Sell Your Seoul Trip 2 - Day 3 - Arirang International Taekwondo Club

I was relieved to sit down. The cramp abated and we did a whole bunch of stretching and strength building poses. Want me to bring my ankle to my head? Sure! My friends don't call me Superbendy for nothing. At one instance, I was partnered with a guy wearing a white belt, just like me! The white belt indicates novice, so I was pretty sure we would be on the same page. Boy was I wrong. This was the MOST flexible man I've ever encountered. He had me stand on his knees and push his body forward and down to open his hips. And then I found us foot to foot, full split, hands interlocked, and his head near my crotch. All of a sudden, I'm very uncomfortable. What kind of odd sexual position is this!? Luckily, my fellow "white belt" was a complete gentleman.


We do some standing kicks and general maneuvers. And then the instructor pulls me aside and makes everyone sit in a circle. "Our new friend Sandy will break a piece of wood...with her fist." Say WHAT!? I may be flexible, but I am not strong. I mean, just last week my friend Adam gave me a giant can of whey protein because he thinks I'm too weak. "Have you done this before?," I ask the girl next to me. "Of course! You'll be fine." Please choose that thin piece of wood...PLEASE. NOPE! The instructor grabs a piece of wood about an inch thick and explains how to break it in two. Go through the wood, Sandy. Don't break your hand. One. Two. Three. HIYAAAAA! My freakish inner strength came through and I smashed that board in two. I'm not gonna lie, my hand was throbbing for a good two minutes. Yet once again, I surprised myself. First try and it was a great success! In the locker room after class, the girl who told me "I'd be fine" confesses she's actually never done it the way I did. Apparently, I started with an advanced maneauver. Thank goodness she told me she had, othrwise I would have been petrified. False confidence is better than no confidence. Gam sa hap nee da, my friend.

The class culminated with a belt awarding ceremony. My white-belted partner was honored with a black belt. This dude is a pro and had to prove his skills to the studio before receiving this school's specific black belt. Ah, mystery solved.

It's been a really long day of war and combat. My heart, head, and hand all ache. Thank you Seoul, for opening your soul to me. As the Jerry Garcia once sang, once and a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

Sell Your Seoul Trip 2 - Day 3 - Korea Barbecue - Gal Bi

After playing with all the heavy machinery, my body was chilled to the core. It was time for some Korean barbeque. I headed to Choi Dae Po, a restaurant in the Ma Po area to eat Gal Bi (aka pork ribs). Accompanied by soy paste, pickled radishes, lettuce, spicy chili sauce, garlic cloves, and green onions, the meat itself was simply divine. Look at me go! My speed and comfort with the chopsticks is improving. I no longer look like a complete fool, but my hand is cramping from moving so fast. Slow down, Sandy. Eat like a lady. Nah! "Let's grill up that pork skin," I say to Sang In. Gelatinous, fatty, thick, and not at all like bacon. It was excellent when dipped in soy sauce. To top off the overindulgent meal, a bowl of cabbage soup with beans was placed in front of me. Is Nana in the kitchen? This tastes (almost) identical to the escarole soup my Italian Nana makes! After a day in the freezing cold and eating a lot of meat, the vegetable soup was a warm welcome, as was the hot pot of coals at my feet.

Sell Your Seoul Trip 2 - Day 3 - War Memorial of Korea

Having had my fair dose of the atrocities of war, the Sell Your Seoul people really wanted to hammer the point home. Next stop? The War Memorial Museum of Korea. Displaying over 8,500 war related artifacts, the museum is a giant and modern complex with a beautiful front plaza and a plethora of exhibits in English. As I arrived, a musical procession was taking place in front of the building. In a weird way, it reminded me of the plaza in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Except more Korean, and with less marble. I was met by Scotty and a docent named Mr. Chang, who would together guide me through an intricately detailed display of the Korean war. And I mean detailed. Everything from military fatigues and weapons to interactive maps and a lost in combat memorial. Sobering indeed.


