Sunday Martial Arts Stroll...

As some of you may know, Taekwondo is the official martial art of Korea. Our middle school has a team, and the students on the team are very dedicated. Since I used to practice taekwondo, I definitely appreciate watching them compete. I see the whole team train whenever I go over to use their exercise room. The team gets quite intense, as they practice about 2 hours a day.  In preparation for the junior national tournament, the training was about 3 hours on some days. I attended the quarterfinals yesterday and it was fun to watch. Even at the middle school level, the students are very skilled. On several occasions, I saw students pull off jump turning side kicks to their opponents heads with no hesitation. For the ones unfortunate to get hit by this, they go rolling about 5 or 6 feet. Some of them will just get back up as if nothing happened - talk about tough competitors! Two of our students advanced to the semi-finals. As much as I'd like to go, the semis start on Friday morning, so my attendance is unlikely. The top three in each weight class will receive a medal and a plaque for their respective school. Last year our school brought home a gold medal in the middleweight division. Best of luck to my students and hopefully they will bring home a medal or two!

Feel My Power!

We're having fun with a little bit of trick photography.

Enjoying the Moment...

Herb Hillz Ecological Park

This is how the park name is actually spelled. The aroma of most of the park was pleasant. You can smell many different kinds of herbs, some of which are commonly used for medicinal purposes in most of Asia. Besides the great landscape, the zip line obstacle courses is one of, if not the main, attraction here. I'm about 60 feet in the air and wearing steel cables that prevent me from plunging to the ground. I took the intermediate course and it was fairly challenging. I plan on coming back for the advanced course next time.

An upside down tree guy greeting us at the entrance!

 Overhead view of part of the eco park. One of the zip lines can be seen in the background.

 Two of several herb sculptures set in the park. The monkey one is a bit bizarre....

There's the name of the park in the background! I told you I wasn't hallucinating!

  The equipment for the zip line obstacle course.

Great performance by these ladies. They combined techno with string & keyboard instruments and opera vocals.

 Group photo before our departure from Herb Hillz

Battled the elements...

One of the most intense hikes I've done ever. This hike was made about two weeks ago, but I did not have my camera. I'd like to thanks the guys I came up with for giving me these photos. For some reason we decided to go on a hike at Mount Hallan, even though it was drizzling. The pictures only tell part of the story. As we reached closer to the top, the rain became worse. During the last half mile towards the top, it felt like we were in a monsoon. The winds started picking up at 50 - 55 mph. It was crazy seeing Koreans and expatriates alike hanging on against the very strong winds.   We all celebrated after completing this 7.5 hour hike. It was an adventure I was glad to be a part off that's for sure. The funny part was for the last hour of our hike, it stopped raining and the sun started to come out!

Need a New Camera...

One of the reasons I haven't been updating for a while is because my camera went missing for several days. When I finally found my camera, it turned out that it stopped working. I somehow dropped my camera during my travels in a wet area. Unfortunately all of the pictures and video I took last week can't be recovered. I guess this means that I'll be looking for a new camera. In the mean time, I will post what I can while I search for my new memory capture buddy....

DMZ TV

It's been awhile since I've posted any updates. Here is some videos during my visit at the DMZ.

The first video is at Cherwon River, which is right next to the DMZ border.

One of our tour guides giving info about accessibility into the DMZ.

Throwing a bonfire in the DMZ to end the night. The rain conveniently stopped shortly before we were about to cancel the bonfire

 

One of the Korean soldiers that accompanied us during our tour of the viewpoint of North Korea.

Remants of Pain...

At first glance, the Labor Party Building doesn't look very special. This building was used by North Korea to re-educate civilians about the communist ideals. People who resisted the Labor Party were subjected to torture, mutilation, and/or death. It is one of remains in this area from the Korean War, as the South reclaimed some of the land that was lost to the North. Many parts of the building give an idea of the intense battles that took place here. You can even see bullet holes and empty ammo stuck into the building walls.

The Station That No Longer Is...

The man standing with his umbrella was one of our tour guides. Woljeongri Station was used to make frequent stops through North and South Korea. Our tour guide gives a fitting, but sad image - waiting for a train that will never arrive.  Maybe someday Korea will reunite and the civilians in the North will be free from their suffering.

The remains of the train that was destroyed because of the Korean War.

 

The only train cargo car that was left intact from the war. 

 The front of the train also remained intact from war destruction.

 

Roof canopy covering the remnants of the train.  This station actually marks the partition line between the North and South.

Infiltration Tunnel #2

This is the entrance to one of the infiltration tunnels that North Korea made in an attempt to invade South Korea. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures once we entered the tunnel. I was surprised that almost the entire tunnel did not have any reinforcing walls or structure. The tunnel walls were entirely dirt with water dripping and moss growth. Some parts of the tunnel were as high as 7.5 feet, while other parts were only 4 ft high. Sections leading to North Korea were barricaded with security cameras and warning signs of no trespassing.