I ran into a student at the bus stop and look below to see what he pulled out of his pocket!

Another year another birthday - this one was a bit better than the last (when quite a few friends and family forgot) - I got taken out for lunch by my co-workers and a couple of friends gathered together to cook me dinner and gorge on grape birthday cake.

My days at school are quickly dwindling and I am quite sad to say good bye to my students. Since classes can be literally cancelled at the whim of the administration I decided to be smart about it and plan ahead - rather than waiting for my last week of classes in August (which coincidentally is their first week back after break) I began planning out when my "last" class might be before the break. I planned a game for each class, brought in candy for all the students and took a photo with everyone. Not surprisingly classes were still cancelled for whatever reason pleases the vice principal and so I didn't get to say good bye to everyone ... perhaps I will see those boys in August. I think you can tell by the photos that I'm especially fond of my high school classes - specifically the 2nd year boys since I have spent the most time with them (I taught them all twice a week my first semester at the school). Below are photos from my last classes with both middle and high school students.

With the clock counting down I've still been slowly ticking off items on my "bucket list". Pretty high on that list was a visit to the DMZ. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is the border between North and South Korea. It is supposed to be the most heavily armed border in the world - which isn't surprising when one realizes that technically the two countries are still at war.

The DMZ is divided into different sections - the Joint Security Area (JSA), the 3rd tunnel, an outlook post and Dorasan Train Station. There are a few tour groups which visit the DMZ visiting the various areas within the DMZ however the USO tour is supposed to be the best mainly because it includes a visit to the JSA (as do one or two others).

Naturally since the USO (Koridoor) tour is one of the best it is also one of the busiest and fills up quickly even though tickets are nearly $100 USD per person. I was fortunate to secure a spot in June and after submitting the necessary information I had a ticket. So one evening after school I traveled up to Seoul so I could visit the DMZ early the next day.

Our trip started at the USO headquarters next to Camp Kim, the U.S. military base located in Seoul. Participants must follow a strict dress protocol - t-shirts must be collared, no shorts or gaucho pants (capris?) in addition to no open-toed shoes. The enforcement of these rules varied - I saw women wearing non-collared t-shirts as well as a guy wearing shorts but I also witnessed a woman being refused on the trip because she was wearing sandals.

The guide for the trip was Brandon, the manager of the USO. We were fortunate enough to have Brandon as a guide in part because of his background - a Korean who was born and raised on the peninsula he moved to the United States at 20 and enlisted in the U.S. army in which he served for 10 years. His service enabled him to obtain U.S. citizenship and therefore disallowed him from serving in the Korean army. Being Korean he could explain aspects of Korean culture as well as share his insight on how Koreans feel about the North/South situation (most aren't for it due to North Korea's economic state). As a former U.S. soldier he could also offer some perspective on the U.S. military involvement on the peninsula. 

After the presentation we were loaded up on a bus and taken to Truce Village within the JSA. This is where North and South Korea meet and is under control of the United Nations Committee and North Korea. If you look at the picture above you can see a small raised area between the blue building - this is the actual border between the two countries. Before being permitted into this area we were given strict instructions by our US military escort such as not pointing in the direction of North Korea. We were permitted to stand at the top of the concrete stairs looking towards North Korea for 3 minutes before being herded into one of the blue buildings for 3 minutes. While we were visiting Truce Village South Korean soldiers stood guard and North Korean soldiers came out of their own building to watch us with binoculars.

After we left Truce Village we stopped at a look out point where you can see into North Korea, specifically Propaganda Village - a "town" consisting of empty hollow buildings and world's third tallest flag pole hoisted on which is a flag so massive that it weighs nearly 600 pounds. The soldiers pointed out that they realized the village was in effectively empty years ago because lights inside of the taller buildings would shine bright and fade in higher floors indicating that it was a single light on the ground floor illuminating the entire building.

After leaving the JSA and Camp Bonifas (where we left behind our military escort)  the rest of the tour consisted of a visit at the 3rd tunnel - one of many tunnels dug by North Korea found within South Korea. It is suspected that there are tunnels as far into the country as Seoul. We then visited a lookout point which you could see into North Korea and finally Dorasan Train Station - where up until recently trains ran to Kaesong Industrial Complex, a factory run jointly by North and South Korea. The factory was closed during the spring when Kim Jong Eun threatened war against South Korea and the United States. At the moment the train station is just an empty building though a woman still sells tickets (visitors can go out to the platform with a ticket) and Korean soldiers stand guard.

My visit to the DMZ (specifically the JSA) was probably one of the most interesting things I've seen or done in Korea. I was a bit surprised because I'm not a big war history buff but it was an interesting experience to see the actual border between two countries still technically at war and observe the precautions taken throughout the entire JSA.

Upon returning to Seoul and concluding the tour I set out for Itaewon, a neighborhood near Camp Kim which boasts a large selection of international restaurants and stores. As I walked there I came across a memorial park for the Korean Civil War. The park was filled with statues depicting the country being torn apart as well as military vehicles used during the war.  Below are a few photos I took at the park - I think it was a fitting end to the day.

Anyone that knows me well knows I have an insatiable sweet tooth - especially all things cupcake related. So imagine my disappointment when I move to South Korea and discover that the cake here, for the most part, isn't quite to my liking. Every time I visited Seoul or Daegu over the past two years I eagerly looked for cupcakes which might tide me over until I can return home and gorge on far too many Molly's Cupcakes. I found a lot of cupcakes and they were all beautifully decorated but unfortunately pretty much every single cupcake I tried was far too dry and had the most awful frosting.  I attempted to convince myself they were good (after all they were all that was available) but it wasn't possible. I came to the conclusion that cupcakes in Korea are terrible. And then I happened upon Life is Just a Cup of Cake - a small cupcake shop on the edge of Itaewon (call LeeSaem in Korean) and realized that there are good cupcakes in Korea - they're just only available at this shop. The cupcakes are light and moist with a delectable frosting. The difference between this shop and others is that they put an emphasis on the quality of the cupcake - not just on how it looks (this could easily be a metaphor on modern Korean society which values far too much the appearance of something over its function).

So for all the waygook-in out there searching for a delectable cupcake that reminds them of home - don't bother scouring the Hyundai Department Store food court or hitting up some trendy bakery - just go here. The cupcakes are delicious and they have a variety of flavors (green tea, earl grey tea, vanilla bean, chocolate, etc). Prices are what you'd expect in Korea for cupcake (4,000 won or so) and you  can even buy a big glass of milk to wash down all that deliciousness.