I studied the Korean War in a course at the Fletcher School, but to see the artifacts was a useful addition to my pre-existing knowledge. I got the most out of this experience by speaking to Scotty and Mr. Chang directly. Did you know Korean men are required to serve in the military for two years? Scotty was deployed to Iraq during his service and Mr. Chang was an interpreter in the military. When we started talking about North Korea and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), things really got interesting. The DMZ was actually drawn by world leaders in thirty minutes based on topographical features. It stretches across the entire Korean peninsula at 155 miles and is under continuous military observance. Every 200 meters is a large white post marked as a "Military Demarcation Line." A tall and ominous barbed wire stretches the entire length. The DMZ is four kilometers wide, with the two kilometers on the South belonging to South Korea and the two kilometers on the North marked as North Korean territory. This is a real life no man's land. You get caught in here? You are shot. And it happens, more often than one would think. I kept on putting myself in the Koreans' shoes. Families are separated for decades. It would be as if a line were drawn down the center of the United States. West coast goes one way, East coast another. The thought was just a little too much for me to handle.

Then, Scotty and Mr. Chang told me about the tunnels. Between 1974 and 1990, the South Koreans have discovered four "infiltration tunnels" beneath the DMZ. A violation of the Armistice Agreement, one tunnel can bring more than 100,000 North Korean troops into the South in just a few hours. "So wait," I ask, "these aren't for spies?" Um, no Sandy. You see, this war is still going on. It is just in a phase of cease fire. The South Koreans have sealed the tunnels but I get the feeling that more tunnels are indeed in existence and are yet to be discovered. Enter spooked chills.

I'm fascinated and yet sobered by all of this. It's one thing to read about history in a book. It's quite another to speak to the people who are still effected by it. I began to think of Mort, my old neighbor from my year living in Santa Monica, California. A Korean War Veteran, it was all he would ever talk about to me and my roommates Kristy & Vanessa. And now - I understand why. To be involved in something of this magnitude, a war that shakes the core of ones beliefs and questions the goodness of humanity. It was all too overwhelming. Mort, I finally can begin to understand.

Needing some fresh air and the happiness brought by sunshine, I walked outside into a field of helicopters, old school war aircraft, and tanks. Boys' stuff, I think to myself. Might as well drive a tank while I have the chance! Inner tomboy - release! I climb up the metal stairs and then - CLONK. My head whacked so hard into the metal doorway. So hard. These tanks were not built for big European mutts like me. Realizing that I was indeed not bleeding from the head, I tucked myself into a ball and gingerly stepped through the tiny doorway.

Sell Your Seoul Trip 2 - Day 3 - Order Lunch & Seodaemun Prison History Hall

After sharing a cup of tea at (where else?) the corner Dunkin Donuts, I said goodbye to my Korean soul sister and jumped around the corner to tackle a special challenge. The head honchos at the Sell Your Seoul campaign thought it would be fun to take me to a restaurant and have me order my own food. Off a Korean menu. With no translations. And no help. Grrrrr. I'm still frozen and all I want is a bowl of hot noodles with some spice. Sang In and Kyung Il fell silent. For this one, I was on my own. The place was tiny, only six tables with one menu written on the wall. The menu was broken into eight sections, with prices ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 won. It was time to bring some logical thinking skills into play. The most expensive is often overpriced and crappy. The least expensive is either a small plate or something the restauranteur wants to sell because its spoiling. Knowing this, I decided to shoot for something around 4,000 won. Not on the cheap end, but not a purchase that will break the bank. Only one item on the menu was priced at 4,000 won. It had extremely complicated characters. "I'm a complex creature," I think to myself. Might as well order a complex meal. What comes out of the kitchen? A BOWL OF HOT RAMEN NOODLES WITH SPICE. How on Earth did I pull that off? Thank you, dear Gods of Longevity. I am glad you want me to stick around a little longer and not die from frostbite at the tender age of twenty-seven. Ma si get da!

