Here is a look back at some of our favorite blog posts and stories from 2012.

Walter Turner, Global Exchange President of the Board of Directors, explains recent changes in policy regarding legal travel to Cuba and calls for unencumbered travel to Cuba, while Global Exchange co-founder Kevin Danaher reminds us that Cuba needs us to see its reality.

Lea Murray shares about how her trip to Venezuela has left lasting impressions, while Costa Rica program officer Marta Sanchez explains how she first became involved with Global Exchange.

The amazing “serial tripper” Jane Stillwater went on her 6th Reality Tour, this time to Uganda, while Global Exchange’s “What About Peace?” program went to Haiti to spread the message of peace with Haitian schoolchildren.

Burmese Temples

We said Aloha to Malia Everette, our Reality Tours Director for over 15 years, and wish her well in her transition.

We announced Reality Tours’ newest destination, to Burma, in 2013!

Every year is an eventful year for Reality Tours, and 2012 has been no exception.

We wish you all a peaceful New Years, and we’ll see you in 2013!

Take Action

We’re building an unstoppable movement for change. Are you in? Make a donation today.

Walter Turner at the 2012 Global Exchange Open House

The following is a guest post by Walter Turner, President of the Global Exchange Board of Directors and appears in our Winter/Spring 2012/13 print newsletter. Become a member of Global Exchange and have articles like these delivered to your mailbox!
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New U.S. Regulations Slow Travel to Cuba

In 1989 Global Exchange took its first delegation of American citizens to Cuba. I remember being on that delegation and sitting on the top floor of the Hotel Presidente discussing how to begin the process of ending the decades old U.S. blockade against Cuba.

Enacted in 1962 during the Kennedy administration the economic, social, and political blockade (El Bloqueo) has long outlived its supposed usefulness.

Year after year U.S. government officials have developed new formats for strengthening the blockade and preventing two countries that have a shared history – and are only geographically 90 miles apart – from having normal political and economic relations.

Over the last 20 years Global Exchange has facilitated travel to Cuba for tens of thousands of U.S. citizens. Educational delegations have provided a big window for Americans to see and learn about Cuba which highlight the world recognized environmental, ecological, medical, and social accomplishments in this developing country of 12 million people. Many of these people traveled to Cuba under the Office of Foreign Assets and Control (OFAC) imposed General License.

In May 2012 the efforts of millions of Americans to normalize relations with Cuba took a step backward and to the side. In early 2011, when President Obama took office, People-to-People licenses (more liberal than the General License) were granted to over 100 organizations as part of a new “dialogue” with Cuba. However, this spring the U.S. State Department and OFAC began a “slow down“ policy on granting and renewing the People-to-People licenses.

In addition to affecting People-to-People licenses in May, and again in July, the administration has backslid on pronouncements that the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility would be closed. On the other hand, the U.S. government has implemented changes in travel guidelines for Cuban Americans and loosened constraints on the transfers of remittances.

The new regulations are confusing, complicated, and laden with bureaucracy. Applications for the renewal of People-to-People licenses have been backlogged with OFAC. New guidelines for People-to-People license holders, Travel Service Providers (TSPs) like Global Exchange and charter flight companies are now encumbered with more paperwork and process.

Many of the organizations that were given one-year People-to-People licenses have had to cancel dozens of educational travel delegations while waiting to hear whether or not their licenses will be renewed. These renewal applications are often cumbersome and convoluted, sometimes reaching 400 pages in length. Essentially, travel to Cuba by American citizens has been slowed for the next several months.  It’s clear that these are political decisions.

During the 1990s Global Exchange was among the leaders of the national Freedom to Travel Campaign. Several delegations of American citizens traveled to Cuba and risked arrest and heavy fines to fight the U.S. administration’s travel restrictions and stand up for the right to travel anywhere in the world without restrictions. Global Exchange along with other organizations and individuals are once again speaking out on the new more cumbersome regulations and urging citizen action.

The Cold War ended years ago. Its time for American policy to reflect the rights of its citizens to be able to travel to Cuba and engage – unrestricted – with the people of Cuba. Its time to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba, end the 50 years blockade against Cuba, remove Cuba from the list of countries supporting terrorism, and free the Cuban 5.

