Seoul Searching

Come August 13, I will be 21-years-old. I was a night baby born at 11:00pm, maybe that's why I'm a night owl. Less than three months from now will mark the day that I was born in Seoul, and given up to the adoption agency. It's weird for me to think that my family wasn't there for my birth just like they have been for every other milestone in my life -- and even though Matt couldn't join us on this trip, this marks another milestone in my life, one that I will surely never forget. My mom tells me how she used to long for my arrival and stay up at night and stare at my picture.

As I sit in bed in my hotel room in Seoul reflecting on this trip, I cannot help the tears from welling. Thinking about this journey and all that I have learned during my stay here -- I think that it's very interesting how things come full-circle.

We started our 10-day journey at the adoption agency in Seoul and tomorrow I will be flying into LAX, much like I did 20 years and four months ago. When I was 5 months old, I didn't understand what coming home really felt like, but now I do. Though these are my biological people, as Dorothy once said, "There's no place like home."

Coming to Korea, I didn't know what to expect. I was excited, scared, and nervous to come back to my birthplace.  I was excited to see a new place and to travel to the farthest east I have ever been. I was scared to find out something that I thought I didn't want to know, and I was nervous about the language barrier.

The excitement never wore off... this place is unreal. And for everything this country has been through, it is truly amazing to see where they are today. Seoul becomes an entirely different place at night. The street vendors come out to sell their delicacies, the young couples come out after work, and the college students take long walks along the stream.

I was scared that I would be told things that I didn't want to hear. But in life, you have to hear the hard stuff to grow and to really evaluate what and who's important. The things that I have learned about my history, Korea's history and my family's history will forever shape the way that I look at the past, present, and future.

The language barrier was no issue on this trip. We got around with much ease (and sometimes with a little confusion), but I just feel bad for all of the people who tried to speak to me in Korean and I didn't respond because I didn't hear them or didn't know they were talking to me!

Like I said in a previous post, my life has been handed to me on a silver platter -- and I acknowledge that. I am surrounded by love every day, and even for that I am thankful. From this day forward I pledge to live a life of love, kindness and humility. Though I came here looking for nothing, I feel as though I have found everything. Though it saddens me that it took me almost 21 years to realize how good I have it, better late than never.

I want to thank you all for sharing this experience with me. The feedback I have gotten from everyone has made all of my blogging worthwhile. You all were with me on this trip: sharing my raw emotions, seeing exactly what I have seen, and coming with me on the most meaningful journey of my entire life.

Love you all! See everyone State-side!

xo Meryl

Howard's Last Thoughts

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

Today we went on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone (the area in between the border of North and South Korea) I've never been to a place so divided. The Demilitarized Zone is 160 miles long from coast to coast and is about 2.5 miles wide. Though it is called the Demilitarized Zone, it is the most heavily guarded border in the entire world.

When we first went into the DMZ, our first stop was the Joint Security Area this is a camp that is secured by the United Nations Command (UNC) and from this area, we had to leave all of our belongings on the bus and go onto a special UNC bus with a South Korean gard as well as a South Korean solider as our driver. No one can enter this area without a guest badge and a soldier.

Before we got onto our UNC bus, we had a debriefing. We had to sign a waiver that basically said that no country or army is responsible if anything were to happen to us. I was so nervous -- it felt like I was signing my life away. In the debriefing we were told no pointing to the north (the North Koreans don't like that), we could only take about 2 minutes of pictures when the guards told us, and we had to walk two-by-two in line when we got to the border.

In the DMZ, on either side of the border are South and North Korean villages. On the south side, Freedom Village is home to about 250 people that are wealthy rice farmers, but have a curfew from 11:00pm to 4:00am. On the north side is what the South Koreans call "Propoganda"Village. The village on the north side of the border is built to give the illusion that the people in North Korea live very prosperously. The lights in the village are turned on and off at certain times and there are no actual people who live there, it is just there to show that the North Koreans live well even though most of them do not.

