On the Road Again…

The final off-campus trip we took during the week-long conference was to the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. This is an old steam locomotive that used to ply between the two Koreas but was attacked and destroyed at the beginning of the Korean War.
The DMZ is 8 kilometers wide. This cable car takes visitors from the southern edge of the DMZ (by the destroyed locomotive) to the center point of the DMZ where the actual negotiations have taken place.
The actual negotiations building is this living-room sized room. It is stark with just a wooden table and three chairs on each side so the two teams face each other. I was a bit put off by the fact the DMZ is now a major tourist draw with dozens of tour buses, a Dunkin Donuts, and all the other tourist amenities.

On the Road Again…..

ADCC

The three days of meetings were rather busy and long and that is why Fr. Min Seo arranged activities outside of the conference room. On our third day we had a mini Olympics. All 220 people were divided into four teams for various simple but fun events.
In this game, the teams rolled huge inflated balls up and back between two rows of their members, trying to be the fastest to make a circuit.
For supper after the olympics, we tried our hand at making a Korean kimbab. A large square of seaweed is covered with cooked rice and then strips of cheese, ham, and vegetables are placed on top of the rice. The whole is then rolled into a solid cylinder and eaten cold. Quite good!

On the Road Again….

ADCC

We arrived at the youth center where we had the conference a short time before dinner. Later that evening, about 10:00 PM, Fr Min Seo came to me and asked if I could take the mass at 7:00 AM the next morning. Fr Michael Chua from Malaysia was scheduled for that but he had fallen after his arrival and was in a Seoul hospital with three broken ribs. There wasn’t much time to prepare but I managed to get myself ready and presided at our group liturgy in the morning.
Because I had been in Asia since 1983, many of the people knew me. Here the group from India–where I started, asked for a photo with them. And a few Koreans joined in.
That evening the 20 national groups introduced themselves. Here was the presentation from the Cambodia group.
Following Cambodia, Macau was introduced. I went there every Sunday for an evening mass for many years.

On the Road Again….

ADCC in Seoul

Fr. Min Seo, the deaf Korean priest who is pastor of Ephatha Deaf Parish and who organized the conference of the ADCC.
Mass at the Seoul cathedral with the Archbishop and the Vatican ambassador to Korea.
The Cambodian deaf delegation to the ADCC at a dinner in the church hall after the mass.
After dinner there was a fascinating drumming and drama performance at a nearby venue.
Finally it was time to head back to the buses in the popular tourist district of Seoul for the return trip to our conference center.

On the Road Again….

ADCC in Seoul

This Asian Deaf Catholic Conference was almost twice as long as usual because every other day we took a trip outside of the youth camp where we were conferencing. We spent a lot of time on buses–and walking on this first trip into Seoul.
On this day our first stop was at the Imperial Palace. A custom for visitors is to dress up in traditional Korean costumes before walking to the palace. Costumed visitors are admitted free to the palace grounds.
Once inside the palace, our group alone was probably responsible for hundreds (thousands?) of photos.
After the palace we walked to a memorial square honoring the Korean king who created the Korean written language. The building on the far right is the U.S. Embassy.
We then walked again through downtown Seoul towards the cathedral. This section of the route was along a stream flowing through city. It is artificial and all the water is pumped back to the source in a continuous loop.