fight

Two years ago today I was arriving in Korea for the first time. A year ago today I was preparing to return home. Time has flown.

The Koreas have been in the news lately. When the shit went down the other day, there was a palpable anxiety in the air. Walking home from work I peered into a few shops and restaurants where people were glued to the TV screens. People seemed worried. It was the first time in 18 months of living here that I'd seen any concern because of the North.

But, that feeling has passed and people seem back to normal already. People are still keeping a watchful eye on the situation, but aren't afraid of bombs dropping from the sky anytime soon.

The whole situation between the North and South reminds me of any fight I've seen between Koreans, and I've seen my fair share. There's a lot of noise, a lot of yelling, maybe a push, someone's half-assed attempt at charging somebody only to have people intervene and restrain them, and it ends without a punch thrown. Honestly, I've probably watched dozens of these kinds of scraps, and I've never seen a Korean throw a punch. So, the North just gave the South a little shove, the South kinda shoved back, there's been some hootin' and hollerin', and now they're just waiting for their friends to hold them back.

Koreans, man. They're all talk. At least I hope so.