My trip to the DMZ

For those of you that don't know, the DMZ (De-militarized Zone) is basically the border between North and South Korea. It is obviously heavily guarded and the security is extremely high. But it was a lot of fun! I went with a group of middle school New Zealand kids who were pretty fun and funny, though the entire ride back were asking me to say different words because they thought my accent was hilarious. and for the record, in NZ they dont call candy "candy". everything is a lolli. what are lolli-pops called, u might then ask. "lollis on a stick". ridiculous.

here's pictures! (there were alot of places where photography was not allowed, but i'm a maverick. which means i'm sorry for the poor quality.)


part of the border.





thats lauren. shes an excellent student, a hard worker, and one of the cutest freakin kids i've ever seen! shes in one of my classes.

Hana teacher. she is extremely funny and made the transition into this job seamless with her great humor. unfourtunately she moved to be closer to here mom who isnt feeling so well these days, and this was her last day.

this is at an amusement park that is setup in the area. its funny because both sides have alot of propaganda set up at the border to sort of declare their prosperity. its like a visual argument between capitalism and communism. its an amazing experience. the north even built a fake city. its not real. no one lives there. they just built a nice community just to show that they were prospering (when they're not). they built another one with a huge sound system that used to constantly blast Northern propaganda in an effort to insight rebellion.


hey! look! North Korea!






This is the last train station between North and South, and it shows one of the motivations of North Korea to stay separate and not allow a connection with the south. this train line connects to europe. it connects to the trans-siberian line, as well as a line through turkey, and ultimately, europe. the North symbolically keeps this connection severed.





hana teacher, nicole teacher and sophia, another great student who is freaking adorable. nicole is my boss, and she is hilarious as well, and one of my favorite bosses i've ever had.

these two pictures are inside a tunnel that north korean soldiers dug to try to invade into the south. the south has found four of these tunnels which were dug through the 70's and 90's. when this tunnel was found by the south koreans, the north denied that it was them, but rather dug by the south koreans. the south korean government then basically said, ok if they're ours then lets open them to the public. this pissed the north off, but they cant really do anything about it.













this is the after party. teachers only. our school owner gave us North Korean alcohol, which was very strong and bitter, with a vinegar like taste.

This is octopus. live. it was very much still moving when they brought it out and it was very much still moving in my mouth. very interesting!


One of the NZ teachers was Maury, which is the aboriginal tribe there. they of course have their own language and culture, and he happily demonstrated a traditional song and dance.


an amazing day, and i had a great time exploring two different cultures and histories. i learned a lot about NZ as well, and i now have a place to stay if i ever want to go.^.^

Its class time again...

I just got back from the DMZ (the border line between North and South Korea) with a group of international exchange students from New Zealand. I had to work through the weekend, but I definitely enjoyed it. I'm just really tired now.

Here's some pictures of my cutie kids though. They're mostly in Elementary with some middle school classes. I think (almost) all the kids are precious though : )


This is Emily and some other kid (I think David, cant tell). Her English level is pretty low but she works constantly and really hard to improve.


These are two pics of Annie, and if you couldnt tell shes an absolute CLOWN. Shes absolutely adorable and never stops laughing unless she realizes Im seriously upset with her antics. but shes one of my favorites in her class and the school. Great kid.


Sara on the left (not in my class) and Lauren (one of my other favorites at the school). Lauren really struggles in class and with English in general, but she works really hard to get it right and is always there after class doing more work. and shes one of the cutest kids ever!


I forget this girls name too, but shes just really cute and good too. It's hard to remember the names of kids not in your class.

This is Alice (above) and Milly (below). They are both adorable and Alice is a personal favorite in my first class. I loved Alice right away, but I found out that she lost her father to a heart attack about a few months earlier, but she is extremely strong and intelligent with a great sense of humor. She's the type that shows up early to school to do extra work with her buddy Milly. You gotta love that!

Lauren again with Annie in the background.

I dont remember this kids name because he's not in my class, but he's really nice.