As many of you may know, I had lost my prior employment in Korea, and had spent the past month or so looking for work, well fellow readers, I have indeed been able to find a replacement position which will have me start in September in a city outside of Seoul called Cheonan. Cheonan is a newly developing city just an hour or so outside of Seoul, and its quite a nice little place to be and I'm excited to see what it has to offer.
I'll be working at a school franchise known as JLS, one that has actually been experienced from one of my friends and had spoken quite positively about their operations. The only difference this time around is that I'm the only foreign teacher working at this establishment. It's both awe inspiring and a bit unsettling as I've never been in that sort of position before, but many of the Korean teachers are Foreign born (Gympo's) so their English is top notch and easily understandable.
However, before I moved over to Cheonan, I was able to experience two really amazing sites of Korea during the spare time I had when I was unemployed. The Korean War Museum and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) both of which were must see's during my time here and certainly made me enjoy them.
The first thing we saw was outside the museum, rows upon rows of military vehicles and equipment used from the Korean War to the late 80's and the end of the cold war. Majority of the equipment was American/Korean tanks and aircraft but there were a few Soviet/Chinese pieces of equipment; from missiles and rockets, to artillery and naval ships and guns.
As you can see, quite a collection, everything from the awesome M48 and M60 Patton to T-55's and PT-76's (North Korean Versions of course). It also carried a wide arrange of aircraft (including a B-52!). It was an awesome experience to see all these pieces of military hardware, some of them even opened to allow you to step inside and observe it.
Being a military enthusiasts, I was in heaven to see everything, and whats funny is that I knew a good deal about a lot of what was displayed. Teddy and I would talk a ton about each piece and figure how it worked, what it did, and what it might have been like to be in one. They also had a K1, which is the R.O.K (Republic of Korea's military) main battle tank.
Further on, I was able to find two of my favorite combat vehicles. The AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter and the F-86 Saber Combat aircraft.
Having a chance to experience being up close to these vehicles really brought out the inner child in me, I was giddy as a school girl, and so much so that even my Figma figure of Kriska (Total Eclipse) wanted to have a chance to show herself and her interest.
As you can see, she was more towards the Soviet equipment such as the T-55 and the Mig-17, both of which were quite impressive machines in their own right.
Inside the museum however, it was a bit different, much of what was around was war memorials, and right off from the front doot you walk through one of the largest and possibly most beautiful memorial I've seen. A solemnly memory of those who died to keep this country safe.
I paid my respects and spent a good two days checking this museum out with Teddy, we both enjoyed it and I had a great time experiencing this interesting piece of history and culture as I've never seen it before. I guess next is to check the War Museum back home in Ottawa.
Another big thing I went to was the 3rd Emergence Tunnel and the DMZ, Demilitarized Zone at the 38th Parallel between North and South Korea. Anyone who visits Korea has to see this, and despite being a tourist attraction, it is still the tenses military zone in the east Asia, a never ending military stand-off between two nations that were once were a united sect.
The 3rd Emergence tunnel was one of four tunnels dug by North Korea for a planned invasion of South Korea, dug deep underground through North Korea to South to help of the deployment of soldiers. Again, due to the rules of the location, we were unable to take photos deep inside the tunnel, so all I got was me at the entrance before we went down 300 meters to the base before walking another ~100 or so to the barrier built inside the tunnel. It was quite crude as it had been blown by dynamite, but the fact it was done so secretly and almost unnoticed was quite an amazing feat.
Due to the nature of the DMZ being an ACTIVE military zone, pictures were limited to locations only to the Joint Security Area (J.S.A). |
| Pro tip: the guards are half covered by the buildings to make a smaller target. |
The JSA is the epicenter of the division between North and South Korea, it is the closest anyone can be to the other country and quite a tense atmosphere surrounds it (Guess the fact we were escorted by two U.S Marines made it a bit more bearable.) The JSA is also the location of where debates are conducted, its filled with tables and microphones and chairs for the delegates as well as South Korean soldiers standing guard. These soldiers are quite something, they don't carry rifles or anything and you might wonder why they stand like that. Well, all Korean soldiers are trained in a martial arts, and that stance is their ready position in case they are engaged by opposition.Both the Museum and DMZ were big 'to-do' things on my list for being in Korea and both were amazing and spectacular to see. I had enjoyed it verily and was glad to be given a chance to see them before I moved southward from Seoul. Now, having moved and settled into Cheonan, I'll be curious to see what I can get up to doing while I'm here for a year.
