Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Several Kinds of Insects

Korean Lesson today. My third one in a long line and I think this teacher is mean enough to make me learn. She talks almost exclusively in Korean and when she thinks I am being a retard she slowly turns the left side of her head to me, taps her ear, and says, "listen!"

On the way home I was the subject of a slow motion mugging. I walked from Gwangwhamun to Noksapyeong, a sweaty and blurry walk in the current heat and humidity. At a stop light someone grabbed my left arm with reasonable strength and sort of stupid intent.

I wheeled around, and it's a sunburnt, totally wasted beggar who really, really, wants to keep hold of me and poke at me.

His brilliant plan is somewhat limited by the fact that his pants are unbuttoned and he has no belt.

So, after about 15 seconds of poking me, his pants slide to his ankles and he has to try to gather them up again.

Repeat as is (thoroughly) unnecessary.

I practiced some of my Korean (I may have pissed him off by accidentally calling him "grandmother", but then again he was drunk, and my Korean sucks, so it could have been a non-communication moment) and tossed him away once, where he banged into another white dude in a three-piece suit who hollered in agony that contact had been made.

The light changed, and I moved along.

I met other insects along the way.. the Cicada thing is just beginning (more about that later).. and I think this is what the critters, slightly out of focus, look like:







Wait til you hear the racket!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, I've alwasy thought that cicadas are in black and white, or grey toned...until I saw your pictures. It is pretty! Oh, and they become pretty loud (irritatingly so) in Seoul when they make noise all at once....

I love the muggy and noisy Seoul where beggars are naturally drawn to pale toned foreigners.

BKF

Anonymous said...

Seoul sounds soooo exciting!;-p

Anonymous said...

Only *you* would be, ahem, "mugged" by a pantless beggar in the streets. LMAO