“Suh-ool” That’s the proper pronunciation of Seoul... But before we get into that, tell me why we are sharing remotes. Ok check this out. I work at a government hospital, I’ll tell you all about it at another time, but just know it’s Gov’ment run. The local energy/cable company donated the TVs and remotes in patients’ rooms, and I feel like they donate the cable service as well. Patients and their families were like, “Oh snap! This the same remote we have at the house!” Did they start taking the remotes home?? YES. THEY. DID. Yes they did, y’all!!! So here we are with like two remotes at the nurses’ station running from room to room answering call bells cause Maria needs her channel changed and the volume turned down. Really, sometimes I just stand up and say, “AYE! WHO HAS THE REMOTE?!” ...as in Seoul, South Korea! Not “Soul”, not “See-ool”, but “Suh-ool”....two syllables...you’re welcome. I’m probably still going to say “Soul” though, because, you know, for the culture! Anyway, I had 5 days off, and what I do?! Bought a ticket to South Korea! I figured, “When’s the next time you’ll be on this side of the world?! Go ALL the places while you’re in these waters!” So yeah, got off work at 8am, bought a ticket for 4pm. My cousin Charlie has a friend, Mikyba, that lives in South Korea, so basically my friend also! I hit her up like, “Hey! Found a cheap ticket to Korea I’m coming through!” She welcomed me with open arms!! Ticket...check! Place to sleep...check!! Amazing people do explore with...CHECK!! Day one! We went to the Cheonan World Dance Festival! International food, international dance! Does it get much better?! This year marked the 15th anniversary of the the Cheonan World Dance Festival! There were 20 teams from 20 different countries and a ton of different categories. We did some arts and crafts, and FOOD!! That night we went to a nice little Shabu Shabu place and cooked ourselves a good-ole hotpot! Day two! THE. DMZ. First of all, the DMZ sounds a lot scarier than it actually is. It probably is a lot scarier on the North Korean side. Lol. “What’s the DMZ Trelle?” The Demilitarized Zone. Pretty much 2.5 miles of buffer space at the North and South Korean border where an Armistice Agreement is in place. Now, if anyone tried to bring military forces and pop off in the DMZ...IT. GOES. DOWN!! There’s like a million soldiers on each side ready for whatever, whenever! For now, the DMZ is a huge tourist attraction! Get ya money, South Korea, I ain’t mad at you! Our first stop on the tour was Imjingak Village and Park. This village is the farthest north point in South Korea where civilians can go. After that village you have to have permission and be guided past check points. The park is where many people come to perform ancestral rituals in hopes of being reunited with family members that they have not seen in over 60 years since the Korean War Armistice Agreement was signed. One of the most chilling sites in Imjingak is the Bridge of Freedom. All the bridges were destroyed during the war, therefore this bridge was specifically built to return Prisoners of War after the cease fire. They were driven to the border and had to walk across the bridge. I believe over 13,000 POWs were returned. However, not all of them were returned. Tied to the bridge are bright colored ribbons with names, messages, and contact info left by family members in the South with hopes that their loved ones in the North would cross that bridge, find the info, and know where to return home. Now, with the bridge being closed, South Korean families still tie their ribbons to the bridge to pay homage to their family who died in the North. For those South Koreans that were born in the North, Imjingak and the Bridge of Freedom is the closest thing to home. The village is somehow, strangely, very joyous. There’s even an amusement park there. If you didn’t see any of the memorials and artifacts, like the train that was destroyed by gunfire, you would think you were just at a regular park and campsite. Next stop!! The Third Tunnel! So there are these tunnels. Tunnels that North Korea dug toward Seoul with hopes of capturing the city. South Korean officials are aware of four of them! There are probably more, a lot of more. Buuuut...yeah. So, we got to go down into the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel! What makes this tunnel special is the way it was found. Ok, close your eyes so you can picture this. Wait, no, that’s stupid, you won’t be able to read if your eyes are closed. South Korea was hip to the fact that North Korea was digging tunnels, because of the first two tunnels. They dug holes where they suspected tunneling, placed pipes in the holes and filled them with water. The Northerners were using dynamite to evacuate the tunnel and as one stick went off, the water from the pipe erupted and shot up above ground, signaling the South that something was brewing below! The Southerners then dug five more holes around the pipe that exploded, placed pipes in those holes, and poured water down them. The water never came to the surface, meaning it was flowing into a free space below. So they started digging! It took them 3 months to dig and find the tunnel precisely. When questioned about it, North Korea denies it being a tunnel of aggression but a coal mine...