Our travel agent in Beijing had been right - the $50 seats were fine. Anything more would have been a waste of money. From the stadium signs though we were obviously not in the 3rd class section. Best guess, unless we had bought the top of the line $300 tickets, we would have been in exactly the same section.

As we took our seats the mammoth size of the stadium became apparent. I've been to dozens of games at the University of Michigan's 110,000 person stadium and this place was noticeably larger.

People were spread out getting ready on the field down below, as well as on the opposite side. Fortunately we had a few minutes to take pictures and look around before the performance was scheduled to begin.

The lighting, music, pictures and performers were all minutely choreographed, with the images seeming to flow across the opposite side of the stadium. The only problem I had was trying to decipher what Mr. Huk was saying, while still keeping my eyes on the performance.

When he told me it took 100,000 people to put on the show I didn't believe him at first. As the performance unfolded the masses of people marching in and out soon erased all doubts.

Group of child performers

Stretching high
Photos courtesy Thomas St. John

Nationalism and the exalted position of the North Korean army were key underlying themes to the whole performance (if not the entire trip) and in the second act, Arirang of Army-centered Policy, it burst into the fore. Soldiers entered and dominated the stadium floor while martial images filled the stands.

Mr. Huk beside me could barely contain himself. His enthusiasm to educate me on the wonders of the Glorious People's Army had him on an emotional high. The voice in my ear became louder and more insistent, he grabbed my arm for emphasis, all the while filling me in on the special meanings of each scene.

The third act was devoted mainly to political and economic messages stressing the current and future development of North Korean society. Mr. Huk delighted in telling me of the great advances made by DPRK researchers in economics, science, agriculture, and politics.

Photo courtesy Thomas St. John

'The Dawn of the World' - here represented by land reform. True, in that the post-WWII land reform policy of the North Koreans was extremely useful in gaining popular support for the new government.

The fourth act and grand finale focused on Korean unification and the prosperity that would ensue throughout the peninsula should such a glorious event ever come to pass.

When I told Mr. Huk that some South Koreans opposed unification because they worried it would cost too much to bring the North up to their level he looked as if I'd just slapped him. He had no comprehension of this idea at all. Instead, to him, I was just being a rude prick for saying such a ridiculous thing.

After thinking about it for a moment he told me those people couldn't be true Koreans, instead they must be (and here he threw me an accusing look) U.S. or Japanese lackeys.

The unification scenes contained lots of references to Mt. Baekdu, an important place in both South and North Korean (where it's thought to be Dear Leader Kim Jong-il's birthplace) mythos.

The mountain is located in the North along the border with China. It's not uncommon for South Korean tourists to travel to the Chinese side for a visit to the mythic mountain.

The applause was barely beginning to die down before Mr. Baek and Mr. Huk had gotten together to hurry us out of the stadium. No relaxing and talking about the spectacle we had just witnessed while the crowd cleared, instead it was, "go, go, go." They dangled a carrot this time though, reminding us we would have some free time to shop at the souvenir stands once we got outside.

We fought our way through the crowds to the outside where Mr. Baek was generous enough to offer us a whole 10 minutes to wander around and browse. After some debating we finally got him to push it to 15 minutes. Which, in retrospect, might have been the most stunning event of the entire evening . . .

The pickings at the various stands were interesting but pretty slim. Some beautiful posters of the Arirang Festival, a huge variety of DPRK stamps, and some T-shirts so poorly made we were warned to frame them rather than wear them. The food vendors had mostly closed up shop - forcing me to miss my chance for pizza and a Coke in Pyongyang. Though something equally odd was about to happen. When I bought several sets of the six Arirang posters an amazing event took place. No, not a discount, but they threw in wrapping and a bag! Mr. Baek had worked with me on the purchase and was both pleased and pretty surprised at the fantastic deal he'd talked the vendor into. Getting something extra when making a bulk purchase - the evil ways of the capitalists were at last infiltrating the Juche bastions!

As our 15 minutes wound up everyone straggled back to the appointed meeting place for the walk to the bus and ride back to the hotel. Our first day in North Korea had come to an end but tomorrow held what promised to be one of the most interesting parts of the whole trip - a visit to the DMZ.