Trip to Seoul
- May 7-9 (2005), South-Korea
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
|
|
|
| A country like North Korea should be enough to convince just about everyone that life is pretty much a joke. Not only have millions of people died of starvation during the last few years, but many more have been imprisoned or executed in various ways. And now Kim Jung Il is working hard to develop an atomic bomb, if he has not already done so. A midget Korean madman will then be in a position to annihilate a city like Tokyo without much effort. My face in the above picture should show how seriously I take this problem. | Another picture of one of the guards in the negotiation room. This guy is protecting the door leading out to North Korea. Since he probably could kick my skinny ass relatively easily, I decided (after some careful consideration) not to pick a fight with him. South Korea still has conscription, and every South Korean man has to spend about three years in the army. By the time they get out, they know virtually every martial art there is, and they make up a few of their own just for good measure. |
 |
 |
| These fences are there to stop anyone crazy enough to attempt swimming over to the other side of the river, where Kim Jung Il is rumored to welcome all foreign visitors with some very delicious kimchi. It has to be said that I loved Kim Jung Il's performance in Team America, which is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a while. | Talking about kimchi, the Koreans really love it. They eat it at breakfast, then for lunch, and finally for dinner. It would not surprise me if they take another bite just before going to bed. I do not mind kimchi once in a while, perhaps once every leap year or so, but the Koreans have taken this kimchi thing too far. It is time to stop! By the way, you may notice that I had some fun with the red eye removal function in this picture. |
 |
 |
| Someone visiting my homepage once commented that there is an awful lot of pictures featuring people eating. Having lived in Japan for quite a few years, eating has become much more important to me than it was during my time living in Norway. In my home country, almost every meal consists of bread or frozen pizza, and it is almost impossible to find a good restaurant serving traditional Norwegian food. It is therefore interesting to visit countries in Asia that put more importance on preserving their national culinary heritage. | Some more fun with the red eye removal function, but apart from that this picture shows the big variety of food that can be enjoyed in South Korea. The food is quite different from that eaten in Japan, thus venturing across to the Korean peninsula can be quite a culinary experience. Koreans do not enjoy dog meat jokes that much, but it appears to be a fact that it is still possible to enjoy some very good poodle meat in Korean. |
 |
 |
| Some crazy women dressed in what I believe to be South Korean traditional outfits, but do not take my word for it. Korean women are on average very attractive, though more than 50% of all young women in South-Korea have had some work done to their faces. Generally taller than women in Japan, quite a few Korean girls have made it big in Japan doing modeling, singing, or a combination of the two. Then again, you can become a pop artist in Japan even if you are only capable of howling. | Some more work with the red eye function, this time not very successful. Our last meal was in a Korean restaurant that was virtually deserted. The food was descent, but it probably was place frequented mainly be Japanese tourists. Our waitress was a fairly cute Uzbek girl with really hairy arms. It seems like she had married some South Korean guy, thus it seems like Korean and Japanese men share their passion for women from the former Soviet Union. |