The North Koreans

Okay so meeting North Koreans was... awesome! You learn so much from books or documentaries about the mess that is going on over there... the famine, brain-washing, labour camps, the desperation that forces someone to run away from home for a start somewhere strange and new.

When I lived in South Korea in 2008, I had the fortune to be one of the few to go to Kaesong, a city in the south of North Korea through South Korea. We started in rich and fancy South Korea, passed through the DMZ and after a brief visa process, ended up in North Korea. To describe it as day and night would not do enough justice in describing the disparity between the Koreas. For more detail on this trip, fish for one of the entries in this blog around June 2008.

In any case, my brief time in North Korea instilled an interest in me that has not died down. Its the motive for my next trip to South Korea next week and was the driving force that led me to my new North Korean friends last week.

Although I wanted to ask them every question in the world ('how did you escape?' ... 'what's it really like there?'), I made sure to take things easy. I aim to become friends with the people I met wherein they become as interested in learning about me as I do about them. The things I did learn, I'll keep private for now, but I'm beyond excited to learn about North Korea and it's people without having to refer to a book or movie to do so.

For those 2 people who still read this blog and would love a great starting point on North Korea, I really recommend "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick. Not only a great resource but also one of my favourite books on any matter.

- Gilad