What is better than partying with 12.000 students??? Right nothing that is also what the Koreans students think and that is what AKARAKA is. What it means is? No one was really able two explain, the most logical explanation was it is the sound an eagle makes, what is the mascot of Yonsei.  AKARAKA includes dressing up in school colors (blue), meet friends, buy drinks, go into the amphitheater where everyone else is cheer for Yonsei and enjoy the performances of Korea’s celebrities and party all night long.  In total superlative!!!

A friend of ours asked us if we can help out marketing some cloth for the company he is working for, GS one of the biggest retail company in South Korea.  And of course we did, Jenny, Thomas, Jenny and me went to Nakho’s office and had a fun time took a lot crazy pictures and finally the result is published now on the website of GS.

Click the link:  http://www.gsestore.co.kr/plan.plan.gs?plan_seq=10165&plan_type=20080515_handsome

The Demilitarized Zone in Korea at the 38 parallel is 4km wide and separates the North from the South, only at the JSA , the Joint Security Area the two countries face a direct border where  both parties can meet for talks and discussions. Years ago all the time soldiers were positioned at the border which completely changed into technical CCTV control. The whole area is full with cameras and detectors. Anyway things got a lot more peaceful at the DMZ the last incident happened in the 90^th when a Russian tourist crossed the border from the north into the south, he was followed by North Korean soldiers, gun fire occurred one person got killed. Since that it is quite even the North Korean propaganda village Gijeong is quite since 2004, only the 600 pounds heavy flag on the 160m high Eifel-tower like construction is still moving. The buildings were empty anyway all the time, but before 2004 actors were in the village over day and loudspeakers sound North Korean propaganda over to the South all day long.  On the South site also a village is existing, every one of the 280 inhabitants is a farmer, they life tax-free and have very modern houses, high speed internet and everything else they need. These people have to be home before 11pm due to some kidnapping in earlier days from the North.  They only have to stay there 230days a year, so everyone has a second house somewhere else in South Korea and leaves the DMZ asap every year again.

After the DMZ we went to tunnel number Three on of 14 tunnels the North Koreans dug underneath the DMZ, so far the version of the South J. Anyway we had a nice walk in the humid tunnel. The tunnel would have been able to bring 30.000 soldiers an hour through it, and that only 35km from Seoul.

Oh anyway we went with the USO for 44$ it is one of the cheapest tours and known as the best, I can recommend to go with them also American patriotisms is included for free. 

Due to my midterms which I had last week I am way behind in reporting my stories. So before the hard period of studying started I went down to the south of Korea top see the biggest cherry blossom festival of Korea and moreover we stopped in Massan (300 thousand inhabitants) and Bussan (the second biggest city in Korean with 4 million Inhabitants)

Bussan was the first stop, we arrived late on Thursday night; the bus-ride is 4,5 hours to Bussan and cost single way 17.900 Won. The weather was shitty it rained and so we decided to go to a Jijim-Bang (Korean bathhouse open 24-7). He drop our luggage went for dinner and came back to stay overnight,what was a horrible idea. People were snoring it, was hard and uncomfortable and not to warm. I did not get a lot of sleep that nightL. Next day we had a look around in the city, Bussan could also be called little Seoul with beaches, which are the most famous ones in Korea. The industrial port is massive and everything else is quite the same like Seoul.

That is why we left Bussan in the afternoon to go to Jinhae, the main reason why we came down to the south; for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Jinhae is a little city maybe 80.000 inhabitants but during the festival one million people visit the little town. During the festival the whole city is a big market; the 3500 cherry trees are in full blossom and everyone is enjoying the performances and the food sold everywhere. We were lucky it was a sunny day for us; we rented bikes and enjoyed the day. For the night we check in into a love motel, a motel normally for couples but we shared the room with the three of us. The owners were really confused and tried to protect Yukkie from the mistake to go up to a room with two guys J but we managed to make them understand that we are just friends and only want a place to stay for a night.

The next day came and we hit the road to Massan the last stop on our short trip. Both Jinhae and Massan were not indicated in any of our travel guides but the internet helped us out to find out what we could do there. Massan is a city with a lot of bars, a huge market, a harbor and a unique place in the mountains, where a Korean build up 1.000 stone pagodas with the hope of reunification of North- and South Korea. A really impressive place! And me and Yukkie build our one pagoda!!