I just had the most traumatizing walk home from school.
In Korea they use a lot of pesticides and that kind of thing. They often come into your apartment to spray around the edges, killing everything in their path. They also routinely spray the trees lining the streets. You will hear a siren like there is a fire or something and look down the street and see a truck with some guys and a hose, spraying the trees with who knows what. It is kind of intimidating coming from a culture where pesticide is a dirty word.
Today I got to leave early because the vice principal anticipates there is going to be a "hard rain", so he wanted anyone walking home to avoid it. Very thoughtful especially because we had one earlier today that was really spectacular. (Hold that thought, it just started outside! I would have been right in the middle of it. Thanks VP!!!) Just as I was leaving the school grounds I looked up to see a tree spraying truck coming down the road I walk on. The guy making sure there was no one in the direct line of fire looked at me in frustration and motioned for me to hurry up. I walked faster. He made motions for me to run. I didn't. Stick it to the man, right?! Anyway, as I got on the already-sprayed side of the truck it looked like it was raining ahead of me. Not being so quick sometimes, it took me a minute to figure out what was happening. As soon as I did I ducked into the closest doorway. Thousands of caterpillars. THOUSANDS!!!! Falling out of the trees like rain. Little green furry guys. My least favourite insect is a centipede, but the close second is when there are lots of caterpillars. I felt trapped. I was in a narrow doorway looking out at a never ending rain of caterpillars, the ground quickly becoming covered in them. It was then that I noticed I wasn't the only one in the doorway. A little old man was standing with me in my refuge. He said "Usan". I cocked my head and squinted my eyes with confusion. "Usan" he said again. Then I recognized the word and simultaneously we both pointed at my umbrella. He made a squashing motion with his foot and said "Okay!". I was so grateful. I opened my umbrella, said my thank yous, and made a run for it. All the way down the road, thump, thump, thump, the caterpillars landed on my huge green umbrella. When I got to the end of the line of trees I shook it off, wiped my shoes on the sidewalk and took a deep breath. I made it!
