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“The Joint Security Area (JSA) or Panmunjeom, is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized ZoneSouth and North Korean forces stand face-to-face. The section is reserved between the two
Koreas for diplomatic engagements, and until March 1991 was also the site of military negotiations between North Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC)” - Wikipedia

Recently I visited the South Korean Joint Security Area. It was a interesting trip discovering the last frontier of the cold war and my second experience with North Korea. Before being allowed to enter the JSA, I was given a briefing during which I signed a document which states, in part, “The
visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action”.

JSA. In the back Panmungak which is the North Korean side.
This picture was taken from the pagoda in the South Korean side.

Once in the JSA, It was very interesting to be in the MAC Conference Room, the famous room where the peace negotiations took place. This room is the only place where you can be in South Korea and North Korea at the same time. The Military Demarcation Line runs underneath this room so technically you can cross over into North Korea!.

Inside the MAC Conference Room

I also have the opportunity to see the other notable landmarks within the JSA as the Bridge of No Return and the place where there was the tree where the Axe Murder Incident of 1976 took place. James Bond (aka Pierce Brosnan) crossed this bridge in a scene from Die Another Day. This bridge was used to exchange prisoners after the end of the Korean War in 1953.

Bridge of no return

I also saw from the distance the North Korean “Propaganda Village” and the world’s tallest flagpole. The flag must be taken down when it is raining as its immense weight cannot be supported by the tower.

In summary, this has been my more cultural and historic visit in South Korea. It was extremely interesting to see with my own eyes one of the world’s most heavily defended borders of the Cold War and the scenario where lots of recent historic events have took place is an unforgettable experience.

After almost two months of living in Seoul, I frequently lose the notion of where I’m living until I leave home and I realize I’m surrounded by Korean script in the streets. Living in a country with an alien language is an extraordinary experience and is helping me to understand the world (even myself!) better than ever.

That’s how Hangul looks like

It’s not easy though, It’s specially frustrating when Koreans don’t understand super basic English or corporal language and it’s even worse when you don’t understand what the people are saying to you.

If I’m listening to very complicated English conversations and I’m tired, my mind starts wandering because I get lost. But here the problem is a bit different. The Korean guy can be saying something as simple as “do you want a bag?” in the supermarket or “Do you want a cup or a jar?” in the bar. And you don’t have any idea or what they are saying! It’s completely frustrating.

We are used to living comfortably in our country where we always understand everything, but when there is a huge language barrier, you need to put yourself in the place of the other and think: “If I were him, what I would say to me now?”.

Namdaemun Market

I’ve been always very easy going and open minded but everything reaches new levels when you need to speak with people whom you have basic communications issues with. Placing myself in the position of the other is a good way to discover the real me. Furthermore, I’m starting to question myself if it’s worth to use as many superficial words as we use when speaking our native language.

At least Korean people have lots of patience. If you try to speak or understand them in their own language, they are really nice. Even when you are trying to communicate with them in English they are nice. They are usually shy because they are afraid of making mistakes but when they open their mouths, they usually use perfect grammar and good pronunciation.

In contrast, if you are in Spain you can’t expect the people to even look at you a second time if you are speaking English or even if you are trying to speak Spanish with a strange accent… unless you have huge boobs! If that is the case, they will speak with you in Korean if necessary!

My first day in Seoul was my first contact with real Korean people in their own country. I spoke English with some Koreans and I felt like if they didn’t understand a word I was saying, probably because my accent was unknown for them or maybe because of my grammatical errors. I realized that I was going to need to rely on clear concepts. Nobody understood ‘May I have a 1 hour internet voucher for the airport?’ but everybody understand yoda style ‘Me, internet, voucher, airport, buy’.

Surprisingly I didn’t have jet lag. I was told that you recover 1 hour per day in normal circumstances, consequently I was going to suffer tiredness for subtle more than a week. Furthermore, the pollution in Seoul is a huge issue and the water is supposed to be a killer for occidental people. However nothing happened, if my body felt something different, it was really fast because I didn’t realize it, the pollution of the city is clearly worse than in Madrid but I didn’t feel tired because of the change. And the water… well, I don’t know, I’m still drinking bottle water because even Korean people don’t trust Seoul tap water.

Sight from Banji Tombs, the park just besides home

Instead of suffering jet lag pain, my first week was full of interesting moments. I was excited and I was in a extremely happy mood. In my first days I discovered Seoul, I met a lot of new friends and I started to experience the Korean lifestyle.

Seoul subway system (click to see it in real size)

Moving to Korea was a huge physical change for me but it was bigger the change in my mind, needing to share the place with my girlfriend. I’m one child and living together is sometimes difficult (even frustrating) because our place is extremely tiny even for Korean standards and we are forced to always share the space. In spite of that, our relationship is very interesting, always rewarding and stimulating. I feel that my life is changing and I’m growing into a new person.

This was the longest flight of my life. 11 hours seated in a plane without nothing better to do than sleep, watch movies, and eat the occasional snack the plane crew gave to us. I saw 2 movies including The rocky horror picture show. A must-see-cult-movie that I never saw before. Pretty bizarre and original, and a very strange selection for a flight Does really Lufthansa think this freak movie is appropriate in a plane?

I had a very strange Korean seatmate. She was a young girl, married to a French guy. She spoke perfect French, good Korean and very bad English, so it was pretty boring for me because I don’t know anything about French, less about Korean. Nevertheless I tried to speak Korean with her with my overwhelming skills, which are basically the phrase “You are beautiful”. She understood it though

Incheon Airport
Seoul airport is really cool. They show proudly all around the airport that it had been declared worldwide best airport 2005,2006 and 2007. Looking at the cluttered departures and arrivals panels, you can see that the airport has lots of traffic but surprisingly everything runs smoothly. And everything is close, I didn’t need to walk for 20 minutes, take a train and walk for another 20 minutes to arrive at my gate like in Madrid!

Tip-of-the-day: It’s possible to travel with banned food in baggage. I was told that nothing was going to happen, but I was a bit afraid that my suitcase wouldn’t appear in the luggage reclaim area because I was carrying a small quantity of Spanish ham. Custom’s guys didn’t even ask me anything, and that means that if you pack ‘jamon’ very well it’s not detected in customs. Very well is precinct storage wrapped several times in plastic film.

Next time I will come with several kilos of jamon!

Today I’ve left home, my comfortable life, family and friends. I left everything behind to start living in South Korea, far away from home, with Ann. I will need to learn a new language and the rules of the korean society. Make my life harder but also more interesting. I will change, making myself more open minded. Today I’ve started a new stage in my life and I don’t know when I will come back to Spain.

I’m so happy

Spanish ‘Pato’ bullet train

I’ve come to Madrid on AVE (the Spanish bullet train) in one of the nicest trips of my life. I took the train and I started to explore its cool features, specially the bar because it has huge windows and the speed sensation is amazing. The train was not full and I took advantage of that sitting for a while in first class. When I returned from my small walk we were already crossing Guadarrama!. I arrived Madrid soon after, so it was a 200km, 51 minutes trip that usually takes close to 3 hours in the regular train.

In the afternoon I’ve been having dinner and saying goodbye to some good friends. Leticia, Diego, Maria and Gonzalo, who just returned yesterday from his Rumanian erasmus (It’s funny, he come back the same week I’m moving away)

Crushing into pieces South Korea soccer team