The DMZ
We spent our last full day in Korea at the Demilitarized Zone. It was an amazing experience and was incredibly timely, too. The North Koreans tested their long range missles on 4 July and we got on the plane for our trip the next day. Needless to say, tensions were high - particularly along the DMZ. As tensions with the North are becoming even greater due to the nuclear tests, I am incredibly grateful I got the chance to see the DMZ when I did. The South Koreans firmly believe the two countries will be united in the future and are doing as much as they can to prepare for that day.

Our first stop on the DMZ is to an underground tunnel the South claims the North dug. The North claims the opposite, but it appears the North dug it. We rode a "ride" down a very narrow tunnel to reach the original one - many of us discovered slight claustrophobic tendencies! Once underground, we got to walk through the tunnel (25 stories down!), which was very cool. No pictures, though, so I can't share any with you.

Next, we got to peek out into the DMZ itself from an observation deck. We could take pictures, but we were very limited and none of us wanted to tick off the Korean army! An officer pointed to various structures and towns in North Korea that were visible from where we stood.

Later, we got to wander around on our own and I stumbled upon this shrine to family members "stuck" in the North. It's very moving and incredibly sad.

Taffy Pulling
This was one of my most favorite activities! We went to this folk village and got to pull taffy. We split into pairs - Mary was my buddy - and they gave us a lump of the dark brown candy. They showed us how to pull it and, if you do it right, it gets ropey and tan. Mary and I were on the end and earned a lot of attention from the cute little Korean ladies who worked there. We were so proud of ourselves! Once we finished, we got to take it with us - yum, it was good! It's made with rice and barley and is much less sweet than our salt-water variety, but it was very tasty. Fortunately/unfortunately, there are no preservative chemicals in it, so it doesn't keep very well. It didn't even last long enough to bring some home to my candy-loving hubby.

Ink Printing
We really enjoyed the hands-on field trip stuff we got to do. At one point, they took us to an artisan who specializes in making ink prints of roof tiles and various other things. He taught us to make prints of roof tiles and it was so fun! If you look at the architecture pictures below, you can see the tube-y parts of the roof. The ends of the tube have "end caps" that are often elaborately decorated. Step by step, we put thin paper on top of the tile and blotted ink over it. It's tricker than it sounds, but well worth it. And we even got to take home our finished products.

Noraebang
Karaoke may be huge in Japan and the US, but the Korean have their own form. They call it Noraebang. It's basically a more private form of karaoke. You go with your friends to a "singing room" establishment where you get your own private room. That way, you can sing just to your friends instead of to the whole bar. Also, you can opt to have everyone sing (which is what we did) so no one feels put on the spot (good for when everyone's sober). You get multiple microphones and a couple of tambourines and then they shut the door and leave you to your singing. It's huge in Korea and our young guides assured us, no visit is complete without a night at the singing rooms. We had a blast!