*Side-eye* The next stop was the Dorasan Observatory. Pretty much an overlook where you can see different landmarks on the border of North Korea. They probably over there looking right back at us like, “Look at them with their looking asses!” Theeeeeeeeeen We stopped at the Dorasan Station! Yo, this is a HUGE train station...that is not in operation. Whomp! It was built to link North and South Korea. Initially, it transported cargo to the North and was expected to provide passenger transit between the South and North. However, with the ongoing tensions, change in political parties, and North Korea not agreeing to stop nuclear weapon testing, South Korea shut down the cargo transport, so clearly it never got to the point of passenger transport. The ongoing goal is to have reunification with North Korea, open the station, making it the starting point of a transcontinental railway to the North, China, Russia, and other parts of Europe! So yes, there is beautiful, modern train station that is not it use. As of now it’s a tourist attraction, you can buy a “train ticket” stamp it and go on to the platform. More importantly, it serves as a statue of hope that some day unification between North and South Korea will be accomplished. Can you imagine how LITTY the party in Imjingak Park will be?!?! That was out last stop on our DMZ tour. We didn’t get a chance to do the JSA part, but the JSA is pretty much where the meeting between both sides happen and apparently there’s a room where you’re in both North and South Korea. After they fed us some good Korean food and kimchi (yum!), back to Seoul we traveled. But there’s all this cool stuff in Seoul! So we HAD to explore before heading back to Cheonan! We went to visit the President’s House, the Blue House! Why is it called the Blue House? For the same reason the White House is called the White House. Then we visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace! Pictures don’t do this place any justice. It’s like a palace compound! Like him and his cousins and they cousins by marriage where all on this compound. After they kicked us out of the Palace because they were, "closing" 15 minutes before the actual closing time, we did what tourist do best...walk around aimlessly, stumbling upon things. Day Three! Jess had to go head back to Guam. So I planned on chilling and living my best bum life. Then I remembered I’m suppose to be living my best tourist life, so I hopped on a bus to Seoul! I REALLY wanted to see the North Seoul Tower, so I did (in my Forrest Gump Voice)! I was out in Seoul navigating like I’ve been there before. Really, the subway is just super easy to learn. The North Seoul Tower is the first general radio wave tower in South Korea! Actually with a little bit of research, in 2005 the tower was renamed as "N Seoul Tower," where the "N" stands for "Namsan," the part of the city the Tower is in. Namsan is also the name of Mountain the Tower sits on! The view from the N Seoul Tower, is BREATH TAKING! Listen, SEOUL IS A BIIIIIIIG CITY!!!! When you’re down in it you don’t realize it, oh but from above, it’s MASSIVE! If you made it this far, you’re the Real MVP, because this post was long! I’m sorry, but I did a lot in South Korea, in 4 days! If you’re into history, I encourage you to visit South Korea or at least research more about the country, the Korean War and the effects it had on both North and South Korea! Mikyba and South Korea, thank you for pouring into my Soul! Until Next Time, Live in Love
0 Comments
Either way....ABOUT A WEEK AGOOOOO!! *Hits Shmoney Dance*