As a Travel Service Provider (TSP) Global Exchange is authorized to take U.S. citizens to Cuba who qualify under the General License. We have also worked with hundreds of Americans who organized customized delegations with us, and were able to travel to Cuba during the last year under the People-to-People licenses.

TAKE ACTION!

For more information on the work of Global Exchange in Cuba and to learn how you may qualify to travel to Cuba please give us a call (415-255-7296 ext. 211) or email drea@globalexchange.org.

Wanjiku Mwangi, Reality Tours Uganda program advisor

Today we share with you some thoughts and impressions from Wanjiku Mwangi.  Wanjiku helped Reality Tours organize and facilitate some of our Uganda delegations.  Global Exchange continues to examine peace and conflict resolution in East Africa with a special emphasis on advocacy efforts with those working against human trafficking.

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I have had the honor of hosting three Global Exchange Reality Tours in Uganda; for students from Suffolk University, the University of California, and one for the organization ‘Not for Sale’.

These groups of incredible Americans are interested in understanding how the people of Northern Uganda  have fought against the menace of sexual and human trafficking brought about over the course of two decades of war and violence by Kony rebels and the Ugandan Army, that has decimated a once peaceful, healthy way of life for this community.

The American Reality Tours participants spent time visiting with organizations and communities both in Kampala and Gulu that are working to rebuild Northern Uganda back to its strong, self sustaining status, as it was before the horrors began.

From these Reality Tours trips, connections have formed and genuine, positive relationships have been forged, which have brought both emotional and financial support to northern Uganda communities.  One initiative borne out of this relationship is Tharce Gulu, a Local NGO that helps Northern Uganda communities heal from the traumatic effects of 22 years of war, sexual enslavement, and extreme poverty, lead by Professor Judy Dushku of Suffolk University in Boston.

Prof. Judy Dushku with Ugandan Children, Suffolk University Delegation to Uganda 2009.

Tharce Gulu started operating in Gulu town, northern Uganda in March 2010. Since then, with limited resources, Tharce Gulu has supported the capacity development of 4 women groups, making  up a total of 134 individuals in producing computer bags, candles and beads, which the groups sell locally and internationally, to help pay for their daily family needs and expand the small local businesses.

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Thank you Wanjiku for your contributions to Global Exchange. You help us “meet the people, learn the facts and make a difference!”

Travel to Uganda: If you are interested in learning more about upcoming Reality Tours trips to Uganda focusing on human trafficking, please visit our website.

Those of you who have taken the tour will recognize many of the interviewees including the journalist and freedom fighter Vasodevan Nampoothiri, Dr. R. Krishna Kumar, a pediatric cardiologist; newspaper editor S. Radhakrishnan, coordinating editor of The Mangalam Daily; Professor G.S. Jayasree of Kerala University, publisher of a journal of women’s studies, Samyukta; and Sri Marthanda Varma, Maharajah of Travancore. Gods’ Own Country (Kerala) is one of five chapters of Pax Ethnica, describing societies where people of various ethnicities and religions live in peace. In the book the authors question whether there actually are such places, and if so why haven’t we heard more about them, and what explains their success.

Reality Tours Participants and Community, Kerala India

To answer these questions, Meyer and Brysac undertook a two-year exploration of oases of civility, places notable for minimal violence, rising life-expectancy, high literacy, and pragmatic compromises on cultural rights. Beyond the Indian state of Kerala, they also explored the Russian republic of Tatarstan, Marseille in France and Flensburg, Germany, and the borough of Queens, New York. Through scores of interviews, they document ways and means that have proven successful in defusing ethnic tensions. This path-breaking book elegantly blends political history, sociology, anthropology, and journalism, to suggest realistic options for peace.

We extend our congratulations to Meyer and Brysac on your new publication and thank you for traveling with Reality Tours to Kerala! See praise and reviews for Pax Ethnica or sample their blog for the Pulitizer Center for Crisis reporting.

Travel to Kerala with Global Exchange: If you would like to explore our trip to Kerala, visit our website for information, photos and ways to learn more.

Boreth Sun Visiting Global Exchange in San Francisco

This is the first in a two-part interview by Global Exchange Reality Tours Intern Sue Sullivan with our Cambodia and Thailand program officer, Boreth Sun. Follow along to discover what it means to be an in-country representative of Reality Tours and our partnering organization Not For Sale.

