I had a bit of adventure coming home from school today. I finished early, so I was taking the bus home. Two stops past the school, I realized that I had left my cell phone in my desk, so I hopped off the bus, walked about 1km back to the school (bus stops in Korea are VERY far apart) and retrieved it from it`s usual place beside the keyboard.
So back down the hill, back on the bus, and I`m almost at Youngnam university when we hear a siren. I think at first that wow, the cops and fire trucks are actually using their sirens for once, but I think that it sounds a bit strange, kinda like an air raid siren. Well, whatever. I try to look out the windows to see what the vehicle is that is making the noise, but I can`t see anything. Our bus is stopped at a 4-way intersection at this point (on small back roads) and I see people with flags blocking traffic. There`s a few kids waiting on the corner, and since I know there`s a school nearby, I figure they`re just crossing guards.
But there`s a voice that is being pumped over the bus speakers as well as throughout the neighbourhood. About 10 mins has passed by this point, and nobody is going anywhere, so I`m starting to get a bit worried. Maybe North Korea has attacked. Maybe this is a new style of political campaigning (although it`s also a way to piss off commuters). Maybe something big, like 911, has happened in the world.
I try to phone my friend, Allison, in Gyeongju to find out if it`s happening there, and since she`s still at school, to see if she can figure out what`s happening. She walks out to her main street while we`re talking, and the same thing is happening there - stopped traffic, fighter jets circling, and a loud announcement droning on.
It`s now 2:15. The bus doors shut again (people had been leaving the bus every few minutes as they decided they didn`t want to wait), and we were moving again. 15 minutes of stopping.
Allison phones me back - it was a bomb drill for the entire country. I guess with the real threat of North Korea, they have these drills every once in a while just to prepare.
I wish I`d learned Korean.