Heeeeeeey guys! About a week ago, I moved to Guam...Last year after closing out my Peace Corps service I promised to keep blogging, buuuuut life! So here we are a year later! I know, we have A LOT to catch up on. How dare I just pop up a year later like, “New phone, who dis?” I promise we will catch up on the past year....but I moved to Guam! “Guam what??” you’re probably asking. Guam, Guam! Dee island! Go ahead and pull that up on your map because I know most of us have NO idea where Guam is!............You back?! OK! Guam is a U.S. Territory in the Pacific Ocean, apart of what is know as the Micronesian Islands. The native people are the Chamorro people. Although, the population is now one diversified by those of Asian and Pacific Island decent. Guam was originally colonized by Spain, gotta love Europe, acquired by the U.S. as apart of the Treaty of Paris, captured by Japan during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and then recaptured by the U.S. a little over 2 years later. That's your history lesson for today. Ok! Let’s get into it! I’ve always wanted to do travel nursing. One reason I went into nursing was to have flexibility in where I worked and when I worked. Last time we spoke, I had just started my job at George Washington University Hospital. My time there was well spent, and may be revisited, who knows! I figured what better time to try all the things you want to do than the present?! I mean, no one wants to be 88 years-old thinking, “I wish I would have just given it a shot when I was 26, with no kids and no spouse?” Don’t get me wrong, the decision was cumbersome for me to make, because who really wants to leave the comfort of stability? I moved so much as a child, I always knew I wanted stability as an adult. When I was in high school, I was so tired of moving, I didn’t talk to my mom for like 2-weeks because we were about to move AGAIN! I know all this sounds like one big contradiction, and we’ll talk about that later. Travel nursing is a very lucrative business, something I was unaware of. There are a billion agencies and you really have to shop for one or two that are 1. Nurse friendly and will not put you in situations that will make you lose your license. 2. Offers great benefits. 3. Offers locations you would be interested in. 4. Paying that COIN!! Most assignments are 13 weeks in length. Mine happens to be six, because, you know, Guam is super far. So long story short, my recruiter is like, “We have Guam.” I’m like, “Guam, what?” You know how there’s Paris, Texas, so I’m thinking, “This man is trying to send me to Guam, Idaho or something.” He’s like, “Guam Guam, the island.” At that moment I had to remember that Guam is a U.S. Territory! Impulsively, I agree to interview! At first I didn’t get the job, and I was completely ok with it! A part of me wanted my first assignment to be closer to home because y’all know my grandma is one of my best friends and I wanted be able to to see my family and friends whenever! Remember, I had only been home for a little over a year after living in Rwanda for a year. Therefore, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to head out again. Two weeks later, my recruiter calls and is like, “You wouldn’t believe this! Guam reposted the job you applied for, I resubmitted you, and they called and said they had been looking for your profile and that’s why they reposted the job!” *Hard side-eye* Sooooooo...BOOM got a job in Guam!!! *Cue automatic feelings of doubt, uncertainty, and fear* I’m not going to get into these feelings on this post, because these are things I want to dissect with you individually. After a week of back-and-forth, “I’m going, I’m not going,” consulting with my closest friends (I know they were tired of hearing about it!), and prayer (I was also reading A Purpose Driven Life at that time), I woke up at 3am one morning, signed the contract, and rolled back over to finish my slumber. When I woke up the next morning, I still had feelings of uncertainty... Time goes on, I'm living my regular life, casually completing things for Guam, like the RN license application, as if I wasn't going anywhere in a month. After completing pre-employment things, and being cleared, I had 12 days to get my life together! TWELVE DAYS! Oh I was scheduled to work six of those twelve. So, SIX DAYS!! Whew, chile, the stress! I'll be working on a Telemetry/Progressive Care Unit. For my non-healthcare professionals, that's people who need their heart rhythms monitored closely and people that are not sick enough for the Intensive care unit but not well-enough for a traditional medical-surgical unit. From what I have seen thus far, it will be QUITE the experience. Of course, I'll be looking for some volunteer opportunities while I'm here! I've already found a gym! I need to find me some Navy or Air Force friends because gas and groceries on the economy are so expensive I don't even be hungry anymore! Oh, I'm definitely trying to hop on a plane to Japan, the Philippines, and other places while I'm out in these waters! The island is only like 30 miles long and 12 miles wide (at the widest part). My roommate and I drove around the entire island and found some "must-do" activities, it only took us about 3 hours, even with the stops we made to see different things! We have a cute little Nissan Cube, that we be tearing up these Guam streets in (not really because gas in $4.42/gal)!! We live near the University of Guam where we can jog to