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Sue: Could you tell us about your work in Cambodia and how you got involved with the Not for Sale Campaign?

Boreth: I started working with Global Exchange in Cambodia in 2007, for the first time when I organized a trip for a group of students from USF through Global Exchange. We helped students learn about the reality on the ground what happened in Cambodia, meet people, see people, learn from the people, share stories with people and all of that.  That’s what NFS has been doing along with Global Exchange. I started organizing the trip one time and then after Global Exchange sent me an email asking me to continue leading the tours, help linking people with different agencies, different institutions, community leaders, government officials and all of that and the next thing I know I got stuck.

Sue: What is your current role with Not For Sale in Southeast Asia?

Boreth: I am the coordinator for Cambodia, helping coordinate all activities from the other side of the world with Alessandro Isola and with Malia Everette. Recently, NFS has asked me to help with some networking in Cambodia as part of their work in trying to access some quality material and products from Cambodian social enterprises. They are importing some (stuff) from Cambodia through a garment factory called, STOPStart. STOPStart I think is owned by Not for Sale and some individuals. They want to try to tap into some resources. So I’m going to help them for only the next several months to link them with the right people, custom people, licensing, tax people, legal issues and also help linking them with some NGOs that can tap into some quality sale products or just handcraft products; bags T-shirts and all of that. That’s why I got involved. So again, very similar to a Reality Tour, helping people linking to the right institutions, development agencies, community leaders, villages, all that kind of stuff.

A Visit to Ankor Wat, Reality Tours August 2010

Sue: Could you tell us a little about the work of Not for Sale in Cambodia?

Boreth: In Cambodia, NFS, really doesn’t have a lot of direct activities, what NFS does is through me in Cambodia linking NFS US with different hr NGOs to fight against human trafficking. Basically, NFS does this to link people with different institutions who are fighting human trafficking. My goal is to link them with the right agencies that are doing a lot of great work, but also helping Stop Start, a garment factory who is promoting Fair Trade and hiring some people who are victims or survivors of human trafficking to work there. I link them with different agencies like Nymo.

Welcoming Sign at NYEMO, Cambodia

Nyemo is an agency, an NGO who is working with survivors of human trafficking to make quality products, handicrafts and different fabric design and all of that. NFS is linking with them now and tapping into their products to import them to the US to sell them in different parts of the US.  Its not direct support but linking to the right social enterprises, to responsible enterprises to help promote change in Cambodia.

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We here at Reality Tours are grateful that Boreth got “stuck”. We are excited to continue deepening our relationship and working together to organize broad educational tours, customized delegations and Not For Sale advocacy journeys in the years to come to Cambodia and Thailand. With our passionate partners all over the world, we are able to ensure that tourism is ethical, socially responsible, respects human rights, and is conscious of the local environment and culture. Thus we extend a special thanks to Boreth for working with us to “Meet the People, Learn the Facts, and Make a Difference”!

Past Cambodia Reality Tour trip participant Photo by: Tammy Gustafson

Take Action! Find out about how you can travel to Cambodia and Thailand on a Global Exchange Reality Tour.

The following was sent out to our Reality Tours email list today. Sign up here to receive this free monthly email update filled with past trip participant experiences and upcoming opportunities to travel with Global Exchange, plus a whole lot more.

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This Thanksgiving, we at Global Exchange are giving thanks to our members, supporters and leaders in our movement for social, economic and political justice.

We are thankful to all of you who have traveled on a Reality Tour – you met the people, learned the facts and you make a difference.

Below we’ve profiled Bill Patterson who learned about Cuba, traveled with us on a Reality Tour and continues to make a difference by supporting our work. We’re also hard at work planning an amazing Reality Tour to Cuba for New Years. We have over 40 people signed up. We warmly invite you to register as soon as possible.
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When Bill Patterson happened across a book about Cuba over a decade ago, he had no idea it would change his worldview forever. The book’s author happened to share his last name, except the author’s last name had one ‘t’ instead of two. He picked it up and started reading.

From this initial chance encounter, Bill’s interest in Cuba grew, and he started absorbing whatever he could about the small Caribbean nation, from books to magazines articles. He was struck by the contrast between U.S. propaganda and reality, shocked by statistics about the pre-revolution lives of Cuba’s citizens: 3 million people without any electricity, 39% illiteracy, 50% unemployment, 80% of the best property owned or controlled by U.S. interests. He read more about the embargo and the other long term destabilization efforts of the U.S. against the Castro government.

