of the Mahdi Army in Iraq and that Sadr City is his home area. Know that Iran is a major threat to our country and that it is located between Afghanistan and Iraq. Our country has been at war in Afghanistan for six and a half years and at war in Iraq for four years. These basic facts are not secrets, they're on the news every night and in the papers every day---and on maps everywhere. You've had time to learn it. Do your part by at least knowing what is going on.)

Yes, people really do ask questions like that. It has been a while since my husband has deployed, and I still get asked some of those same question. I have even forwarded this on to friends of mine whose husbands are deployed, and they all agree. The bottom line is even if you have the best intentions for someone, just think about how that person might feel before you ask a question.

No More Music to My Ears

So Tuesday I was walking off post bopping along with my ipod when I was stopped by an MP. He told me that there is a new rule, or General order saying you can't listen to musical devices while walking or running on post. The reason to many soldiers put on a set of headphones, turn the volume all the way up and go running down the street. They expect everyone to see them and they don't hear a thing.

Well I agree and disagree with this new rule. I agree that some people are stupid and need to turn there music down. If I can here what someone else is listening to then their music is to loud. But this rule should not apply to you if you are walking or running on a sidewalk, which I was. Last time I checked there are not any vehicles riding down sidewalks on post. Off post is a different story. I have almost been ran over many times by mopeds on sidewalks off post. I already have to restrain myself from singing on the bus, and when I walk down the street. I don't want all these Korean people to think I am crazy.

I love to listen to my ipod when I am running. The right music can motivate and energize you so much. So now that the weather is nice and I can run outside again, this new rule is really making me mad. I do not listen to my music all the way up. I here ever car, truck and tank that rolls down the street. Besides it is already a rule that if you are running you have to wear this reflective vest, so everyone sees you. On top of that I think the maximum speed limit on post is 25. So if someone did get it by a car it probably wouldn't hurt that bad, it might just teach them a lesson to turn there music down. I could not pay attention to the rule and listen to my headphones anyways, but Geoff is afraid that I would some how get him in trouble, and we would get extended. We can not have that. So at least while I run I will no longer be listening to my ipod, but I will continue to listen while walking on the sidewalks.

Spring is in the Air

The past two days have been wet and cold, but this morning we awoke to the beautiful sunshine. With such wonderful weather we could not resist but to be out side all day. So we went to the USO for lunch and decided to go for a stroll through Second Market.
While walking through Second Market, I caught myself listening and getting into a song. Just when I thought that I recognized it, I realized I didn't. After listening a little closer I realized the song was in half English and half Hangul. After being over here for almost 10 months and seeing a lot of interesting stuff, I don't know why that song surprised me.
The pictures are of flowers that can be seen all over post. I am going to enjoy the weather and the flowers. Spring is definitely in the air, I just hope it sticks around.

Kol San Dong

About two weekends Geoff and I got extremely bored, and decided to go hiking. He took me up Kol San Dong, a mountain on behind post. The gate to it is close to our building. Geoff has to run and do road marches all the time up this mountain. There is a little village that you have to go through on the way up. It is in the middle of nowhere, so most of the people living there come on to post and take the bus to get to Tongducheon. In the picture above, the mountain in the very back is where we ended up.
Here we are at the top. There is a dirt road that goes all the way around the mountain and winds all through the surrounding mountains. I know it looks like it was a very dreary day, but it really was very nice out. The foggy haze in the picture is Yellow Dust. In the states I know y'all are all suffering from a very high pollen count. Yellow Dust is not the same thing as pollen. It is a toxic dust that comes from the Gobi Desert in China. They warn that small children and the elderly should not be out in it. It can cause anything from eye infections, respiratory infections and even cancer. We had no clue that the Yellow Dust level was dangerously high the day we went hiking. We found out after we got back, turned on the TV and saw all these warnings. Neither one of us got sick, but I did have really itchy eyes for a couple of days.
On a crafting note, I made these socks for a friend here in Korea. Well she found out she was going to have a baby boy, so I decided to make him a matching pair. I just hope they fit the both of them. And below is my latest accomplishments. I bought this yarn before I even came to Korea. The other day while surfing through Knit Picks inventory, I realized that they don't sale it anymore. I wish they did it is really fun. I had a little problem with the dark green dye bleeding. Now I am going to have to think of my next project until I receive the yarn for the Hogwarts Sock Swap. Until next time!

Hogwarts here I come

I know, I know. I'm blogging, and then I'm not. Well I just got this great inspiration. I found out about the Hogwarts Sock Swap from Abigail, and thought this is the perfect way to get me back into blogging. I did sign up for the Sock Swap. I took the sorting hat quiz and was put into Hufflepuff. What and exciting way to wait for the next book and movie. Here are the answers to the Hogwarts questionnaire.

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Hufflepuff

2. Shoe size?8.5

3. Foot Length?9

4. Foot Circumference? 8.25

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
a. Crystal Palace
b. Pony Pearl
c. Brittany birch

I prefer any size between size 0 to 2 and anything above 6 inches

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

I would love to try a new needle brand, but I am not particular about what kind.

Size 0

Length longer than 5 inches

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Of course

It is good to be back. I won't quit blogging this time!