North Korea's "Propaganda" Village (Image from Wikipedia)

I was actually scared. Our tour guide, Laura, told us during our bus ride that at the entrance of the North Korean building that we would visit are two South Korean soldiers in order to protect tourists because the North Koreans once opened the doors to the buildings and tried to grab tourists.

Usually, we are allowed to cross the border and go into the building that is on the northern side of the DMZ, but today we could not because the North Koreans had tour groups there.

It was amazing. We were standing on one side trying to get a glimpse of North Korean people while they were on the other side trying to get a glimpse of us.

North Korean tourists and a North Korean soldier.

I was actually somewhat relieved that we didn't cross the border, the sheer thought of it made me uneasy.

Something else that I thought was interesting was that at the border the South Korean soldiers face the North in order to protect the tourists, but the North Korean soldiers also face the north in fear that while they are not looking, someone will try and flee North Korea for South Korea.

In front of the blue building are South Korean soldiers. Where the dark grey pathway ends and becomes lighter is the actual border of North and South Korea. On the lighter side of the pathway are North Korean soldiers.

I have never been to anywhere so intense in my entire life. We couldn't even point to the north side of the border. Today was one of the most interesting things I will ever experience in my entire life. 60 years ago, my grandfather fought in the Korean War, but sadly it is not over -- there is a cease fire, but the war is not over.

I can only hope that there is a brighter future for those in North Korea and that one day there will be a peaceful, democratic unification of the two countries. Though it may be far beyond my time, one can only hope. I am so thankful for my freedom. I am thankful for the people that protect my freedom as a citizen of the United States, and for the freedoms that I am granted as simply being a citizen of the United States.

Anyway, that is all for today. I am leaving tomorrow, can you all believe it? I'm going to go walk around the city a little bit with my parents and grab dinner and then it's packing, packing, packing!

Until tomorrow,
Meryl

Back to Seoul

Goodmorning! I woke up feeling relaxed this morning -- it's nice we've been able to sleep in here in Busan. Today we are heading back to Seoul for another couple days and then our trip is over, can you all believe how fast this came and went?

Today we are heading back on the train to Seoul back to our first hotel, and I am going to do some souvenir shopping tonight!

Tomorrow we are heading to the DMZ or the Demilitarized Zone, the border of North and South Korea. I am glad we went to the U.N. Memorial Cemetery yesterday as a prelude to our day tomorrow.

Then on Saturday we fly back to the U.S. and get back around 11:30am!

Buddhist Temple and the UN Memorial Cemetery

My view of the Japan Sea at breakfast this morning.

Buddhist Temple 

Today was the first time in my life where I have been absolutely and completely breath taken by a place. We were picked up at our hotel by a guide at 11:00am and headed to a Buddhist temple here in Busan. What makes this temple unique is that it is built on a cliff overlooking the ocean whereas normal Buddhist temples are built in the mountains. With Buddha's birthday coming up, there were lanterns hung everywhere, and there were people working to hang the lanterns as well.

Our tour guide explained to us the purposes of each room in the temple, and we walked around the temple for about an hour and a half. The pictures don't do the beauty of the temple justice -- you all will have to come here and see it for yourselves!

U.N. Memorial Cemetery

My grandfather never talks about his service in the army, and I was unaware that he served in the U.N. Armed Forces in Korea during the Korean War. He has been to Busan, Seoul, and I'm sure other parts of the country as well. Going to the U.N. Memorial Cemetery gave me a clearer understanding of the Korean War. The U.N. Memorial Cemetery has dedications to the fallen soldiers of Korea, United States, United Kingdom, Philippines, Canada, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Ethiopia, Greece, Thailand, France, Columbia, Belgium, South Africa, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. 

When we went into the memorabilia building at the cemetery, the little old Korean men there were so sweet and when they found out that my grandfather had served time in Korea, they lit up and said to thank him for his service and for protecting their country. They had also fought in the Korean War, and it was nice to talk to them because they were so excited to tell us anything we wanted to know. 