Having warmed up over lunch, it was time to sober up. Mentally, that is. Selling Your Seoul isn't all fun and games. Part of the gig involves a very real dose of reality. I looked at my itinerary: "Seodaemon Prison History Hall," it read. Having toured Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay with my friend Kevin a few years ago, I was pretty sure this was something my overly-sensitive self could handle. WRONG.

Seodaemun Prison History Hall was, in one word, depressing. Constructed in 1908, the prison was built to contain, torture, and execute Korean patriots who fought against the Japanese occupation of the peninsula from 1910 - 1945. Glancing down at my pamphlet, I read the following: Prison Building Nos. 9-12, Leper's Building, Underground Cell, Execution Building, Corpse Removal Exit. The names just got more and more horrific. I entered the complex with a heavy heart and realized that part of the deal with traveling is to take the bad with the good. As Pearl S. Buck famously said, "If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday." It was time to step into the past.

The sorrow I felt was exacerbated by the insanely detailed reinactments. Almost every cell contained figurines that were being tortured, confined, executed, or maimed in one fashion or another. For a girl who hates aggression of any sort and refuses to watch thriller or overly violent action films, this was really really tough r me to see. I mean, it took me over a decade to get up the courage to watch Braveheart! Sang In, having witnessed my ability to tear up on the pet street yesterday, ran in front of me and began blocking exhibits left and right. Thank you, darling, for attempting to preserve whatever semblance of innocence I may have left.

Sell Your Seoul Trip 2 - Day 3 - Deoksugung (Palace) - The Palace of Virtuous Longevity

Deok Su Gung. The Palace of Virtuous Longevity. Ever fearful that I will elegantly check-out from this life before my due time, I was eager to visit a place that was built to exude a vibe of continuous survival. I met my volunteer tour guide, Won Hyeon Suk, at the front gates of the grand palace. Sparking emerald ring, fancy fur coat, dangling pearl earrings: I was about to spend an hour with one of my own, a classy broad indeed.

Originally constructed in the 1400s, the palace was the home and head of government for many Kings and Queens during the Joseon Dynasty. As we entered through the main gate, Won Hyeon Suk asked me which path I would like to take across the "forbidden bridge." Made with granite slabs, the center of the path was elevated, with the left side a step down and the right side lowered even further. I have three options: high, middle, or low. For two classy ladies, I figured the high road was appropriate. As I pointed to our path, I was informed that I had selected the way of the royals. "I do believe, young lady, that I was a Queen in a past lifetime," whispered Won Hyeon Suk. "Birds of a feather flock together," I replied, as us two reincarnated monarchs emarked on our palace exploration.

Wooden buildings, a plethora of staircases, pinetree lined pathways, and traditional Korean architecture surrounded us. Twisted trees without leaves overtook the place, and as I saw my breath before me in the absolutely freezing morning air, I imagined the place in the summertime with thick foliage and flowers blossoming throughout the garden. Think warm, Sandy. As the sun began to get higher in the sky, the air warmed just a bit, yet it was not enough. My nose was frozen, my toes were completely numb, and I began to have a mini-panic attack as I remembered all of the horrible frostbite stories from a book I recently read about mountain climbers. Sure, I'm not 24,000 feet in the air, but the wind is blowing and the air is sharp in my lungs. Wiggle toes. Please wiggle. Is there a nip of whiskey in my backpack? Someone save me from this freezing cold. "I can't remember what I was saying...because my brain is too cold," says Won Hyeon Suk. Yes indeed, the royal family is on the same page.

At the end of the tour, Won Hyeon Suk and I watched the changing of the guards in front of Deok Su Gung's main gates. It was a spectacular performance: music, vibrant costumes, and overall an elaborate ceremony. We even had our pictures snapped with a guard clad in traditional Joseon fashion!