Whereas I await my flight throughout Asia to Germany after which Denmark (civ-mil convention in Copenhagen), I assumed I’d look again on what I noticed and realized from my second journey to
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South Korea. The large lesson is that I loved it extra the second time round. Positive, the primary time I obtained to take a look at the DMZ and I believe I had extra, clearer interviews, however I wandered just a little additional this time, obtained to see extra neighborhoods, after which went to the opposite finish of the peninsula to very lovely Busan.
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I do not understand how I missed the evening markets final time or why it took me 1.5 weeks to seek out them this time. So I ended up going out to at least one with the specter of rain, which then grew to become way more than a risk, final evening. It was nice and enjoyable, however moist. So subsequent time, if there’s one, I’ll come out to those locations earlier and extra typically. What else did I be taught this time?
What have I realized?
- With the identical kind of plug they use within the EU, my Spanish funding in cute plugs has paid off.
- the cabs are actually low cost
- Google maps didn’t work properly as South Korea has a dispute with google. So I downloaded loads of Korean apps which have been helpful however tough since among the textual content was in Korean.
- The historical past of the Korean Struggle implies that UN intervention was potential as a result of the Russians boycotted the Safety Council. I solely noticed one reference to it in my complete tour of the large struggle museum/memorial
- Koreans are much less ambivalent about MacArthur than People. Talking to a retired normal, he talked about Incheon and it deserves loads of play. That Mac led the forces into entice and catastrophe when the Chinese language intervened will get a lot much less consideration.
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Talking of huge struggle museums, I am fairly certain the Korean one is larger than any I’ve visited.
- An previous lesson repeated: of the completely different cuisines, I’ve to say that Korean isn’t on the prime of the listing. I like a few of it, however the kimchi does nothing for me, and the barbecue is okay. The rooster is wonderful. I discovered myself searching for Indonesian and Japanese meals, which is a little bit of a clue.
- I do not know if autumn is the season of affection, however I noticed much more loving {couples} all over the place right here than I keep in mind from final time and positively greater than in Japan.
What has modified?
- Many extra contact screens to order meals
- No BBQ for singles?
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The Dokdo Island dispute with Japan now will get extra consideration on the practice to the airport than on the struggle memorial. Some obtained it there too, however fewer than final time.
- Events! After I was final right here, the progressives have been in energy, and now they’re the conservatives. Politics right here appear extra polarized now – there’s loads of anger over the 2019 cope with North Korea, which lowered South Korean defenses and….did not actually change North Korean habits.
I crammed this journey in between a CDSN convention in Ottawa and a civ-mil convention in Copenhagen. The timing was not good as among the individuals I needed to speak to have been busy with revisions. I additionally began to determine what to ask about the previous few days. So I may need to return or ship a co-author to return right here to select up a couple of extra interviews. I am glad I got here – I loved the journey, the interviews pushed me to assume extra clearly concerning the mission, we’re positively on to one thing.
And as at all times, I rely on the kindness of strangers who’re prepared to speak to me, and all the things is nice whenever you’re a part of a staff
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These sharp individuals organized my interviews and acted as glorious interpreters. Many because of all, however particularly to Soyeon Kim (backside left) for doing all the things heavy lifting and group! |