After finding this new information about Cuba, the conclusions were inescapable.

“If you are concerned about Cuba, you know that our country is pretty shameful… I read a great deal about Cuba, and our conduct is really beneath our stature,” Bill said.

Cuban farmer working the field

Reading is one thing. But seeing is another. And Bill knew that the only way to get the real scoop on Cuba would be to go there.

In a country suffering under decades-long travel ban imposed by Washington, this was easier said than done. He eventually settled on a Global Exchange Reality Tour as the best way to make it happen. In the spring of 1999, he began making arrangements to travel where few Americans have. And in June of that year, he found himself stepping off of an airplane in Havana.

While there, he was able to see for himself, without the biased filter of the US press, how Cuba’s people lived and to hear about both their challenges and their triumphs. He also witnessed their vibrant cultural and social life. The experience was a game changer for Bill.

He liked it so much that he did it again the next year.

Since he first traveled with Global Exchange, Bill’s become a solid supporter, giving every month as a member of Global Exchange Monthly Supporters (GEMS) program. Like us, Bill sees the great value in building people-to-people ties, and he feels pretty confident that he’s putting his money in the right place.

“You do things so well, and you’re so disciplined, it’s quite easy to be comfortable.”

Support from our members like Bill makes our work possible. We sure are glad he happened across that book.

We hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

~Leslie Balog
Cuba Reality Tours Director

P.S. Who else are we thanking? Read Gratitude to All Those Who Have Stood Up to Resist Injustice and find out!

The following was written by Jeremy Jimenez, who traveled on a Global Exchange Reality Tour trip to North Korea in 2010.  Jeremy Jimenez has taught Ancient History, Global Studies, and IB Economics at a variety of middle and high schools across the world, including urban and suburban schools in New Jersey, two international schools in Venezuela, and as a guest lecturer to dozens of schools across Norway as a Fulbright Roving Scholar. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D in International and Comparative Education at Stanford University.

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Having now been to 110 countries, I would not hesitate to state that there is no place on Earth like North Korea. In just the 15 minute ride from Pyongyang’s airport, you feel immediately transported to another era. The city is immaculately clean, the whispered clanking of a bike or occasional car among the little noise you hear in its capital. This calming effect is, of course, somewhat mitigated by the proliferation of posters extolling agricultural production or anti-imperialist slogans. While it is not uncommon to see a solo traveler passing by with a friendly smile, more memorable is how often one encounters people gathered in groups. This mass organization of society manifests itself regularly as you are whizzing past countless brief slices of daily life, whether it be soldiers/civilians practicing some marching formation, women huddled in close proximity polishing the sidewalk clean with brushes, or ‘field trips’ of farmers to the ‘holy sites’ of North Korea. While this collectivist orientation is fairly typical of East Asian cultures in general, North Korea takes it to a whole new level.

Tours, like nearly every other aspect of society, are organized from dawn to dusk, with wandering around on one’s own generally not permitted even within buildings (except one’s hotel.)  Nonetheless, despite this regimented schedule, there were no lack of spontaneous moments that enabled us to see North Koreans as individuals in their own right.  When telling a cashier at a rest stop, upon being asked, that I was a teacher, she told me that I “have wasted my life…..(I) should have been a film star.” On another night, what was initially meant as a quick introduction to a game of rotating ping pong with our local guides became a lengthy, sweaty, and intensely hysterical competition. After the game, being particularly absent minded, I Ieft behind my camera; I had already done this several times before as North Korea is a particularly easy place to abandon one’s usual regard for potential thieves.  When one of the guides retrieved it and gave it to me, he quite humorously pointed out “a man can become very rich following you around.”

What makes a trip to North Korea so unique and important is to have your assumptions challenged, since there are precious few visitors there, or North Koreans abroad, who can share their outlook. For example, hearing so much about how ‘strict’ the government is and how anti-American its orientation, one might suspect to have an unpleasant grilling by customs officers upon arriving.  Would I be interrogated for having a South Korean stamp in my passport? Would my books and tech devices be confiscated as they might be considered against the regime? To my surprise, probably only Singapore had a quicker, more hassle-free passage through customs.

