Arizona: Pima County Air and Space Museum

We took a break from nature to wander around a giant museum /airfield of airplanes and rockets. We didn’t see it all, but we saw plenty all the same. Row upon row of combat jets, cargo planes, and old jet liners were outside; more warplanes were inside. They had four B-52s and planes from every war from WW II onward, including the SR-71 Blackbird. That SR 71’s a long and sleek plane. I’d always wanted to see one up close and there it was. It was bigger than I’d imagined. Those B-52s were cool, but I liked the F14 and the B17 better. Seeing all the planes brought back fond memories of the recent trip to the War Memorial in Seoul. Pima had many more of them on display. They even had some of the MiGs Rochelle and I saw in Korea.

The museum has separate hangars for WWII planes as well as one for outer space exploration. The outer space one brought back many memories of going to the planetarium. I bet my dad liked the exhibits about the US space program because he used to follow it closely. Him and the generations of those older than Justin and I got to see that stuff as it happened. It probably felt more thrilling to see the moon landing on TV then than it feels to watch the video now. I shouldn’t belittle all that’s happened since my birth year of 1986, but the International Space Station and all the shuttles can’t compare to the Apollo program. The moon landing conjures more wonder because it showed man pushing the limits of science. Also, consider that the space program came amid the tumbling dice changes of the 1960s and it makes for one intriguing era Dad did indeed have a good time. We all did. 

Vacation Day 2: 30 December 2012

--Hit Gwanghwamun Jip (house) for some excellent kimchi jjigae. Seoul Magazine recommended it. The place defines small: it's barely big enough for a kitchen, let alone a restaurant. You actually walk past the stove to get upstairs. Narrow stairway, too! We made our way upstairs and got seated next to a group of ajoshis and ended up conversing a bit with them when we asked to have our picture taken. One of them spoke excellent English and informed us that the restaurant has been around for 30 years and that we were the first foreigners he's seen there. I found that interesting in light of the restaurant's history.

--National Museum of Contemporary History
This free--yes, free--museum has an excellent overview of Korean history from the 1876 until today. We didn't take as many pictures here because the halls weren't very big and the place was packed with families enjoying the weekend. We took heart in all the kids looking at the exhibits. At one point Rochelle and I got to talking with two little boys who were looking at LPs and calling them CDs. I corrected them and they started talking to us and saying their names. They were cute.

We enjoyed seeing Korea's progression from a rural agrarian country to a modern industrialized one. It's notable that Korea's last kingdom, the Joseon Dynasty ended in 1910 and it's only been a functioning republic since the 1980s. As we were walking out, Rochelle observed that the 3 floors of exhibits went from dark to light as though Korea was emerging from the dark past into a bright future.

Words of the day

정부 government
애국가 National anthem
군사정변 Coup d'Etat
공화국과 republic
통깉타 acoustic guitar
혁명 revolution

Note: Pictures will come soon.

Also, we checked out the Korean movie Architecture 101 and we liked it. It sparked a few discussions. The review will come later.

The War Memorial of Korea part 1

[I dedicate this post to three friends and a cousin: Fellow EPIK teacher, neighbor, and Iraq War veteran Dave; and Dick and Mike in Wisconsin: I love talking history with you guys. And last but certainly not least, my cousin Aaron of the US Air Force.]

After delaying it more times than we can count, Rochelle and I finally hit The War Memorial Of Korea. It's a massive and impressive building located next to the Samgakji (삼각지) subway station in Seoul. The outside of the building has planes, tanks, helicopters, mortars, and howitzers you can walk up to and touch. Dig that: I can't think of any places where that's possible in the States. Some of the airplanes have little stairways next to them so you can walk up and see inside the cockpit, so you can see everything the pilots saw.

We stood under a big B-52 bomber and checked out the F4A Phantom before heading inside. That B-52's a massive plane; I thought of all the missions they'd flown and all the bombs they'd dropped over the years. The B-52 was the big US bomber for a long time and I finally got to see one up close. Woohoo.

We wandered the tall and airy exhibit halls for hours. We started on the Expeditionary Forces hall and made our way around the place from there. What a great time! The place has all number of war paraphernalia and memoranda from recreations of old warships to cross-sections of jet engines. Wandering around and seeing the dioramas and photos of battles brought back all the time I spent reading the military books that I got from my aunt and uncle all those years ago because we saw stuff I'd only seen in books and movies before. The exhibits on the Korean (6.25 War for Koreans) and Vietnam Wars sparked my interest the most, for they're integral to understanding American history. They also represent two key points where American and Korean history intersect: The USA came to South Korea's aid in the Korean War and South Korea sent troops to Vietnam to fight alongside the Americans. The wars made indelible marks on both countries as well. (Full disclosure: I admit that I didn't know that Koreans fought in the Vietnam War, so that's more lesson learned. Good deal).

The War Memorial's free, which makes it one excellent place to spend an afternoon and get away from the elements. I've mentioned before that most museums and cultural attractions in Korea --and the country has plenty of them--are free or cheap, which I can't help but love. If you're interested in Korea's storied military history--or want an interesting and inexpensive place for a date, get down there as soon as possible. The museum abounds with learning opportunities. Highly recommended.


Explanations come in Korean and English, so the place is friendly for English speakers. It also has a coffee shop and there are vending machines everywhere. You're never hurting for amenities at these kinds of places in Korea.
And get this: The Memorial has a huge play area for the kiddies that costs about 9000won if I remember correctly as well.

Here's today's Korean lesson:

전쟁 War (jeon-jaeng)

비행기 Airplane (bi-haeng-gi)
무기고 armory (mu-gi-go)
숙소 Quarters (suk-so)
사막색 Khaki (sa-mak-saek)
창고 Warehouse (chang-go)
로켓트 Rocket (ro-ke-teu--as noted before, many Korean words are simply English words written in Korean)
기관총 Machine gun (gi-gwan-chong)
기관단총 Submachine gun (gi-gwan-dan-chong)
소총 Automatic rifle (AK47, M-16, etc) (so-chong)
화염방사기 Flame thrower (hwa-yeom-bang-sa-gi)
다지기 typewriter (da-ji-gi)

육군 Army (yuk-gun)
공군 Air Force (gong-gun)
해군 Navy (hae-gun)

전차 Tank (jeon-cha)
전투함 Battleship (jeon-tu-ham)
함교 Bridge (ham-gyo)

Note: I put the hyphens in to aid in pronunciation because Romanized Korean can look strange and hard to pronounce. Every syllable gets equal emphasis in Korean, too.