War Adventures

On Saturday I headed off for an adventure without my lovely wife.  This was because it was of little (or probably no) interest to her, but of a huge interest to me.  I went to a Korean War memorial and museum with my friend Charlie.  We got there at 10:30am and did not even get into the museum until 12:30pm.  There were a lot of tanks, planes, and artillery pieces sitting outside that you could look at and in some cases climb into.  Among many others we got to see a P-51 Mustang (which the Koreans translated as “wild horse”), a B-52 bomber, a Mig 19 and Mig 15, a 5 Inch naval gun turret (the whole thing!), and a North Korean semi-submersible speedboat.

 

When we finally got into the museum we went to the first floor and I got to see a Turtleboat (probably half or 1/3 scale).  This was a big deal for me since I learned about them in one of my graduate courses nearly 2 years ago.  Basically the Turtleboat was the first ironclad vessel (built about two hundred, fifty years before the Monitor or Merrimack!!).  They were armored with iron plate and armed with cannon, but also made good use of ramming other ships.  The Turtleboats also had a spiked roof that helped prevent boarding during a sea battle.  While the Koreans only ever had about 7 Turtleboats they managed to devastate the Japanese efforts to resupply and reinforce their troops enough that the war ended in failure for the Japanese (this war lasted from 1592-1598).  Ever since I learned that there was one in the museum here I wanted to see it, and I learned about it from my graduate professor who had been here before too, so it was a long wait.  Jenn can vouch for that ;-)

 

We saw other pre-Korean War military stuff too.  Lots of cannons, guns, swords, and many dioramas and maps too.  This museum was well designed for foreign tourists to visit and had most things in Korean, English, and what I am pretty sure was two Chinese dialects. 

 

We then toured the second floor, which was primarily about the Korean War.  It was pretty neat, but both Charlie and I were feeling pretty tired.  As we finished the second floor we discussed whether or not we wanted to go on to the third floor or see it another time.  Our decision was made for us when the loudspeaker announced in English that the museum was closing, it was time for everyone to leave, and thank you for coming to visit.  So maybe we will see the third floor another time.

 

One other interesting thing we both noted was that the memorial was both solemn and yet a cheerful, happy place.  It was a neat contrast to some of the American memorials I have been too, where it seems that you are not supposed to be happy when you visit them.  There were people everywhere and while they respected the memorial and such, it was still a very happy, and cheerful place.  Hopefully this doesn’t offend anyone, but that has been my observation at most of the American memorials I have been to.

 

We also got to see part of a traditional Korean wedding, with the couple carried (well actually they were carts, but they looked like they were carried) to the ceremony by well dressed (in traditional clothing) attendants and preceded by an announcer.  The building itself was also quite beautiful and well designed, with flags from the countries which fought to defend Korea from the communists.  Also, the memorial part of the place is pretty neat.  The have the names of every Korean soldier who died serving Korea (I am pretty sure that is South Korea, not North too) from the Korean War to the present (I think), and the names of every foreigner who died in service to help the Koreans against their northern brothers.  It was pretty neat to say the least. 

 

By the end of the day I am worn out and my bald spots are sunburnt.  Oops, I forgot to wear sunblock!  Oh, well, it’s not bad. 

 

At church today we were invited to go to an Indian restaurant for a birthday party for one of our Korean friends.  So, we went and had some rather good Indian food for dinner and had a blast with most of the church people that are our age.  After dinner we all carpooled to one of the couple’s home and hung out there for a while.  We had a great time of fellowship and getting to know each other better, plus dessert.  Then we played with a Nintendo Wii, which was a lot of fun.  We bowled and we boxed, which interestingly enough Jenn and I both did quite well at, though we have been warned that we will be sore tomorrow.  Oh, well, it was worth it.  It was a really good time for us to get to know some of the other people in our church better and we really had a great time. 

 

We get tomorrow, Monday, off because it is a session break for our school.  I am pretty sure the concept of session breaks are to prevent us from getting paid overtime (which is calculated on a monthly basis), but on the plus side, we get an extra day off and that is really nice.  Especially after my tiring adventure on Saturday:-)