Another interesting observation I couldn’t help but notice is how traditional the society is both with regard to gender stratification as well as the classic Confucion respect for the elderly, no doubt a result of the country’s isolation from the norms of globalization brought by mass media and the lack of opportunities to interact regularly with foreigners. Regarding the latter, I particularly recall when a soldier guiding us to a lookout point at the DMZ was quite impressed and insisted we applaud a fellow 83 year old traveler who was able to climb the steep hill without assistance. Regarding the former, I recall our GX guide Alessandro at a rest stop requesting to drink strawberry milk, but was given coffee instead saying that the strawberry drink is only for girls. Similarly, when I accidentally dropped my shirt in the mud and inquired if there was a nearby sink I could use to wash off the mud, my guide Ms. Kim adamantly insisted I let her clean it because “men are not supposed to wash clothes.” Lastly, when I jokingly wanted my ability to distinguish male from female sculptures of dragons recognized by our guide, he replied that if I was so good at distinguishing the two, I wouldn’t have let a tattoo artist make a female dragon turtle on my leg (though when I explain this is just reflecting a harmonious Yin Yang balance, he mutters something along the line of “touché”.)

What was particularly insightful, though, were the extended conversations afforded to us on our long distance trip to Wonsan, a lovely beach resort town whose laurels I was asked to recount for a producer of a local documentary film. Sometimes these chats simply involved answering our guides’ fascination with our technological devices, such as my ipod or portable Macintosh. But more academic conversations were also more common than I had anticipated, such as when Ms. Kim wished me to summarize the American revolution with notes and diagrams in her notebook (in exchange, of course, for Korean lessons.)  Also of note was when our guides emphatically insisted that I would not be allowed to leave the country until I wrote down the lyrics to the Animaniacs countries of the world song, a rendition of which I frequently was asked to perform at our dinner engagements.

Perhaps most interesting, though, was an extended conversation of politics and economics. Mr. Kim gave a spirited defense of his country’s military first policy, putting the belligerence of its armed forces in the context of the international community’s repeatedly hoping and calling for the downfall of the regime, especially during the famine crisis following the death of Kim Il Sung. While it is hard to imagine a respectable position genuinely defending the human rights abuses perpetrated by the government against its own people, hearing from the perspective of a North Korean directly can help to bring one closer to the complex truth behind many of the governments’ policies.  Of course, despite the English fluency of our guides, cultural misunderstandings can still persist, as when I asked one guide if people are more likely to join political parties from rural or urban areas, it was hard to know if my guide’s deadpan answer “I don’t know – I don’t work for the central statistic committee” was a joke or merely a polite exchange of data.

Another fascinating topic of conversation to me, as an economics teacher, was whether or not North Korea will likely copy China’s liberalization, given its close relationship and dependence on China’s aid (the conclusion of the Mass Games this year involved a not so subtle praise of the country’s special relationship with China.) Surprisingly, Mr. Kim said any investment from China comes with “strings attached”, and that while laws concerning potential investment are “still at (a) conceptual phase” with a “newly formed commission addressing these issues”, Mr. Kim felt it was essential not to ignore the environmental damage of economic growth, for “we don’t wear Chinese clothes.”

In short, any day as an American in North Korea is sure to be an immensely rewarding and stimulating experience. While much of the trip involved a decades old itinerary of grand monuments as well as officially sponsored commercial areas or academic institutions (which in no way, though, makes any of these destinations any less fascinating), the real treasures of North Korea are its people, who are generally curious about the outside world and, despite their obvious reluctance to criticize their own government. have the same kaleidoscope of intriguing and genuinely warm personalities as anywhere else in the world.

Travel to North Korea!

If you’re interested in finding out about upcoming Reality Tour trips to North Korea, please visit our website.

Photo Credit: Tammy Gustafson

Accurate statistics are difficult to compile, but it is believed that between 600,00 and 800,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders each year, 80% of them women and children. It is estimated that approximately $9 billion dollars in profits are generated annually through slavery and trafficking, placing the trade in human trafficking in the top three most profitable criminal enterprises along with the drugs and arms trades.

The numbers are staggering, and actually confronting them and the shattered lives they represent can be an overwhelming prospect. Yet we are not powerless in the face of this monstrous industry, and the first step towards bringing it to a halt is education. That’s why the Not for Sale Campaign and Global Exchange Reality Tours together facilitate delegations to Thailand, Cambodia and other countries.

