A Story of North and South

I went on a teachers trip a couple months ago to Ganghwa Island off the cost in Incheon. We had this fantastic tofu lunch (I had more varieties of tofu in one sitting than I've had in my entire life... it was lovely) and then I watched as my coteacher slipped on a patch of ice and fell literally 1 minute after I said, be careful you might fall and then fell again while she was trying to get up. Then, we went to an observatory on the top of this mountain and a p.e. teacher said to me, that's North Korea right there, and I got all excited and impressed and then she declared, nah, I'm just messing with you. That was disappointing.

But then we got to the entrance gate and the guard informed us that yes, indeed, that was North Korea after all. And there I stood, less than one mile from North Korea. We went to the top of the observatory tower and listened to a woman speak about North Korea for a while. And by we listened, I mean, everyone listened while my youngest co-teacher (only 4 years old than me!) and I unlocked a locked door (the lock was located atop the door, but I'm really tall so it was no issue) and snuck outside to look at North Korea and get fresh air and then throw snow at each other.

But we returned, nervous that we would either a) get caught and severely reprimanded, or b) Have snipers in North Korea somehow shoot us from just under a mile away for doing nothing but playing outside in the snow.

But I'm glad we returned because I got to hear this story:

Some years ago (less than 20, more than 5), there was flooding in the area bordering North and South Korea, including an area of neutral waters between Ganghwa Island and N. Korea. A result of the flooding was that a cow from North Korea got swept off mainshore N.K. and was carried to a small island in this neutral territory. This North Korean cow was thusly stranded in neutral waters and the neither the North nor the South could send in a rescue party to procure the cow because of the long standing neutrality in and ban on entering these waters. So, naturally, the UN, which only takes a stand in the most worthy of causes, stepped in an retrieved the cow and brought it back to South Korea. Unfair right? Wrong! Because South Korea then had one of it's prized Jeju lady cows brought up to Seoul. And, in a moment of peace and as a sign of hope for reconciliation, the North Korean cow and the South Korean cow were bred together, a symbol for the coming together of two unjustly separate nations.

The End.

But this story leaves me with this question:
The baby cow. What happened to him/her? Did he belong to South Korea, or North Korea, or to the U.N. who so graciously saved this baby's father's life. Was he raised and slaughtered in the hopes of becoming a part of the great reconciliation feast that after such a great sign of partnership between the two conflict-wrought nation was sure was to come without delay? Or did he get shipped off to the North, given that the father has final rights, only to live a life oppressed and without civil liberties? Who knows.

It's kept me up some nights just wondering what happened to the little baby not-south-or-north-just-Korean cow baby and whether he lived a life filled with democracy and justice in the South, oppression and poverty in the North, or general impotence and sanctions with the U.N.

Just something to chew the cud over. HAR HAR.

xoxo
A

Well, today started out just swell.

I'll preface this by saying that last night I got some really wonderful news. That is that my high school classes next week are cancelled due to exams. I'm thrilled about this because I am at about my wits end with this stupid evening class. With next week being cancelled, I currently have 5 more days of classes. To make it even sweeter, one day is a final exam (each student will do a speech), and another is preparation for the speeches, so really I have just 3 more days. Aaaaaaaand, the last day of class, I think all the teachers will combine our classes and have some kind of big fun game or scavenger hunt or something. So that leaves today and tomorrow. I'm so happy I could just cry tears of joy.

Anyways, on to my day starting out just swell (while via the internet this sarcasm is hard to convey, I think you, my readers, will understand shortly).

Last night I was sleeping soundly (with most of the lights on and myself still half-dressed in my clothing from the day... my high school wears me out so much that I can hardly manage to change into pajamas some nights) until 4 a.m. when I abruptly woke to the screech of multiple sirens that sounded frighteningly near my apartment. My initial thought was oh my god, North Korea is attacking Incheon and I'm gonna die tonight. I literally thought that I bolted upright in bed and tried to get my bearings in what I presumed was a warlike attack on my house. I got out of bed and thought I have to figure out how to get out without dying in the shellings. I peeked out my bedroom window and with that my fears were allayed. The sirens were, in fact, not bomb sirens as I had imagined, but the sirens of 4 fire trucks approaching and parking immediately across the street from my apartment building.

While the thought of a nearby raging fire (which I couldn't actually spot from my window, warning sign #1) is not pleasant, I'd say that I felt thoroughly relieved when the only other possibility I had imagined was hundreds of artillery shells razing buildings and shredding limbs.

So, I laid back down in bed as the firetruck sirens died down to a low mew, and just as I rested my head upon my pillow I was startled once more by an even louder, closer alarm. Welp, I thought, maybe North Korea is attacking after all. And stood up, more annoyed the fearful and I discovered the source of the alarm was my own building's alarm system (not labeled as or resembling a fire alarm by western standards). This unnerved me given the plethora of fire trucks outside my window. And I cracked open my door to discover a thick cloud of gray smoke.

OH. MY. GOD. I'm gonna die in a fiery apartment accident. Lovely.

I raced back inside and grabbed a coat and my cell phone and stepped back out into the cloud of smoke to see about 10 firemen whom I half-expected to sweep me up and rush me down fire ladders to my safety. Instead, they brushed past without so much as an acknowledgement of my presence. As I rounded the corner by my door, I discovered the smoke's source. A room a mere two doors from my own was emitting volumes of smoke and I just stood there thinking, do I need to run down the stairs or is this under control. No one was talking to me, but the sirens were wailing, and increasing, residents were poking their heads out the door and trying to figure out what was going on. I seemed to be the director pointing the other residents to the source of the commotion and the firemen finally said, it's okay, go to your room.

So through the smoke I trekked again, and went back into my room which now faintly smelled of smoke and climbed back into bed remembering to be thankful that both I and the country I'm living in remain safe for another night.

It was fucking scary though. I couldn't sleep until 5:30 or so, and I had to wake up at 6:30, so that was awesome. Today my students are bitches and are totally like teacher, you have dark circles, and I was like, yeah, well, that happens when you almost die.