The War Museum and The Dead Sea Scrolls!!

The entrance to the War Museum. The most amazing yet tragic statue at the War Museum.

Today Alison and I went to the War Museum since we missed seeing it yesterday. I had to be up early again, so this weekend didn't involve too much sleeping for me. We arrived in Seoul around noon and headed straight to the War Musuem, which was a 15 minute walk from Yongsan station.

Canada's plaque on the floor of a building outside the Museum.

You can view the entire outside area of the Museum for free, which was awesome. They had statues, tanks, vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, and boats that were all used in the wars. It was really amazing to see how well done the outside of the Museum was and that it didn't cost a penny to see it all.

Me imitating a brass soldier, probably not the most respectful thing to do.

It was a sweltering hot day out, so it was nice to be able to enjoy all that the outside of the Museum had to offer. Alison and I couldn't believe that something like this was free because in Canada you couldn't enjoy the outside of any Museum for free. Alison being choked by a big brass soldier.

Alison and I inside an army tank.

There was actually a lot to see outside the Museum, including a Korean wedding. The Museum allows couples to get married there and it really was quite beautiful. However, any one could watch the wedding and Korean weddings are nothing like Western weddings. People are very rude and disrespectful at Korean weddings. They talk on their cell phones, walk around, talk to each other, etc.

Traditional Korean wedding taking place outside.

Alison and I pose for a picture inside an army helicopter.

When we finally got inside the Museum we were stoked, because the Dead Sea Scrolls are in the War Museum for public viewing. It cost us 16,000 won to view the War Museum Exhibits and the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit alone is 15,000 won, so we figured for 1,000 won more we could see the War Museum as well. It was incredible. We toured the War part of the Museum first because it led to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, which was the end of the route. Below are just some random Museum pictures.

Me posing with a military man and his horse.

I'm standing over the 38th parallel. How cool is that?

Look Out World, I'm driving some sort of military vehicle.

When we had finally finished the main Museum part we ended with the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit and my heart was pounding just thinking about seeing them. Unfortunately, the entire exhibit was in Korean, but we were given a guidebook in English that we had to return when we finished viewing the exhibit. It was difficult not being able to read anything that was written in the actual exhibit, but it was exciting none the less. Now, pictures were not allowed to be taken because of the fragility of the Scrolls and the fact that they are ancient and can be damaged by exposure to light and heat. Well, I was a bad girl and snuck two pictures of them with the help of Alison and the flash off. So, for your viewing pleasure I introduce you to some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I apologize for the poor/blurry quality, but I had to act fast and they were in a glass case.

Once we were finished seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were unbelieveable, we both got our names written in Hebrew on a piece of paper that I plan on framing in my apartment. Thank goodness Alison can read Korean characters because that was the only way to type your name in. We made the Korean man in line behind us very angry because she had to go slow because she doesn't know where the characters are located on a computer. He was pushy, impatient and rude, so I'm glad we took a bit longer. We ended by buying some post cards and soft serve ice cream to end our Museum visit.

When we were done at the Museum we headed back to Yongsan to have some Thai food for lunch and then we headed back to Incheon. I ended up having to meet a friend for dinner at 6:00 p.m. which I ended up being late for because of the train and bus back from Seoul. We just ate some Kal Guk Su (noodle soup) in Yeonsu. The best part of dinner was the street fight we saw between two vendors. Now these men were in their 40's or 50's and they were fighting because one vendor stole the other vendors selling spot. It was the most hilarious fight I have ever seen. Man 1 who was the older man and far more aggressive started the yelling match that turned into a shoving match and then man 2 pushed man 1 to the ground and punched him. Man 1 then walked to his truck and took out his sneakers, sat down on the sidewalk and change from his sandals to sneakers and then got up kicked man 2 in the leg and then started beating him with his sandals. Lisa and I were laughing at this odd turn of events. I'm confused as to why man 2 didn't beat man 1 up while he was changing shoes. I mean it was so hysterical that these men were fighting and then one takes a break to change shoes and the other man watches and then they continue to fight. Meanwhile, man 3 is trying to break the fight up with no luck. About 10 minutes later this lady who I think worked at the Baskin Robbins they were fighting in front of, comes outside and gets between the two men and she sends man 1 to his truck and man 2 his truck. I couldn't believe my eyes, this tiny Korean lady broke up a fight between two grown men that another grown man couldn't even accomplish. Finally, the police showed up and heard both men's side of the stories and man 2 selling melons got told leave. Man 1 was the winner apparently because he got the selling spot. I'm not even joking when I say this fight lasted over 20 minutes. When we finally left the restaurant I went to pay for a gym membership, but the gym had closed earlier than I was told, so I will need to get on that tomorrow instead.

*The pictures are courtesy of Alison's camera.*