Air Raid

Today, as I was preparing for work, the most blood-chilling, second-stopping thing happened. The normally noisy Mokpo air was muted by the wails of a solitary siren which echoed between the apartment blocks and stopped all movements. Its scream was so loud and sustained that all music was obliterated, conversation was impossible, and thoughts were limited to the most essential ideas one takes for granted any other day of the year.

At the same time a low-flying jet could be heard overhead, and perhaps for the first time in my life I felt the futility and fear of being a war victim. Sitting in my bedroom, all I could do was wait for one sound to end and others to begin. In case of an emergency I could close my windows and lock my doors but what else...? And what good would that actually accomplish if a conflict really were to erupt?

The sirens sounded twice. They resonated in the marrow of my bones. Students later told me the noises were just a "social test", by which I think they mean a standard civic maintenance trial. But it certainly didn't feel like a test at the time...

I am here for one more month (give or take 2 weeks). Cross your fingers that nothing goes down in the North before then.