until then guess and enjoy!
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many people have often asked me about the trip and I’m sure just as many are wondering why I’m so vague on details and stories. Really - I don’t always want to share. I travel so I can have the experience not so I have stories to tell (sort of). I often find other people advertising the fact that I travel as I do and not me. For some reason, it just isn’t something I talk about in great detail (I guess some of you may be saying there isn’t much I talk about in great detail! touche)
Stephanie made a comment to me about the blog. She said I was much more open and graphic with my stories than I usually am and she was right. Writing like this is easier - words and descriptions flow more smoothly. But I was also as open as I was so that anyone reading this didn’t think that international travel is all giggles and smiles. It isn’t. Sometimes it is hard and I cry and I want to go home, sleep in my own bed, shower in my shower and just not have to worry about where I am going next and how I am going to get there. Beyond all that stuff it is great fun, but I wanted this to be real and so I had to be open for that to happen. And I was.

But sharing outside of here isn’t easy for me so it isn’t you. it’s me.

I sit here and cannot believe that 18 days have gone past and I think about all of the things I have done and the people who have come and gone from this adventure of mine. From the beginning the people here have been nothing but friendly and helpful. From Mrs. Kim at Friends House on the first night to Han here at Seoul Backpackers explaining to me why the folks in the subway packed up the stuff they were selling so quickly after having just set it up (it is illegal to sell stuff in the subways like that). The ladies who constantly chastised me for not covering my skin, the lady from the bus to Guinsa whose smile and face I will remember always, the guy who couldn’t believe I was 32, the little girl today who excitedly said hi to me while I was eating dinner.

From the first uphill walk I took in Daejeon (it seems like ages ago!) to Chungju, Cheongju, the printing museum, Beopjusa temple, the inexplicable beauty of the people and the temple at Guinsa, the beauty of the mountains and lake in Danyang, the buzz and the endless energy of Seoul.

I am excited to get home but I will certainly miss many things about Korea!

the link above goes to an article that just happened to pop up on the msn website when i was logging out of email…

used a fork - which reminds me to write about the chopsticks here. They are stainless steel first off, which is actually pretty cool. But along with that cool part is the equally uncool part - they are flat. I’m pretty adept at using chopsticks but these flat ones have thrown me for a loop. I’ve gotten used to them for the most part but every once in a while they get me!
chewed gum (which is pretty huge for me)

drank coffee

eaten meat

had an alcoholic beverage

used my cell phone

driven a car

I’m sure the list is longer, these are just the things I came up with the other day!

We went to the top of an observation hill that gave a pretty darn good look at the MDL (military demarcation line, the actual line that was drawn). From the top we could see the sister observation tower in North Korea. We could see Kasang and the big North Korean flag flying above and could see Panmunjom with the big South Korean flag flying. Our tour guide said that a few years ago there used to be hundreds of propaganda billboards on both sides, but since relations are warming up they both decided to take the billboards down. I was bummed, it would have been cool to see them.

We saw the train station where a few years ago folks from the South got to go to the North and be reunited with their families. We saw the bridge that once was the only way to get into North Korea. It is closed now since there is a highway that has been built which will take you there.

The most chilling part of the day (literally and figuratively) was the 3rd tunnel. Throughout the years the North Korean army has been digging tunnels as a way to infiltrate South Korea and attack. The first tunnel was discovered in 1974, the lastest tunnel was discovered in 1990. We went into the 3rd tunnel discovered, which at the time of discovery was only 52km (32 miles) away from Seoul. The North Korean army had the capability of moving 30,000 armed troops AN HOUR through this tunnel. If the tunnel hadn’t ever been discovered, who knows what would have happened. It was pretty freaky.

Slightly more disturbing, and a sign of the threat South Korea has lived with is the fact that along this highway you take to get to the DMZ and eventually into North Korea there are a few innocent looking billboards which cross over the highway. They simply look like crosswalks with ads on them. They are actually full of explosives and in the event that North Korea does invade South Korea the explosives will be detonated therefore closing off the main route into Seoul and thwarting the North Korean army for a little while at least. Also, any of the regular highways crossing over this road on the outskirts of Seoul have the same set up. Crazy, crazy stuff.

All in all it was a good day. Like I said, I learned so much and got to see a special part of the world and history.

I don’t know if I will have time to write tomorrow. If not then I will probably write a few more times upon my return and will post a link for pictures once I get them uploaded!

thanks for all of the comments and for reading!!

Everyone - from teenagers to middle agers to old agers has a cell phone (or a hand phone as they are sometimes called here).Some of you think I’m crazy with the amount and speed of my text messages, I am nothing compared to the way the kids here send text messages. I am in awe. They use their cell phones to listen to music, take pictures, watch videos, buy coffee, ride the subway, buy things from vending machines. And now they can read books on them too.