a coastal area, and drive to the beach in 10 minutes! People here are extremely friendly, like Chick-Fil-a customer service friendly. There's seems to ALWAYS be a party happening and the food is AMAZING! D.C., to Chicago, to Tokyo, to Guam!! I’m here, and I’m already backed up on things to share with you guys! I know we have a lot to catch up on (I actually found a post in my draft folder that should have been posted in Aug 2017, yikes)! Bear with me as we catch up on the past year, as we talk about Guam and traveling, as we talk about relationships, as we touch on purpose driving living and faith, as we dissected and overcome feelings of doubt and fear, as we get a little sophistiratchet, all while, of course, living our best, fearless, fierce, and powerful lives! Until Next Time, Live in Love... "For we know that all things works together for the good of them that love God, them that are called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28
And that is exactly how this transition has happened. I've been home almost three months and I am blessed to say that my transition has been fairly simple, with a few "trying" moments. Some people just don't know what questions to ask. In addition, I had to come to terms that my service was my service, and no one, except other volunteers would understand or really want to know the details of my service. So unless you've been following this blog, you probably got a, "It was cool." answer from me. I wasn't about to let people stress me out with their unawareness and fake interest. You all know what fake interest is, so let's not pretend that we don't all do it. Anywho, my transition has been BLESSED. Upon arriving home, things fell into place without stress. So would say, my transition happened as if it was destined to happen at the time that it happened. I accepted and recently started (yesterday) a new job, and I bought a car, my first car in my name. So I'm adulting, ok? OK! I will say, during my first two weeks home, my stomach wasn't here for NONE of the foolery you all are eating in the States. However, according to my last "weigh-in" I have adjusted well. It has taken me awhile to decide how to transition this blog from being Peace Corps centered, to being centered on my life from here on out. Soooooo really the best thing I could think of was to just do it. Therefore, this blog is rerouting. I will occasionally revisit my Peace Corps experience because it plays a huge role in my personal growth, future experiences, how I handle challenges, and how I now view certain things. I will now focus on...really, whatever I want to write about. My upbringing, my experiences as a adolescent, my new chapter going forward, current events, etc. So what's this new chapter you ask? Well, I accepted employment at the The George Washington University Hospital, here in Washington, D.C. When I say "all things work for the good of those..." I mean it. I was offered the job the day of my interview. It gets better, I was given a start date of July 31st, giving me the time that I wanted and needed to digress, and adjust. The day after accepting my job offer, I was able to purchase my first car, without needing a co-signer, based on my offer letter and my credit. With my three months of down time, I probably should have studied for the GRE or done something productive, but I didn't. I traveled to visit friends, attended weddings I wanted to attend. I slept in, binged watched TV shows, exercised A LITTLE BIT, and enjoyed my family at every moment I had. Because I moved a lot before attending college, this is the first time in a long while I have lived this close to my family, so it is sometimes a blessing and a curse to be so available to them. More-so a blessing, because I love family! My grandparents are getting use to saying, "See you later this week." instead of, "Are you coming home for the holiday?" It's still kind of weird that whenever I walk in their house they still greet me as if they haven't seen me in a long time. My cousins are still getting use to me being home. Well, I'm going to say that's the reason I find out about them hanging out on SnapChat. LOL! My grandma strangely always needs bananas or a loaf of bread. I've gotten to spend more time with my dad in the past two months, than I've spent with him in like the past two years. Mom and I are cooling out, we're an interesting pair, but thats my bestie and she's still getting use to me being home. Well, that's all for now. I just wanted to let you guys know this thing is making a turn! I'll be working on the homepage and things to redirect the focus, so if you visit and things looking a little throwed-off, bare with me. OH! And remember, sometimes, rerouting doesn't mean you made a wrong turn... Until Next Time, Live in Love |