JAG Journeys: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sabbath guided-tour

On Sabbath June 16 - the day after we picked up our Vietnamese visas - my coworker, Robin, and her husband, John, took Jonathan and me downtown. Robin wanted to show us around the more historical area of Seoul, since we hadn't been there yet. After getting off the subway, we walked through a busy market and then at the other end, I suddenly recognized where we were. We had come out of the market at almost the same place as where we had gotten off the subway to go to the Vietnamese Embassy! Small city, eh? For the rest of the warm afternoon, we wandered through the old winding streets looking at the well-preserved traditional houses with Robin and John, and saw many places we might never have seen without their excellent tour-guide capabilities. All in all, it was an interesting week-and-a-day of exploring a new section of Seoul!

Ferrari that randomly went by on a tiny back street

John, Robin, and Ali at the bottom of the famous traditional street

A museum on the grounds of a palace

Rooftop cafe

Stairway down to another street

The Catbus from "Tortoro"!

Stairway options

Model train outside a shop

Gates to the Blue House - where the president lives
(Right after Jonathan took this shot the soldiers nearby told him to put his camera away.)

Motorcade for hire in front of the Blue House

Friday, September 28, 2012

Exploring a new area of Seoul

On Friday, June 8, Jonathan and I took the subway to an older area of the Seoul. Once we found our way out of the subway system, we caught a taxi to the Vietnamese Embassy. After filling in some forms and handing over some money and our passports, we were assured that if we came back to the embassy between 3 and 5:30 p.m. the next Friday, we'd get our passports back with new Vietnamese visas inside. After exiting the embassy complex, we realized that the taxi ride there hadn't taken too long, so we decided to walk back to the subway station and see the streets and buildings more closely. The way back was also downhill, so that worked out well for us. We noticed that many of the buildings in this part of the city were constructed in the traditional Korean style, although the whole area looked to be very well kept up and well taken care of. It was a pleasant walk to end up the Friday afternoon.

The following Friday, June 15, we again traveled to that part of the city. This time we knew our way to the Vietnamese Embassy, so we fast-walked there (as fast as possible uphill) only to find that there was already a whole room full of people waiting for their own visas. We got there around 5 p.m. so apparently 3 p.m. was a rather ambitious assumption by the embassy workers. We were a bit worried because we needed to get back to the institute by 6 p.m. since we were both on the song service team for vespers that week. After reading through a lot of the English Seoul newspaper and trying to read some of the already-torn-apart Korean Seoul newspaper provided in the waiting room, a bell was finally rung in the office and we got in line to get our passports. The handing-back process didn't take too long, and we were out the door by about 5:30. This time there was no leisurely walk back with time for picture-taking. We half-ran, half-fast-walked back to the subway and made it back to our apartment (dripping with sweat) by 6 and then to the institute in dress clothes by 6:10. And then, after all that rushing, some other people were even later for song service practice anyway and we didn't start practicing until around 6:25... Oh well, at least we had our Vietnamese visas! (For photos, click here.)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Cheonan visit: The Independence Hall of Korea

Read Part 1 of our Cheonan visit here.

After lunch and a short stop to look out over the area surrounding Cheonan, Daniel drove us to The Independence Hall of Korea, which is located several kilometers outside the city. The drive there was beautiful, and so were the grounds of the expansive Independence Hall complex. But once we arrived at the first building, the beauty faded away as we saw the ugliness of hate and cruelty against the Korean people. We walked through seven large museums, each focusing on a different part of Korean history, most of them showing what the Korean people went through under the Japanese occupation of 1910-1945. It was terribly sad, absolutely angering, and astonishingly heartening to go through the buildings and see how the Koreans were treated, but also how they rose up and fought against the injustices being poured on them by their oppressors. It was a long and sobering afternoon, but I was so glad we had taken the time to come back to Cheonan and visit this great tribute to the Korean people who gave so much to free their country. I could say so much more, but I will let our many pictures do the rest of the talking...