Independence Day

So first and foremost, I want to shout out all my peeps. MY ROOMMATE HERE WHO IS AWESOME AND SAYS HI. and everyone has e-mailed me saying they read my blog (esp. my granny <3 ).

"In war, there is no substitute for victory."- Douglas MacArthur

I celebrated the 4th of July for the first time outside of the United States. It was very interesting. That morning in my Korean War class, we watched a documentary about the massacre of a bunch of children by either the U.S. or South Korean forces. This painting was created by Picasso in response to that act. Basically what happened is a group of North Korean women refused to give up the location of a group of men and in response all of their children were gathered together and but into a building and then eventually a hand grenade was thrown in through a window and I believe all but two of the children died. Obviously, I am well aware of the fact that atrocities have been committed by Americans during numerous wars. But I think what struck me the most was more the loss of their voices in the broader sense. It's unconscionable that the 'victors' (although it's really arguable if anyone really 'won' the Korean War but I think it's pretty clear that Americas walked away ) of a conflict can not only take lives but also take away general awareness of something even occurring. Although the extent to which you can blame the victors of a conflict for a failure of the general populace to educate themselves. Anyways, Kyung Hee had a little independence day celebration for us foreigners. It was really funny there was a rock band made up entirely of people who all appeared to speak next to no english and yet were singing Alanis Morrisette and Metallica. It was pretty interesting, I would say A for effort.

Later on that day, a bunch of us went out to dinner and clubbing which was hilarious. Hip Hop culture is world wide. It's especially noticeable because there are literally tvs everywhere here. There in every restaurant i've gone to and everyone has these really crazy cell phones with tv sets on it. It's ridiculous. The clubs we went to were all american hip hop. I dunno it was really weird to be in Korea dancing to fifty cent (which of course is not in Korean) with a bunch of Koreans.

Then on sunday I WENT TO LOTTE WORLD. Lotte World is the equivalent of Disney World. Disney is of course a lot nicer but it was so cute. Everything in Korea is so cute by the way. And just like Disney we stood in lines for hours in unbearably hot weather. However, by far the best part was there was a gun range and I SHOT A GUN. Anyone knows me knows how ridiculous the thought of me shooting a gun is but I'm including photos as proof! I was really really bad. I had a 33% accuracy rate so if war ever breaks out, i'm probably not the person you want covering your back. I didn't even realize you were supposed to use the sights (?) to line up with the target.

All and all a magnificent weekend. My one complaint is that I wish my family were here with me.