Also, if you'll get all precious about bowing to the statue. The number of people who get weird about it astounds me. You'll get told in advance, before going, that you'll go to the big statue and you'll be expected to dress nice and bow. For some people, this is a ridiculously big deal.
Well, as a religious person, I admit I chafe at it, but I'm pretty sure I could fake my way through it. I'd be a lot more worried about accidentally running off my mouth.
How would you fake bowing to the statue? Would you just sort of start to nod your head and then stop, and then ... well, no, I can't think of any way to fake bowing. You know you're not required to actually worship it, right? Just the bow. It's not like you're relinquishing your citizenship or making a formal statement in support of the government.
As for running off your mouth, seriously? You can't keep your mouth shut for a week? There were dozens of people on my tour group, split amongst three roving packs, and nobody had any trouble at all (including the religious amongst us, who managed to bow to the statue without experiencing a crisis of faith). Americans, Brits, Chinese, Chileans, Belgians, Singaporeans, Swiss, Germans, Australians, New Zealanders, people from all over the world, and nobody had any trouble shutting up.
What I mean is simply that though I object to the idea of bowing to a statue I could probably do it. Not that I could somehow fool them into thinking I had when I hadn't. I'm not that naive.
As for running off the mouth, I live with me all day. I have a pretty good idea what I can and cannot do. Your sample size of people who have gone to DPRK and had no trouble shutting up is both self-selected and not large--and they probably have better reasons to be there to boot. I would hope that people with my views and my trouble keeping them quiet would be smart enough not to go.
Oh. I apologise. I must have been misled by the phrase "fake my way through it" when you actually meant "I'd do it". :)
If you did go, and did not shut up, the worst that would happen to you is a quick trip back to Beijing. As your Beijing-side guide would explain, the worst that could happen to your guide is a life (i.e. death) sentence in a labour camp, along with her family (including children), and any children born in the camp die there too. If you truly couldn't keep your mouth shut in such a situation, you definitely shouldn't go (and I don't believe it anyway - that'd be psychological-damage levels of lack of self-control, but because you haven't devolved into screaming abuse, you clearly do actually have enough self-control).