Booktopia (unfortunately the website is in korean) is the company making it possible. They have an exhibit at the conference and the exhibit caught my eye today because it was full of digital gadgets! So I slowed down and eventually stopped to take a peek. Then one of the young gentlemen who was working the booth (and also a graduate of Southern Illinois University) came over to talk to me about the company and what they had to offer.

I never fancied myself as someone who would ever want to read a book on a computer or an ebook reader etc. but the Booktopia exhibit may have changed my mind…let me put it in perspective. For this trip I brought along 4 books and since have bought one because I read the other 4. These books average 250+ pages. Combined they weigh more than I’d like to be carrying around and take up space, although I’ve left two behind already. I brought my ipod which has 650 songs and the charger for the ipod. I brought my camera and the wires to charge that as well. And I brought my cell phone. I would have much more room in my bag if I only had to bring my phone and my camera (no cell phone camera will ever be enough to take trip pictures with). If I lived in Korea i could have downloaded the books to my phone and had my music on my phone too. Heck, I could have downloaded some video to watch as well. And while I’m on the subway, eating dinner or wherever I could pop my phone open and start reading.

But in the United States doing these sort of things on cell phone hasn’t really caught on. Even just a few weeks ago when I was in the process of buying a new cell phone I couldn’t imagine why I would want one I can listen to music on when I have my ipod. I get it now.

So, really, what does this all mean? I start thinking about how this will affect what I do and how the students will be expecting their information to be delivered to them in the future. will the expect the library to be able to loan them a book by zapping it to their cell phone? Is that how they will want journal articles too? For me it is so much to think about and struggle with how we provide our services and are we really meeting the needs of the students? I guess in time we will know…

I have no idea if this has made any sense, I’m still grappling with it all even as I write this. It makes me realize even more that the United States is not the center of the world…and it is high time to start paying attention to what is going on elsewhere in the world.

At my meeting on Saturday I met the director of the National Library of South Africa, a librarian from the EPA in the states, the head librarian at the Food and Agriculture Organization library in Rome and many other librarians from around the world. It was kind of intimidating, but kind of neat at the same time. What a great place to learn about so many different kinds of libraries and the kind of work they do.
Sunday was the opening ceremony and boy was that cool. A great technical show celebrating the role of libraries in the world, some traditional korean drumming, singing etc. I got to see the First Lady of Korea speak as well as the 15th President of Korea (the one who won the nobel prize in 2000). I thought that was interesting because I’ve never even glimpsed the first lady or former president of my own country!! The Korean first lady was decked out in her traditional Korean dress, it was quite beautiful.

Today (monday) I went to the program that the committee I will be sitting on was sponsoring along with the Parliamentary Library section. It was a great program and I learned so much about Parliamentary libraries and am going to learn a little more when I go to the various websites I wrote down. Learning about all of these international government libraries is actually interesting and fun. yeah, I know, I just libraries are fun, I can’t help that I love my job! then this afternoon I ran into the director of the Eastern Illinois University Library. Allen is a great leader and served as a mentor to our 2005 Synergy group. It was good to see a familiar face and to chat with him for a bit.

All in all a good conference day, another one tomorrow hopefully. Wednesday I spend the day at the DMZ and Thursday I get to go on a tour of the Korean Supreme Court Library!

he says now you buy me ice cream. I start to laugh. I say, you want me to buy you ice cream? He says yes and starts walking to the little store nearby that has a freezer out front with ice cream cones. I’m laughing harder now. He picks one out, asks the guy how much, the guy tells him, and he says to me - give him 1,000 won (about $1) so I do and I am laughing all the way to the place, which he was right about. I’m laughing about it now as I remember and write about it…

Then there was the old man on the subway yesterday. He was talking on his cell phone when I first sat down next to him. And as soon as he got off he was concerned about me knowing when to get off at the right stop. So, in very broken english I finally got that he wanted to know what stop I was going to. Then he told me how many stops until that stop (i was thankful for his help, but was aware where i needed to go) I thanked him. then he asks how old I am. 22? he asks? No, i say 32. He doesn’t understand. I take out my pen and write it down for him. He is truly shocked. I can tell by the look on his face. You have a husband? yes, I lie Children? No, not yet. 32? he asks. Yes. I say. He says something in Korean to the the woman sitting next to him and she looks at me and smiles. It is gettin close to my stop and so I get up to put my bag on my back. And he says something to the lady again. I look at her and in a mix of sign language and korean she tells me that although I am 32 the man thinks I look 22. I chuckle gratefully and say to him “gamsa hamnida” and I am on my way.