Anyeong Haseyo, pt. 4

A couple days ago we went to Suwon to see the Hwaseong Fortress, which was built in the late 1700s. According to Wikipedia, the fortress was built “by King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty to honour and house the remains of his father Prince Sado, who had been murdered by being locked alive inside a rice chest by his own father King Yeongjo having failed to obey his command to commit suicide.” The wall and buildings are still intact while a modern city has sprouted in and around it, which looks like this:

But, as you may have heard, things on the Korean Peninsula have been a little tense as of late. Even within this fortified city, few left their homes. Not even to play on the safest tennis court in the world.

Unfortunately, news that the fortress had been penetrated by an invader had spread. As you can see here, women and children risked their lives crossing the river to safety

I stayed behind to defend the fort. At first things didn’t look good for the city.

But the battle shifted inside the northern gate.

I wore gloves to clean up the blood in order to decrease my risk of contracting swine flu.

To celebrate my victory I treated myself to a squid dinner, but the enemy reappeared.

I was forced to defend my meal.

In the end it was all just a big misunderstanding, so the next night we made ammends playing video golf and going to a batting cage.