North Korea

Two posts in two days. How good am I. Well, it's just that this happened when I'd got to school yesterday, after posting that last blog.

I 'd been told, on my second day, as Tracy and Jo-Ann showed me how to get the bus to school, that there's a siren that goes off around the 15th, every two months and it's called something like the Civil Defence Siren. When it goes off, they said, everything in Seoul stops. Traffic comes to a halt and if you're a pedestrian, you're supposed to get off the street, into buildings or the subway. They told me that a new teacher was in a taxi and the siren went off. She didn't know what it was, or why the taxi had stopped, so she asked the taxi driver, who pointed in the air and said 'North Korea'. The teacher thought they were invading and rang the school in tears, saying she was going to die and everyone fell about laughing before explaining what it was.

I told Simon about it when we met up but at the back of my mind I couldn't help wondering if they'd said it for a joke, just to wind me up because I was new. I mean, I read a lot about South Korea and Seoul before I came out and that didn't come up once.

So, yesterday, I was at school early to plan my lessons and suddenly, at 2pm, I heard the siren. It was weird. Other teachers were in the office with me and said 'oh, that's it. That's the Civil Defence siren' and it went on for ages and ages. Then, there was a ten or fifteen minute gap and it went off again, signalling that traffic could start again and people could carry on. I've since found out that it goes off every month, on the 15th, unless it's a weekend and then they'll do it on the nearest weekday. And all in case North Korea attacks. I can't say it isn't a little scary but the threat isn't huge, they're just trying to prepare people a little. I'll probably be at the school already every time it goes off. Some teachers were late because of it but it's unlikely I'll still be on my way. If I can film it at least once, I'll try! I get some days off between terms, so if I'm ever travelling when it happens, I'll try to capture it for you all. Just thought you might find it interesting.