hello again

so i have failed as of late to update this blog, and for this i am sorry. i suppose it has been for the lack of adventure in my life these days. The students were on vacation, which meant that i came to sit in my desk everyday and do absolutely nothing. this lasted for about a month and then we had one week of classes and then graduation ceremonies for each grade moving up to the next.  the semester ended and the kids went on spring break before the start of a new year. Classes have begun again, but things are still a little buit slow.
I do what to write a post about my trip to the Philippines. I have done a few new things since then though.

Dan and I made the adventure to Seoul and the DMZ. The DMZ is the Demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea where people can go on sanctioned tours on this side accompanied by ROK guards (korean soldiers) and US Army soldiers. It was a really amazing experience. We were able to go to the JSA (Joint Service Area) where we actually stepped into North Korea. Pretty amazing stuff. What struck me the most about being able to experience this was the way that the ROK guards and American guards portrayed theN. Korean guards. They explain to us their childish behavior. In order for us to step into North korea, we were brought into the Joint Meeting room. this is a room where the North and South can come to meet peacefully and have talks regarding whatever issue is on the table. Both the North and South do tours to the JSA. When the North Korean guards are in the room they apparently re-arrange all the furniture and take off their shoes and walk on the tables barefoot, one footprint is even etched into the table for some reason or another. they told us that the north korean guards will make negative hand signals at them, giving them the finger and making slashing motions at their throats. There was even an incidence where there was a photograph taken where one guard was seen blowing his nose with the American flag and another was shining his shoe with the Korean flag. They no longer keep large silk flags in the room for this reason, instead all of the countries who support the end of the communist regime in N. Korea, and come to the talks have their flags under glass in the Meeting room. We then went to several different places. the bridge of no return, which is a bridge between north and south korea where the POW were traded back after the war. they had a choice where they wanted to go. but there would be no changing their mind, thus the name. we were brought to an area where we could view the propaganda city in North Korea as well. where we saw the giant flagpole and fake city that they created in order to look as though they are a prosperous nation. Again, its all about face.
I have found the idea of face in korea to become exceedingly more evident the longer i am here. The idea of this is, that you put your best face forward. Which in and of itself isnt such a bad idea. but when you take it to the level of not saying something you feel, or allowing things to happen to you unjustly or unfairly that will cause you stress in the long run it just seems wrong!- for further insight on this see my next post!
The DMZ was a really eye opening experience for me, and one that i wont forget. I would really like to visit North Korea one day and see the DMZ from their side. It seems so sad the suffering that they endure, and the fact that they remain ignorant to it is the hardest part for me to bear.

Dan and i also had the opportunity to go to the Cheongdo bullfights! (he lives in Cheongdo so it was kind of perfect) it was a really exciting event... uhhh... kind of. we had a lot of fun, but after seeing one or two bulls smash their heads into eachother it was enough and we went out into one of the tents to have some food and sample the dongdong-ju (rice wine) that was being offered by the local patrons. It was all in all a lovely day. Its the biggest bullfight in Korea apparently, where all the national competitors come together to fight. a lot of the bulls had robes on and 'championship belts' over their backs. haha this made me think of being a kid and watching the WWF and suddenly the bulls took on a whole new persona. each one had its own name and character. Most of the people at the fight were a bit older, it seems the art is lost on the younger Korean generation, but they were defiantly full of vigor as each new competitor stepped into the ring. There were a ton of booths set up outside as well where you could sample the local food and fare. You could make pottery, bow and arrows, get your face painted or ride a mechanical bull... i tried it, but the machine was broken so i just sat on top of the bull for a photo-op. We ended the night at Dan's school owners restaurant where the boys enjoyed outdoor korean BBQ and we got to play with an outdoor golden retriever mix. he was muddy and cute.. just like my puppy back in Canada.