Unwanted visitors.

Probably the most memorable moment of our whole summer vacation occurred when I was attempting to retrieve something from my bag. You would think that it would be something to with the awesome scenery; perhaps the white sand beaches contrasting with the black volcanic rocks that lay as a constant reminder of the million year old history of the landscape, or maybe the bright green subtropical forest covered mountain sides of the tallest mountain in South Korea contrasting with the rich blue sky and constantly moving clouds of white and grey. But, no. The most memorable moment, for me at least, was a moment with me and my backpack.

It was morning and I needed to go into the clothes compartment of my backpack to get a new outfit that was at least theoretically more clean then the one I had been wearing the day before. I unzipped the pouch, rustled the clothes slightly and saw something that made my heart skip a beat. It was orange and grey, but it was gone. I thought to myself that it kind of looked like the chords we were using to tie down our tent. I said out loud “Boy am I jumpy!” and thought back to the snake that had wriggled in front of me on the sidewalk a few days early nearly giving me a heart attack. I took a deep breath and stuck my hands back into the mess of clothes. At that moment what I had feared deep down, but had refused even to admit to myself happened. A centipede, about 4 inches long, bright orange, as fast as light, ran out from amongst my clothes, across my hand and into the top compartment of my bag. I screamed. I jumped. I was surprised to not feel tears running down my face. Jeremy thought I was being a big baby and that there was probably a little spider in my pack, but then he kicked my bag and the centipede made its final escape. As we watched it run off with its many legs into the grass, I was redeemed in Jeremy's eyes for being scared of a "scary bug".

Jeremy had never seen a bug like that before, and I had wished that I would never see one again. I can still feel those little legs making their way across my hand and it makes me cringe. It took me days to be able to go into my bag again with giving it a few hard kicks first.