What are these trips all about?

A Not For Sale & Global Exchange trip (called “Delegation on Human Trafficking”) enables participants to understand the causes of human trafficking, meet with those who have been freed out of slavery, learn what it means to build a life as a survivor, and engage with those who are fighting human trafficking on the front lines. These educational trips are geared specifically to confronting the realities of the global trade in human beings.

Not for Sale is giving away a free trip!

Thanks to Not for Sale, those who register for the upcoming Global Forum on Human Trafficking will be entered for a chance to win a FREE trip to a Not For Sale International Project of their choice. You get the airfare, they get everything else (value up to $2300)

Register for what? For a chance to win whaaaaaat?!

• Register for the Global Forum on Human Trafficking (hashtag #globalforum) happening Oct. 21-22 in Sunnyvale, CA, which is a gathering of people from all walks of life- from business leaders, people of faith, students, athletes, law enforcement and others brought together under one roof  to learn and explore different models being deployed to mobilize individuals to combat trafficking;
• For a chance to win an (almost) all-expense-paid Immersion Trip/Reality Tour Trip to a Not For Sale International Project of your choice. *Almost means Not For Sale will pay for all program costs including all in-country costs. Winner will be responsible for round trip airfare to and from trip location.

Global Exchange’s Chie Abad will be speaking at the Global Forum on Human Trafficking.

For more about this upcoming event, here’s David Batstone, President and Co-founder of Not For Sale:

Global Forum 2011 – David Batstone Promo from Not For Sale Campaign on Vimeo.

Ready to Register for the Global Forum on Human Trafficking?

If you’re planning to register for the Global Forum on Human Trafficking, do it soon for your chance to win your FREE trip.  Not For Sale will randomly select the one lucky person who registers during the month of August to win the trip. The *Big Winner* will be determined the first week of September 2011.

It just keeps getting better!
When you register for the Global Forum on Human Trafficking, use the discount code “GXNFS” to receive 10% off your registration.

Good luck to all of you planning to register for the Global Forum on Human Trafficking. There’s a trip of a lifetime in it for one of you lucky attendees!

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“So, Why North Korea?!” by Sophia Michelen

It goes without saying that my journey in North Korea was far from ordinary- far from a conventional destination, far from the known, and far from the typical place to celebrate a 23rd birthday. Upon returning to the US, and as mentioned, many times before departing, a question echoed: So, tell me again, why would you go to North Korea?

Travel, after all, is a means by which one can escape the ‘everyday.’ Routine does not exist while traveling and the ‘routine’ that is present is exciting at every moment (good or bad), which, by definition, is anything but ‘routine. In that moment of travel, in that place on that day, you have never experienced that exact ‘routine’ before. So the routine of travel is actually an adventure, evolving by the second. Moreover, travel is a way to liberate yourself – to free yourself, to dream and to grow, a way to leave your comfort zone. Travel is a balance between learning about foreign cultures, yet feeling the freedom to experience a different world – even just for a few days.

Nothing makes me feel more alive – more human and more free, then traveling. The joy of the freedom, starting thousands of feet in the air on a secluded plane, is indescribable – literally. My heart fills with butterflies, pure ecstasy runs through me, and I am able to breathe more easily. So why would I want to travel to a place that would prevent me from having any such freedom? Just to check off another unconventional country on my “have been to” list?

I was traveling to the antithesis of freedom, leaving the country of the free. Literally. How would I feel once my Air Koryo flight door closed, with “doors to manual” announced in Korean? No outside world as I knew it for a week. My laptop would not catch the local Starbucks free Wi-Fi, my phone (aka my lifeline to the world as I knew it) would be confiscated, my passport would be held captive. Technically, I would have no identity. I would not, and did not, know what was going on in the world outside of the hermit bubble. I was not free in this sense. But here is where the balance comes in. While I lost the traditional freedom we know of, I gained from the timeless feeling of travelling to North Korea. Because I was not free in this traditional sense, I was free to experience a new culture fully. Cell phones, Starbucks and computers – the link between continents – were not present. So, New York City and Dubai did not exist. The familiar was gone and for the first time in my life, and in my opinion in a place stuck in time, I was traveling as if I were living in the early 1960s. Technology, newspapers and chain restaurants did not exist. Many people dream of what it was like to live “back then” and move without technology or to be connected so rapidly – well here it was. I was given the freedom to live a past life in the present world.

