Seoul

We decided to take the family up to Seoul this year for Thanksgiving as our time here is winding down and we wanted to do a few things with the boys before we left. 

 

Riding the KTX to Seoul.  This is how it looks for us.  We love the KTX because instead of taking 4 hours, we can get there in under 2. 

Thanksgiving Day we decided to visit the Seoul Zoo to decide if the weather was going to allow us to take the boys to the inside amusement park or the outside.  This was quite a nice zoo, but being as cold as it was most animals were inside keeping warm.  But it only cost us $8 for the entire family to get in.  Not too bad, and because it was an American holiday it wasn't very busy.   One of  the nice things about Seoul is you can take the subway to go just about anywhere for $1.20 for adults and $0.50 for the kids. 

 

 

                                                     We've got a couple of animals!!!

 

After the zoo, we took the boys back to the hotel and had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. 

 

 

 

The boys hadn't seen the Seoul temple since we've been here, and so before we went to the amusement park, we took the boys to see it.  It was amazing how reverent they were even from the outside. 

 

 

Last stop of the day Lotte World.  It is World's largest indoor theme park.  Yes, we decided to go indoors because the zoo was extremely cold.  Such a fun time.  This was the only attraction that the hotel's tour desk didn't have any coupons for, but when we got there Brandon decided to ask at the ticket counter if there were any discounts and she showed us a picture of a military id and said if you have one of these.  Yay us!   50% off.  The lines were very long and we have been spoiled being in small big city Daegu where if there is a line the boys haven't had to wait more than 10 minutes to get on a ride.  We did have long lines as all of Seoul  along with ourselves also thought it was too cold to go to the outside amusement park. 

 

 

 

 

 

The inside.  It very hard to describe, but Lotte World has about 5 different floors each with there own set of rides.  They also have quite a lot of rides outside as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this smile! 

 

 

This was a hot air balloon ride that went around the entire inside of the building. 

 

                                                At the subway.  With my two ninjas.
They look just like the little ajummas (ladies) that we see everywhere here in the cold season.  The cold season is from about the end of October to February.  We Americans think the cold season is from the end of November to the middle of February.  We just barely turned on the floor heaters in the boy's bedrooms this past week, only at night as our apartment is still pretty hot.  The Koreans wear long sleeves pretty much year round here, so they are always a little more cold than the Americans so by October they are sporting their winter coats and at this point in October we are still in our small jackets.  Seoul had just received snow for the first time the day before we arrived, it had mostly melted except for the mountain areas, but we still felt cold most of the time. 

 

We split up on our last full day in Seoul, as Isaiah isn't old enough to go on the next tour.  Braxton and I took a DMZ tour while Isaiah and Brandon went swimming and exploring Yongsan. When we were getting closer to the North Korean border this is what we saw along the highways.  Every 200 meters there are military huts with armed soldiers on the look out.  As we got even closer, the towers were every 100 meters along the road. 

 

JSA (Joint Security Area) last picture that you will see of South Korea until we leave.  Cameras were turned off here, and our bus was escorted by military vehicles. 

 

Braxton standing next to South Korean soldier in South Korea. 

 

 

 

 

Both of us standing in North Korea next to a South Korean soldier.   All of the Soldiers here are trained and have black belts.  This is the pose that all soldiers stand in here when guarding. 

 

 

 

Looking into North Korea.  A North Korean soldier stands watching the activities.  At one point he was looking at us through binoculars.  The only pictures that we can take is looking at North Korea from here so yes, you are looking at North Korea here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at North Korea and the Bridge of no Return where the POW's were released from both sides.

 

 

At the Bridge of no return. 

 

 

 

A train from the Korean War left here to remember what had happened.  There are over 1,200 bullet holes. 

 

 

There are still so many families here who still have loved ones in north Korea.  Many come every year to pray for their well being. 

 

 

 

 

At Freedom Bridge

 

 

Another view of Freedom bridge. 

 

Braxton and I learned so much about the Korean War and why we are here still helping South Korea. We truly have enjoyed our time here and will definitely miss the beautiful people when we return back home. 

 

We also took the boys to see Nanta.  A fun Korean show similar to Stomp.  It is about a bunch of wedding dinner chefs who are late in preparing for the dinner.  They make music with their knives, and cooking utensils.  Food flies everywhere and both boys were laughing and enjoying themselves.  We had a great weekend!