Today the air raid sirens went off. Just a reminder, I guess, that Korea is still technically in a war. And then from time to time I see convoys of military trucks with Korean soldiers decked out in combat gear with weapons. It's so weird - to be in one of the more developed and nicer of Asian nations, but this is the reality.
A friend at school was telling me he was here during the time when North Korea was setting off their missiles. Anyways he said that the day North Korea detonated their bomb, there were about 3 air raid sirens, and that the atmosphere was really quiet and tense. Even on the streets...
And the other thing is that life just goes on... people keep on living. In my afternoon kindy class, I asked them if they heard the sirens, then I asked them what they were. One kid suggested a fire truck. Then I asked if it was a practice for when the planes (I mimed out some war planes firing bombs) came. And a few of the girls said, "Yes! That's it."
Even the little kids know... I wonder what it would be like to grow up in that... not that it's super prevalent - as growing up in somewhere like Iraq or Afghanistan must be... but it's definitely built into the national psyche, I think...
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