So how can this freedom not thrill you? Yes, there are harsh realities and sometimes frustrating traditions, but through the experience I learned and I saw. I had only seen vintage Royal Enfield motorcycles in movies and museums – side car included. But here, I lived it – old motorbikes scooted around rampantly in the DMZ zone. And nature? I saw the most beautiful “mirror” lake I have ever seen – the water so, so still that the reflection of the valley did not feel real. I had to splash the water to make sure it wasn’t a mirage. I learned American-Korean history from both sides while on the Taedong River in the U.S. Spy Ship, Pueblo by having North Korean sailors and guards explain one side, while having an American marine on hand to explain the other. This is not to say that it is a peaceful topic, but it was the ultimate history class – primary and secondary sources surrounding me! Or even fun times – sharing fries and a drink with North Korean businessmen while bowling in a retro two-lane bowling alley in the basement of our hotel in Pyongyang. Americans and North Koreans bowling – who would have guessed? Language was clearly a barrier, but their screams of “AWESOME!!” (pronounced oh-ahh-sum) in a high-pitched voice, throwing hands in the air for the universal congratulations of a high-five when only a few pins fell was a site to see. Their excitement was as if they had bowled to perfection game in a national completion, and the imagery of this last night makes me laugh out loud – even as I write.

My trip to North Korea was extraordinary, but it was so because of the people on my trip – North Koreans and Americans. Yes, tours in the country are practically the same – the same locations, same remarks, and same routines, but each delegation is different. Not many people understand North Korea’s people. Putting politics aside, not many people bother to learn about the North’s cultural norms, and while friends and relatives back home see the photos and video clips brought back from travels; these modes of capturing the moment do little justice. No matter how many photos I took or how much I wrote in my journal, only my memory can be the full primary source of my trip. Sometimes, words just can’t explain the emotion behind certain situations – like the awe and astonishment of seeing over 60 000 individuals perform at the Arirang Mass Games. No other performance could compare to this, and being in that stadium, in that moment, was just priceless. While more than 60, 000 performers showed visitors their dances and acrobatics, both children and adult alike, people in New York City were grabbing their lattes to go, in a rush to get to the next meeting – two different worlds in that same moment.

I can’t be frustrated when friends or family react in a passive way for something I was so enthusiastic about. Grasping a concept or an experience that does not exist in this Western world is incredibly difficult to capture, almost impossible. I was fortunate to have had such a diverse group with me, but to those planning or wondering what it’s really like in North Korea – just go. Of course, there are endless blogs, thousands of photos, and even YouTube videos to be found that can give you an idea of what it is like. But if you go in impartially, just enter as a curious traveler – I promise that you will gain more. And once you return, you will join those other few individuals who have traveled there, who are the others to understand what it’s like to be inside the invisible walls of North Korea.

Join the Next Delegation to North Korea!

Interested in traveling to North Korea? We have a Reality Tour delegation coming up at the end of August, and other trips planned after that. Find out the details here.

“A Rare Flower” by Sophia Michelen
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One lone female college graduate, on a plane to Beijing, then another to Pyongyang, meeting a group of passionate travelers, where the closest female companion was several decades my elder.

That was me.

I did not expect to take my North Korea adventure as a sort of high-school chaperoned trip, but I did imagine that there would be a fairly high chance of meeting another young female professional in the group. I know plenty of adventure-loving females, so why would this trip be any different? There just had to be someone who would be on the trip that I would be able to have age-appropriate discussions and conversations with.

I absolutely cherished the individuals traveling with me to North Korea. However, I found it a bit peculiar that there were no other female 20-somethings jumping at the opportunity. Nonetheless, my gypsy-like travel routine did not make me dependent on a travel buddy.

