Shady motels, a drowned soldier and ice-cream.

Cords dangle to somewhat hide the guest's car.

When I usually go to Seoul, we stay in nice, even very nice hotels. This time it seems those places were booked. So we stayed in a motel. In the US, a motel just means you can park your car in front of the room. In Korea, it is a room for couples to rent for some privacy. With jetlag and a busy schedule in front of me, I thought how was I going to get any rest in a place like this. But, other than some voices now and again, I didn't hear any odd noises and the room was very comfortable and clean. The minibar was free and there was free popcorn and coffee downstairs. Koreans seem to be very neat and tidy in everything they do, even in the shadier side of life.

My bright golden bathrroom at the motel.

We came to do a story about improving economic activity near the DMZ on the North Korean border and even creating tourism WITHIN the DMZ to see an ecosystem untouched for over 60 years. Within the DMZ, we filmed tanks, barbed wire and lookout posts. It is hard to imagine many tourists wanting to come to see rare birds while a million soldiers point big guns at each other. The DMZ is an odd place anyway. Looking north you can see fake villages in the haze and imagine the horrible hardships of the north Koreans. Looking south, people are organising peace walks and DMZ marathons. The very subject of the two Koreas and unification is not much talked about, almost taboo. South Korea has come a long way and is a very modern and friendly place. The Koreans have worked hard to get there and many don't like to think about having to support all of North Korea in the event of a unification. But, on the other hand, they don't like to be thought of only as a divided state constantly on the verge of war. One interesting fact; a soldier told me that they find a dead north Korean soldier washed up on the south side of the river about once a month. He gueses they try to escape but drown in the process. He said the last body they found was just two weeks ago.

To end on a positive note, at my nice motel, they also had free ice-cream! But the flavours were a bit odd. This is corn ice-cream! Now, can that be considered a vegetable?

My vote for most friendly city: San Francisco

City Hall

Maybe it was the particularly great weather during my visit or some end of the summer good feeling in the city, but I tend to think that basically people here are just a friendly bunch.


I asked the girl next to me in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) if this was the 12th Street station. She said no, it was the next one. Since she seemed to know the system well. I asked if she knew how long it would take me from here to the airport. Saying she wasn't sure, she pulled out her smart phone. I thought she was just going to make a call and that was the end of the conversation. A minute afterwards she turned and said she was sorry, but the internet was very slow and she couldn't get the information I needed so quickly! Also on the metro, two people bumped into each other upon entering. Each turned to say sorry. I know some cities where that would have at least been pretext for some hateful stares.

Classic picture: Alamo Square

Taxi drivers are from all over the world. From the Ukraine to Ethiopia, each has their story. Sethi comes from India and his wife used to be a journalist and still does the odd article for the Indian press. He was listening to a radio in Hindi and said there was even a television in Hindi in SF. Everyone must feel at home here.


My reason for being her is to film the opera of the book "The heart of a Soldier", a true story about a soldier who later in life became a security agent at the World Trade Center in New York and saved many people on September 11th 2001 and gave his own life.