After about an hour and a half at the cemetery, we headed back to the hotel for some lunch at a Irish pub in our hotel -- O'Kims -- HA! My ruben hit the spot!

That's all for now! I am off to go with my parents to walk along the water and then through a nearby park!

Busan

I wish I could explain to you all how beautiful this city is. Though I was skeptical at first because the train station is in the industrial area, Busan is the perfect amount of city and beach. Though it is the second largest city in South Korea, Busan's population is about 3 million compared to the 13 million people living in Seoul.

After arriving in Busan at around 1:00pm, my parents and I checked into our hotel and then walked around for a bit. We had lunch at this delicious French bakery, where you go around with tongs and a tray and choose everything you want -- the food was simple, yet so tasty.

Walking around Busan after lunch was fun and we stumbled upon a local fish market. The first tank I noticed when walking along the street were eel, tons of them swimming around in the tank waiting for their ultimate fate. There were various other types of fish, crab, and even urchins. It was crazy to me how much fish and seafood there was in just one small block. The smells were unreal. I can't explain to you all the magnitude of the stench that I thought would cling to my clothes -- luckily, it didn't. My mom wanted to stop and take pictures, and I just wanted to get out of there (the thought of it is making my stomach turn). I will post pictures of the market tomorrow.

Busan is known for their fish so tonight we went for sushi at an all you can eat sushi bar called Happy Sushi. The food was delicious and we all left feeling happy and completely full.

We walked around a little more after dinner and though we haven't even spent 24-hours here yet, the mood here is quite refreshing. The crowds are nowhere near as pushy as those in Seoul, and it's a much more laid back scene then what we have experienced over the past several days.

Tomorrow we are heading to Buddhist Temple to learn more about the history of Buddhists in the area (and because Buddha's birthday is coming up here in South Korea), and after we will be taking a tour of the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan. Tomorrow should give us a deeper look into the history of this city and of it's inhabitants.

I am still super full from dinner. With a full tummy, tired legs, and tired eyes I am going to say goodnight to you all for the evening! (And goodmorning to you all in the States!)

I hope you all reading from back home have a great day!

Something to think about.

When we were shopping today I held a door open for an old little Chinese woman. She called to her husband, pointed at me, walked through the door and grabbed me by my cheeks with a huge smile on her face. Her husband was laughing in the back and looked at me and said, "Thank you."

Remember how far one small act of kindness can go. Happiness and kindness both go two ways, and most often hand-in-hand.

Goodnight!
xx Meryl

SEOUL

Shout out to my city though I hardly be in town. - Drake

I forgot to mention to you all that the file my parents were given left out where I was born. My biological mother was born in a remote village in the countryside, but she moved to Seoul to find work to help support her family. I was born in Seoul, and my mother was 20-years-old when she gave birth.

It's amazing to me how Seoul is the largest city in the developed world. My grandfather was stationed in Korea during the war, and said that everything in the city was destroyed when he was there in the 50s. Just 60 years later it has become one of the strongest economies int he world and is a leader of the technological world.

I have been milking the fact that this is my city to my parents. The other night, I directed us to CPK and my parents said that they were impressed I remembered how to get there my response was, "This is my city. It's in my blood."As much as I want to say I'm joking, I'm not. I feel a weird connection to this city -- maybe it's the fact that people automatically speak to me in Korean like I could just fit in with the crowd. Maybe it's my history in this place, even though it was a short one. Maybe it's the fact that this city is so different then anything I have ever experienced -- and I want to experience it all.

Whatever my connection with this city is, over the past 4 days I have fallen in love with it. Tomorrow we are heading to Busan, the second largest city in South Korea. Busan is a port city much more south than Seoul. I am excited to see other parts of the country within the next few days, but I am already excited to come back here on Thursday.