Two morning things

First the less serious: I was walking in the subway area and passed a girl who'd just yawned.. And even at a distance of several feet I smelled terrible morning breath. Gross! That being said, it is NOT true that Koreans stink like kimchi or garlic. They don't stink at all. Lactose product eating westerners are the ones who actually smell. I think pizza is a particular villain, but that's debatable.

The view from the subway this (Sunday) morning as we cross the Han River.

The more serious note: Many of you know about the hightened tensions between North and South Koreas. A conflict of ideologies is involved and there is really too much to write about it, both in the realms of fact and opinion. What brings it to the topic of this morning's note is the city-wide siren that went off just as I was locking my apartment. Being the foreigner I am, I'm a bit out of the loop as to what is a test and what isn't. Many questions flooded through my mind as I stood at my locked door. "Is this it?" "Will I see the flash?" "Is it a nuke or just artillery shells/mortars?" and finally, "How can I know next time that it is only a drill?"

The multiple cups of delicious coffee I'd consumed in the hours prior to the siren certainly didn't help the adrenaline filled moments.

It's time for Church, my purpose for leaving the apartment in the first place. The irony of my anxiety at the siren and my original intent to worship the Freedom Giver is not lost. I expect I will be better prepared to embrace the Peace, having found some worldly fear within me.