korean christmas (seoul tower)

korean christmas (dmz polaroid)

korean christmas (myeongdong)

perhaps, seoul's version of shibuya. so many people.

korean christmas (the underground tunnels)

the story with the deer is that i guess near the dmz they have these vampire deer. the area around the dmz is kind of odd place, because there has been no human interference there in 60 years, so all types of plants and animals have been able to wild out. so even if north and south become one again, they will still leave the area around the 38th alone.

korean christmas (dora observatory)

here you can look out onto the north korean propaganda village. no one really lives here, but they have a great speaker system that tells everyone about how great north korea is. there is also a huge flag pole. i believe is about 160 meters tall. the flag itself weighs hundreds of pounds, so it's got to take a considerable wind gust to get that thing going.

korean christmas (the axe murder incident)

sorry, crappy picture here. but this is the marker where ax murder incident happened. the axes the north korean soldiers used are now on display in the north korean peace museum.

korean christmas (the bridge of no return)

korean christmas (n.k. is right there!)

the tour i took of the dmz was just incredible. when i walked towards the blue u.n. buildings, my heart was racing. i had never felt so scared in my life. it was in this building that i was allowed to stand on the north korean side. so technically i was in north korea for about 10 minutes. i was surprised not to see as many north korean soldiers out there. this part of the tour lasted about 30-45 minutes. i tried to take as many pictures as i could with three different cameras. however, it is tough to take a lot of pictures when you are as excited and scared as i was.

korean christmas (cruising around the 38th)

korean christmas (the journey there)

if i was an airplane, i would like to be korean air, but who am i kidding, i would be one them regional jets like mesa airlines running the grand island to kansas city route.

korean air is just awesome. the food and drinks are okay, not too special, they still serve beer, without charging you for it. but the planes are tight. look at those colors! baby blue, red and white. the flight attendants are all tall, thin and beautiful. i could not find a girl shorter than me. they speak japanese, english and korean. it took about 2 hours from nagoya to seoul. and didnt set me back too much. actually, i think a few days in seoul is actually a better deal for me than a few days in tokyo.

i'll be going back to korea in june for a wedding. i want to try asiana airlines next time to see what korea's other major airline is like.