by Calvin Sun | Aug 20, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
They must really have something against us foreigners. Possible evidence of phone tapping in our hotel room: Do you really need these many wires to work 1 analog phone? But really, the level of self-love North Korea displays is greater than the more subtle aspects of...
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 20, 2011 | Introspection, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Thailand
I’m living in a postcard. sleeping in a bungalow next to the beach, hanging out with some friends I made in Myanmar, watching fish swim by me in the crystal clear water, scrambling around rocks on a nearby island, reading all day in a hammock. this is paradise....
by Calvin Sun | Aug 19, 2011 | Introspection, North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
Live in a gray city for long enough, and it shows on your face. They are unaccustomed to your presence. Their heads hang low, and smiles are rare. They walk around you without making eye contact, but every now and then you may catch someone sneaking a look. You can...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 18, 2011 | Crisis, Mythbusters, North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Travel Warnings
The DMZ. Former president Bill Clinton had named it the “scariest place on Earth.” It is the most heavily militarized border in the world, with over a million soldiers ready to go to war at a moment’s notice if either side dared to cross the 38th...
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 18, 2011 | Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Thailand
is only accessible by boat. everything (toilet paper, water, people) is brought in by longtail boats. has no roads. the peninsula town is about a 15 minute walk across and a 30 minute walk from end to end is surrounded by gigantic limestone cliffs which fall into the...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 16, 2011 | North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, What Dreams May Come
As I said in the last entry, this is the greatest show on earth. Not only does it hold the Guinness Book of World Records title for world’s largest show, but it is also performed in the world’s largest stadium and features 100,000 performers who have all...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 14, 2011 | North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
The cult of personality. That’s the term giving to folks like Mao, Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, Mussolini, Castro, and Kim Il-Sung. It’s the idea of using mass media and propaganda to fuel the notion that a single human being is a god-like hero, a savior of...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 14, 2011 | Mythbusters, North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
What trip to Pyongyang would be complete without seeing the structures that represent the very soul of North Korea? We take a look at central Pyongyang and Kim Il-Sung square, the heart of its communist movement and the 16th largest city square in the world. In a way,...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 13, 2011 | Mythbusters, North Korea, Public Transportation, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
What riding the Metro helped debunk: There’s no way that they could pay so many actors to pretend everything is peachy; if they were hiding anything, it would have been more cost-effective to leave this out of the tour in the first place. So people really do use...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 13, 2011 | North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
The constant fog (to the point I had joked that the government was creating it) definitely doesn’t help debunk the stereotype. Let’s face it: Pyongyang is a very clean city unfortunately inhabited by a soulless buildings spread out on a flat space of 2630...
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