The night before departing for Pyongyang, our American-South Korean travel guide who would accompany us for the remainder of the trip, briefed us regarding our North Korea schedule and our tour guides. We would have two male guides and a male bus driver. This gendered specification was not surprising, for we were told that it is they, the males, who are most educated in the society – they who are given the opportunity to leave the country, visit Europe, pick up a degree or two, and learn second and third languages fluently [one of the two male tour guides would even be conversing with me in French!]. Our South Korea tour guide, after dinner, pulled me aside asking me why a young female like myself would be so drawn to visiting North Korea. I explained my decade-long curiosity and former Korean language tutorial; and how it felt the time was right for the trip. He happily listened and eagerly told me that on this trip, on a rare occasion, we would be having another tour guide – a young female guide, training to become a senior guide, and, best of all, that she was my age! I would never have guessed that the travel companion I so sought for would be a North Korean – a perfect cultural insider.

Once we landed in North Korea, our guides were waiting for us to pass custom. As normal for travelers visiting the country, they took our passports and mobile phones. Ms. Lee, the lone female guide, greeted us with a friendly smile, comported properly but seemingly excited by the prospect of showing a group of foreigners her country. “We have a lot to show you,” she would say. Getting on the bus, introductions were not lagging. Our South Korea guide said loud and proudly – “Ms. Lee, this is Sophia – you can practice your English with her and you can teach her North Korean culture. She is your age!” We laughed, and that’s where we began.

At our first stop, the Arch of Triumph, Ms. Lee and I conversed naturally, talking initially about the basics– place of birth, family, siblings, schooling, why I came to North Korea, why she became a tour guide. Language was also a topic of conversation – how and where I learned some Korean and why she decided to learn English. She proudly mentioned her previous travels – just a couple countries outside of North Korea, including China.

Moving throughout the sites and meals of our itinerary, Ms. Lee would respectfully sit with the elder guides. We would continuously invite her to sit with us, but politely she refused. But later in the trip she would warm up and she would be like our own private North Korea Wikipedia site. I would start by asking specific questions regarding our current location, before quickly diverging into other questions on my mind– from instruments [she plays the accordion], to friends, social events, TV shows, music [no she hadn’t heard of Lady Gaga],and growing up in North Korea. I was thirsty to know more about her insider’s perspective out of the world from North Korea, despite already knowing how the outside world may view her country.

My questions and these conversations lasted until the bus ride to the airport for our departure flight. However, my most memorable moment was at the demilitarized zone. We visited the old, very desolate and empty meeting room where delegations from both our countries met decades ago to sign the 1953 Armistice. Even the air smelled old. Everything was left intact – except for the Plexiglas casing over the table-top flags during the singing. Other than that, everything was original – original table, chairs, even the turf-like, green table covering was there. I must say I was surprised that these historic artifacts were not better kept or in a more “hands-off” environment, but passionate about original experiences, I treasured being able to interact with these objects in such a way.

As we walked around the zone together), Ms. Lee and I linked elbows and discussed potential change for our countries’ political relationship. Here we were, two citizens, females at that, with our country still technically at war with one another, having a peaceful conversation about future changes – near and distant- for our generation. She discussed how she longed to see the peninsula reunified – where both her people (North and South) would be able to merge again as one, learn from each other and be reunited with lost family. She still desires and hopes to travel abroad, and have some freedoms like her American counterparts while still keeping her strong and proud Korean identity. Not once did she insult or discriminate my country – not once did she impose any of her potential negative views of the States. We both know what is said about the others’ country, but there was no need to rehash the obvious.

At this point in our small walking tour, Ms. Lee and I find ourselves standing behind the actual table where the treaty was signed. We were so busy chatting; we barely realized the flow of the group. As we rushed for a photo-op before the next site in the zone, I paused to appreciate the moment – the rarity of these two individuals, from these two countries, discussing these topics, in this location. As Ms. Lee scurried to the bus, I walked behind the others, took my time, taking in the color of the grounds – a white and violet-petal, growing on a single flower amongst the overgrown grass. So peacefully swaying, I looked and smiled to myself, grateful for the moment. For the unique ability to experience this instant and the conversation I had just had with Ms.Lee. Just like the rarity of the flower amongst the weeds, the symbol of this small flower growing in the tensest boarder on earth reminded me of the unique moment with Ms. Lee, my friend, my peaceful North Korean companion, the fellow female counterpart I imagined having on the journey.

Join the Next Delegation to North Korea!

Come back here tomorrow to read the next installment in this 4-part series.

Interested in traveling to North Korea? We have a Reality Tour delegation coming up at the end of August, and other trips planned after that. Find out the details here.