No Man's Land

No trip to South Korea would be complete without a trek to the DMZ (the demilitarized zone) which is the bit of buffer land that separates North and South Korea. Unfortunately, many people don't know the difference between the two Koreas, but there is a BIG difference.

After the Korean war in the 1950's, they divided the country and designated a 3km piece of land between the two to be the DMZ so "peace" would be kept. Communism prevailed in the North and democracy ruled the South. You know what happened to the South - record prosperity and economic success. As for the North, they are still struggling to make ends meet.

There are ample opportunities to visit this border when you are in South Korea. The DMZ is only one hour from Seoul and one cold and snowy weekend during the winter, I ventured up. I went through a travel company called www.adventurekorea.com who organizes many cultural and entertaining trips around South Korea.

I had a very educational time and highly recommend visiting. I went a short time after the Yeonpyeong Island bombing so I didn't get to go as many of the sights as many people do because of safety concerns, but I still saw some really interesting things...

The Freedom Bridge - it was used to connect people from North and South Korea. 

A lookout in South Korea.

This sign is kind of interesting because it is a mix of barbed wire and foliage. They try to educated you on the fact that the DMZ is an untouched natural miracle and is home to all these animals and trees, etc. It is really hard to focus on that when the concept of the DMZ is no where near a "miracle". 

A train coming from North Korea?

This guy makes armed guards so hip. 

Doing my part to connect the two Koreas. 

This train station was so interesting. It was in South Korea and it is a huge, new, state-of-the-art station that is basically vacant. The only train that comes through there is one from the border of North Korea which picks up a couple South Korean businessmen who have just been given permission to set up a factory in North Korea. South Korea built this station just in the hopes that the North will one day connect it across their border. That is some expensive "hoping". 

Ah yes, good 'ol North Korea. Where, you might ask yourself? Well, if it hadn't been SNOWING the day I went to the DMZ, you all might be able to make out a bit of land across this frozen tundra which is North Korea. However, that was not possible the day I went. Still, the distant mountains are, indeed, North Korea. Sorry about that. 

Another hazy glimpse into the mysterious North Korea. 

Well, it was worth the trip to learn about North Korea. I even got to go down one of the tunnels that the North built into the South. That was the most interesting part because it still connects to this day, it is just barricaded in the middle. 

If you were ever confused about North and South Korea, hopefully this helps! It was a very sad and interesting trip of which I am glad to have experienced. 

Best Face Forward

I know I am still fairly young, but I came to a realization the other day that my skin is not in the shape it used to be. Since I have come to Korea my face has gone through a bit of a transformation - I like to blame it on the dry, polluted weather in Seoul. The reality is, however, that it's high time I started a better skin care regimen other than soap and water.

So, I started doing some research. I have been witnessing all these beautiful Korean women with flawless porcelain skin and I asked several of them and perused the internet in search of their skin care secrets. It turns out that they have a certain system over here that they call a 5 step program. Also, they have a plethora of affordable, natural skin care stores.

In search of this information, I ventured out one morning to these stores and received some great help and advice from a couple ladies at several stores who were fluent in English. They helped me immensely and I ended up purchasing an onslaught of potions - all for a very affordable price! I ended up stocking up on several fun items as gifts for the State-side women in my life as well.

Here's the loot:

Below are actually a small selection of the beauty shops they have EVERYWHERE in Seoul...

They are really big on using face masks as well, and not the face masks we think of in the States. They use these masks all the time and they are a thin sheet of waxy paper with some lotiony goo on them and you place it on your face for several minutes. You don't wash it off, you actually rub it in. It is like a deep conditioning treatment for your face.  Here is a lovely example, haha...

Well, I am pretty excited about my new face regimen. We'll see what happens in 30 days! 

Let me leave you with a special little character I ran into on the street the other day - and yes, she does have a cat on her head. 

Ciao!