Surreality

Ok, I've seriously been meaning to blog now for like weeks and haven't. I suck. But now I'm going to try and catch up, at least on the big things that have happened. So let's start with the 2nd half of Orientation, which I haven't talked about at all. Korean class was hard and annoying b/c I didn't care that much (I mean I cared but I knew that 4 weeks worth of grammar wouldn't do me any good anyhow) but everyone else did. I swear when we had our final exam (yes we had a final) everyone was like freaking out about it, me included. But actually, even though my teacher claimed we would get sent home if we failed, I knew there was no way that was true. I studied for the exam more because I really liked and respected my teachers and wanted to show them I'd put in some effort at least.

So the last few weeks of Orientation were crazy. There was tons of drama (mostly bad), lots of it involving me (maybe I am a Drama Queen and this is why there's always drama with me involved). Let's just say it was stressful. And I'd say, some of it partially was my fault, but not entirely. I think it's hard in this type of situation where you're with people like 24/7 so you feel close to them but you forget that you don't know them as well as you think you do and they don't know you as well as you think and want them to. It's just the nature of the beast. But it still sucks. Looking back, (from the vantage point of exactly 1 week after the end of Orientation), I think most of it had to do with being surrounded by people 24/7 and just living in a somewhat tense/stressful environment. It's actually really exhausting for me to be around people all the time, strange as that may sound. I need some privacy and "me-time" once in awhile. Which incidentally, I don't think I'll be getting much of this year. But maybe that will be good for me.

Anyway, I was torn because by the end of it, I was just so ready to leave Orientation. But I knew that I'd really miss my friends. And I do. A lot. So it was kind of bittersweet that last crazy day.

Ok but let me back up and talk about some of the craziness that went down beforehand. So I think the last Sat. we had for Orientation, we were told last minute that we'd been invited to go see the DMZ (the Demilitarized Zone, aka the border between North and South Korea). And this was an opportunity I could not pass up. And it was free.


Anyway, on the way there we stopped by the last town before the DMZ, Hwacheon, which is in the mountains. We'd been invited to their annual Tomato Festival (the town is known for it's tomatoes) and we were all pretty curious about what a Tomato Festival would look like. So before we get off the bus we're given t-shirts from the festival and told to wear them. It's like 120 degrees outside and they want us to put on another t-shirt. Great. Then we get off, mill around, watch people dressed in crazy costumes, etc. until we're told to line up. So we line up, and then we're told to start walking. And we're following the other people in the parade and we soon realize we're not just watching the festival/parade, we're actually in it.

We keep walking, passing various people along the way, some of whom spray us with water. Which is actually ok b/c it's like, as I said, 120 degrees. We finally reach a sort of cleared out field where the rest of the town is gathered and announced as "the foreigners" or something like that. More people come, we wait, then we walk back to our bus. I'd give more descriptions, but I think pictures are much more effective. I'll post them when I can (logistical problems now).

Anyway, we leave Hwacheon to finally go to the DMZ, which is a sort of hellish long bus ride, hellish mostly because the ac is barely on and it's broiling hot on the bus. Everyone keeps dozing off b/c it's so hot. We finally get to the DMZ, located way up in the mountains and it's actually a very beautiful view. We go to this building which turns out to be an observation deck, which is literally right next to the border (as the soldier-guide told us, one step over and we'd probably be shot at). He explains that techinally , South and North Korea are still at war (since there was no official declaration of the sort) and that the area between the border (b/c both countries are about 4 km removed from the literal border) is completely uninhabited and probably one of the best-preserved pieces of land because it's been so long without humans. It was really interesting but not quite as exciting as I thought it would be. For one thing, all you saw were mountains. No North Korean soldiers or anything were in view, even with the telescope.

So that was the DMZ. I will probably go again but go to the more touristy part of it where I've been told you can see North Korean propaganda, etc. I actually find North Korea and Kim Jong-il fascinating because the situation just seems so...peculiar. I actually came back and started researching both online and really wish my college had offered a class on North Korea b/c I know almost nothing about it. Or South Korea for that matter.

And that concludes Part 1 of "The End of Orientation." Stay tuned for Part 2!