At War...with Mother Nature.

I've been a bit delinquent on keeping up with my blog, mostly because life goes on as usual and I'm not out blazing trails around Seoul.  In an attempt to procrastinate (ahem, I have a test and a review guide to be writing) I thought I would write a quick update. 


About a month ago I was feeling a bit of cabin fever so Rebecca and I decided to take a trip to the War Memorial Museum.  I came to Seoul knowing little about Korean history, or the war which devastated the nation so it was high time to make this visit a priority.  To top things off, the museum was also hosting a Da Vinci exhibit that showcased his genius inventions.   We set out on the 110 bus (the metro and taxis here are fantastic, but I am really starting to appreciate the fabulous bus network here too!) and headed toward the army base near Itaewon.  It's a fairly long ride and for most of the time I had no directional sense meaning I could not have told you where in the city we were exactly, but the bus dropped us off directly in front of the museum.


The first thing that catches your attention are these incredible statues.  Had it not been so unbelievably cold outside I would have lingered a bit longer to appreciate the faces of those who fought for this nation.  We took the long way to the museum entrance and passed walls covered in plaques listing all those who fought and died in the Korean war.  The numbers were staggering and it seems as if the walls would never come to an end.  It amazes me how involved the United States was in this conflict.

One view of the amazing statues in front of the museum.

...and the other side!

Inside we headed straight for the Da Vinci exhibit and spent over an hour marveling at the inventions this one man conceived.  Unfortunately there were no authentic models of the inventions Da Vinci dreamed up, the replicas sufficed in giving the viewer and idea of the depth of this man's imagination.  We saw everything from scuba suits to war machines.  It was pretty incredible.  We were also treated to an exhibit about Mona Lisa which revealed her true colors.  Having seen Mona several times now it was interesting to see what she may have looked like when Da Vinci worked on her.

Yes, this is me taking a contraband photo...but this box of mirrors was too cool and I couldn't help myself:).  By the way, I now understand how the contestants on What Not To Wear feel when they have to go into the 360 degree mirror!

Doesn't my face look like Mona's?

I like this one better!

Since we were already at the museum, Rebecca and I spent the next hour wandering through the different floors and halls.  Some exhibits depicted the triumphs of various dynasties, others showed scenes from the Korean War.  In one area, there was a tribute to every nation who supported the South Koreans during the war and listed how many soldiers were lost.  I was surprised to see nations in Africa, South America, and the Middle East provided support during the war.  Here's a taste of what we saw as we roamed the museum halls...

The museum entrance.

A huge, and beautifully decorated, drum in the entry hall.

Early war practices.

A very cool dragon boat!

Mother Nature sure is at work in this part of the world.  After MANY weeks of bitter cold we were treated to two solid weeks of temperatures in the 40's and 50's and sunshine.  Recently, the cold has returned and while we are all anxiously awaiting the coming of spring, it seems that she has other plans.  As I sit here writing this blog post, snowflakes are drifting down from the overcast sky.  In the last month, we have also seen the wrath of nature as we had news of a large earthquake that brought the city of Christchurch, NZ to its knees and observed the effects of a gigantic earthquake that struck Northern Japan late last week.  Every day I cringe as I read the news and learn of thousands more casualties from the tsunami that hit the eastern coast of Japan or hear about another explosion at a badly crippled nuclear power plant.  I cannot even begin to imagine the tragedy that my neighbors just to the west are facing.  I feel lucky to report that South Korea was not at all affected by the quake or tsunami.  


My students have countless questions about what is happening and why...questions that are extremely relevant to our studies in science as we learn about the structure of the atom and nuclear chemistry...questions that show their concern for the well being of others...questions that reveal their fears that something like this could happen to them in their lifetime.  I have students in my classroom who have family members affected by the devastation, however, all have confirmed that their loved ones are still alive.  The only way I can explain the magnitude of what we feel having witnessed a tragedy of this scale so close by is looking back on Hurricane Katrina.  The unpredictability of nature provides a constant threat causing people to be continually on alert.  All we can do is wait and pray that peace and safety will be restored soon as so many people try to put their lives back together and try to extend a helping hand in any way possible.