Chungbuk Style: 11.4.2013 - From Jecheon to Goesan

Moving again...

We had to say goodbye to our great hosts in Jecheon and pack our things and get to the next destination. It was really memorable stay in Jecheon with plenty variety on program. We had chance to visit educational instututes, city hall and mayor's office, as well well-known sights, like Guin-sa and city near by called Danyang. We also visited amazing grottos called: Gosy Caves. Trip to caves was really interresting but I can not really recommend it to older or handicapped persons, or those who are pregnant. There were plenty of stairs, tiny holes to get through and really sweaty atmhosphere because of the climbing and plenty of staircases.

Our hosts in Jecheon and GSE team. THANKS!

Gosy Caves.

Guin-sa Temple

Guin-sa temple was really worth of the visit, even it will require quite a lot excercice, because it is situated on the top of the valley of two hills and at quite high altitude. We also experienced cold wind so it was really freezing up to Guin-sa wood temple. The wooden temple is made out of wood. Guin-sa temple are is the home for monks, both for men and women, totally 500 together. There is situated more than 20 buildings and our guide told us about the daily life of the monks. How they produce rice and soya and what else thay are doing during the day, daily routines and schedule etc. Of course the guide told us how to behave in the temple and plenty of explanations about small details that at least I did not know before. We also had chance to hear about buddhism, ask question and sort introduction how a person can be better person by following buddhist "rules". Everything starts basic thing like breathing deeply in through your nose and then releasing your breath out through the mouth, deeply and slowly inhale/exhale. Also politeness, respect and community plays a high role on among buddhist thoughts.

Btw in the biggest building the elevetors were produced by Finnish company KONE.

About the situation today with DPRK and South Korea

DPRK and South Korea tension is giving also us more things to think about. I think that the weather also reflecst the situation because it is freezing and during the night time probably minus degrees. It's also snowing time to time and I think "our biggest concern" is with cherry blossoming because it should be the time for that but it is not really happening because of the weather. What comes to the situation with DPRK and South Korea so the North Korean Kim Jong-Un announced couple days ago that safety of the foreign traveller and tourist can't be quarenteed after 10th of April. The day was yesterday, so we will see what is going to happen. South Korea has increased their alert level from normal to alert level: "vital threat"and Japan has settled more missile defence equipment in Tokyo because of the North Korea situation. It's just a matter of time when probably DPRK will launch missile to show that it is possible and as an rehearsal purpose. At least I wish it will be missile launching rehearsal. This might take place on 15th of April. We also got e-mail today from Finnish embassy based in Seoul. I will also attach text here in Finnish:

Hyvät suomalaiset Etelä-Koreassa,

Viime aikoina on jännitys Korean niemimaalla valitettavasti lisääntynyt, erityisesti Pohjois-Korean johdon kovasanaisista lausunnoista johtuen. Suomen Soulin suurlähetystö ja ulkoministeriö seuraavat tilannetta tarkkaan. Ne ovat myös jatkuvassa yhteydessä muihin tahoihin, joilla on kattava käsitys akuutista tilanteesta niemimaalla. Pidämme luonnollisesti tilannetta huolestuttavana, mutta yhdymme kuitenkin niihin lukuisiin asiantuntijanäkemyksiin, joiden mukaan akuuttia vaaraa ulkomaalaisille ei Etelä-Koreassa toistaiseksi ole. Siksi Suomi ei - eikä mikään muukaan EU-maa - ole antanut sellaista matkustussuositusta, joka varoittaisi matkustamasta Etelä-Koreaan. (Tilanteen epäselvyyden takia ovat useat EU-maat - ml. Suomi - kehottaneet kuitenkin välttämään tarpeetonta matkustamista Pohjois-Koreaan).

Viitaten Pohjois-Korean kehotukseen harkita ulkomaalaisten evakuoitumista Etelä-Koreasta, on Etelä-Korean ulkoministeriö todennut 9.4.2013 suurlähetystöille, että se ei näe nykytilanteessa sellaista, joka aiheuttaisi akuuttia vaaraa maassa oleville ulkomaalaisille. Tätä vahvistavat sen mukaan myös tuoreet tiedustelutiedot. Siten Etelä-Korean ulkoministeriö näe suurempaa riskiä maassa jo olevien tai maahan matkustavien ulkomaalaisten turvallisuudelle.

Vaikka tilanteen ennakoidaan varsin yleisesti vähitellen rauhoittuvan, ovat rajoitetut provokaatiot (esim. ohjuskoe) kuitenkin mahdollisia lähitulevaisuudessakin. Suurlähetystö seuraa tilannetta ja on tarvittaessa yhteydessä maassa oleviin Suomen kansalaisiin. Tätä varten heitä kehotetaan rekisteröitymään matkustustiedote.fi -sivuilla sekä seuraamaan mediaa ja suurlähetystön tiedotteita (www.finland.or.kr ja www.facebook.com/FinnishEmbassySeoul). Edustuston verkkosivuilta, Palvelut suomalaisille -otsikon alta löytyvät myös rutiiniohjeet poikkeustilanteiden varalle.

Jotta rekisterimme maassa olevista Suomen kansalaisista pysyisi ajan tasalla, olemme kiitollisia ilmoituksestanne myös koskien muuttuneita yhteystietoja ja mahdollista maasta pois muuttamista.