July 23-24

July 23

I heard bad news out of the Middle east and  that the USA has cancelled all flights into Israel. I am saddened and concerned by these developments including the shooting down of the commercial Malaysian airline out of Amsterdam. 

Today was our last reflection session. Tomorrow I will go to the DMZ

Food in Seoul wonderful! Very healthy and good. I loved it.

I wrote a poem as my contribution to the reflection session and will post it.

This afternoon we had an unusual treat. Judy and Flora asked if anyone would like to attend a preview of a musical about the Comfort Women, which is being produced in Seoul, Little did we know what we were in for,! Although it was in Korean, the voices and music were wonderful and the story easy to follow. The girls we the age that the women would have been when they were taken which made it all the more poignant. It was called the “Flower Shoes”  We were all in tears but it was beautiful. I hope it is well received when it opens. It was a very special opportunity.

July 24

DMZ

Demilitarized zone. We were given strict instructions about what to wear. Ot was pouring again torrential rain.  A very nice PFV Martinez. DMZ very weird.  We literally looked across to the North Korean side, seeing a soldier standing at attention. We could not point, gesture, or do anything that may be deemed confrontational. It was very interesting. We then toured an empty train station, beautiful and empty because it connected North and South Korea.  Finally thank goodness I am in fair to good shape- we toured a tunnel that was used to enter the South from the North it was about 1000 feet down and very narrow. The climb up was a challenge.

We ended the day by attending a rally in Seoul of thousands of people commemorating the disastrous ferry sinking in which 400 young people lost their lives due to negligence on the ferry owners part. The parents and families of those lost marched from the ferry site to downtown Seoul for three days. There were thousands of people there and many famous Korean singers who took the stage and sang sad songs of lament. We then took a lovely uplifting walk down a stream area that is a favorite romantic spt for young and old alike. We went out o enjoy some beverages, laughed and ending our last night in Seoul with my new friends and an awesome experience.