DMZ/Tunnel 3

Brad and I went on a trip this past Saturday. We left base around 7:30 am and headed north. Our first stop was Imjingak Resort Park. Here we got to see a bunch of monuments, a train that is stationary now, a 21 ton bell of peace, the bridge of freedom. Its a really awesome place to visit... Here are a few pictures:

Our next stop was Mt. Odu Observation Point, where we were able to really see North Korea. We got to see a lot of displays of how life is in the North and we got to pick up some souvenirs as well. This place had an amazing view!!!

This is a model of the observation point:

These are pictures of North Korea:

These are pictures of a North Korean living room and of a typical classroom today in North Korea:

These are the monuments outside of the Observation Point:

Once we left the Observation Point we stopped by the Dora Train Station, which served as a way to get from North to South and vice versa... It was shut down rather quickly though. We were able to buy a ticket and get stamps in our passport saying that we had been there though. Some pics: 

At this point in the tour we headed to the JSA, Joint Security Area. This is where the North and the South come face to face. We had to sign a statement that released the military of any fault if we got hurt or killed on our tour... kind of a wake up call. The gave us a tour of the Military Armistice Commission (MAC) where we were able to actually stand in North Korea.... while inside a building which was surrounded by South Korean (ROK) and US Army guards. It was quite the eye opening experience. Once we left the building tours we got to stop and see the place where the axe murders occurred as we as the bridge of no return. Here are pictures from the tour within the JSA where we were allowed to take photographs:

The memorial of the tree which lead to the axe murders:

The bridge of no return:

Our last stop on our trip was to the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. This was a tunnel that the North Koreans has dug to try and sneak into South Korea. It was found by the South Koreans on accident when they were drilling to find water. Once the found it they drilled down with a huge drill bit and hit the end where the North had stopped the digging. We got to walk down a huge incline and then while wearing hard hats bend over and walk through to the point where the North Korean border would be. It was quite the walk!!!!! I was ready to be finished with that part of the tour, lol! Here is a picture of the entrance as well as a picture of a schematic of the tunnel:

E-Mart

In Korea there is no such thing as Walmart or Target. Instead we have Home Plus and E-Mart. They are very similar to the department stores back in the states, but still very different. We have visited both, but I have to say my favorite is E-Mart. We go a few times a month and its always fun to find new things there. Here's some pictures of the front of the store & the guys who direct your vehicle:

Inside there is a McDonalds, which is part of a nice food court. There's also some Korean places to eat, Baskin Robbins, a coffee place and a Chinese place. Here are some pics of the family eating in the food court a week ago:

And here is a pic of the McDonalds arches and the Korean equivalent of the word McDonalds:

Brad noticed that some of the items they had for sale were 'gramatically' incorrect. I took a few pictures so you all could see the funny things we run into here:

I think E-Mart is great but it doesn't hold a candle to Walmart and Target. Oh how I miss Super Walmart!

Injured Laptop

*sigh* My laptop has been injured. The "a" and "z" keys are not working at the moment. I am gonna take it to the computer repair place at the BX today and see if he can get me a new keyboard, but it is possible that I wont have a fully functioning laptop for a few weeks. I'm so sad! I love my laptop!!!!!!! I'm not completely sure what happened to it. I seems like maybe Elijah splashed a few drops of milk on the keys and maybe there is a little down in there that is preventing the connection. So, for now, I wont be doing as much blogging. I'll still be here, but it's quite obnoxious to use the home computer for typing and then use my laptop to add pictures and such. Anyways, I hope everyone is having a good week. Until next time!

Elijah's Haircut

We decided that today was the day to give Elijah a haircut. His hair was getting pretty long and he had to be hot with it like that. We had a crazy time trying to figure out which clippers to use. We got new ones but the largest length we could do with those was 1/2" and our other clippers had a very hard time working on Korean power since we have to use a converter for American plugs and voltage. We started with the old ones and decided that we would just bite the bullet and go shorter so that we could use the new clippers. I think it turned out adorable on him!! Of course he's always adorable to me, hehe! Here are the before and after pictures:

Before:

After:

Date Night 8/20/10

Tonight was date night!!! We started out the day at the BX buying clippers for me to cut Elijah's hair and we decided that we might as well head over to the beauty salon and get my hair cut since we had been discussing it for a few days. I got it cut, shampooed, deep conditioned, blow dried and straightened for only $32. Not bad for all of that I think. Here's a few pics of my new hairdo:

After I got my hairdo we took the kids over to the CDC (Child Development Center) and dropped them off in their classrooms then headed over to the Enlisted Club for membership night. They had free steaks, baked potatoes, rice, rolls, salad, corn on the cob and drinks. It was really yummy. We left there and headed to the community center to play a few games of pool... just the two of us and we had a blast!!!!I taught Brad how to play 9 Ball and then we ended with a few games of 8 Ball. I think the end results were a tie we each won a game of each. It was really warm out and REALLY humid but we decided to go into Songton and shop for a little while. I got some great stuff!!! First was a shop that sells Jade carved into shapes. I got a set of owl book ends and a really cute bracelet all for 60,000 Won... that's close to $50. Here are some pics once I got them home:

When we finished at the little shop we walked a little further down the road and saw a flower place and I just had to have some! Here they are:

We also made it to our favorite bakery, Brioche and picked up a few favorites of ours. We got a bread that has chocolate in it and some cookies for the kiddos:

After our excursion off base we headed back and decided that we needed desser from Chili's... Soooo off we went... and had Molten Chocolate Cake:

 

Then we walked around and talked to a few people we knew, headed over to pick up our kiddos and headed home! What a GREAT date night!!!!!!