So, those of you who have read this blog before will know that I can be distracted from writing by butterflies flapping their wings on a different continent or the possibility that there might be a small corner of my apartment that isn’t completely free of dust.
Well…the other day I had the best excuse for not writing that I think I’ve ever had.
A 20 min apocalypse drill.
I kid you not.
For those of you who don’t know; I live in Seoul, South Korea.
There are shelters here and there but you just notice them and carry on with your day. Some are by schools or in the subway or the local community centre.
But on this day we were told we had a pretend apocalypse happening at 2pm for 20 mins and citizens were to go to the nearest shelter.
Sounds exciting! I was expecting the streets to be full of orderly groups of citizens making their way to safety and for the whole dong (Korean for neighbourhood) to throng with an air of menace and panic!
Instead, we got a blast of sirens, some loud announcements in Korean, and then nothing for 15 mins until another siren and more chat. When I looked out I could see cars going past and a man delivering parcels as well as a lady walking her dog. That was it. According to a Korean friend, the announcements were quite scary (all about war, etc) but that was lost on me as the only Korean word I know is ‘thank you’…
The apocalypse was officially a letdown.
I had been too distracted to write anything all day and was hoping to get some inspiration from this epic event but it was just me looking out of the window at the pouring rain and business as usual all around me.
Maybe the rain meant everyone decided to shelter at home instead…?
You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen – “Apocalypse cancelled due to inclement weather.”
Mmmm…now that’s something I could write about…
The Reluctant Writer 