The Korea Herald is unlikely to be updated in time for me to know what’s going on, but you know, when the air raid sirens went off this afternoon, I went there, after quickly visiting the Marmot’s Hole. The post I linked to wasn’t up yet, so I had no idea at all why the air raid sirens went off all over Bucheon.
And here I am checking weblogs and online newspapers for information. I don’t have a TV or radio in my room, except the radio function in my MP3 player, which… oops, I don’t even know where the English radio stations are on the dial. I guess I should figure out the setting, huh?
And to make me even more jittery, my phone started ringing a minute after the sirens started howling.
Turned out it was a secretary letting me know that the network admin guys are going to go into my office in my absence, because they think they need to do so to fix the internet connection in there.
I didn’t freak out, but I asked, cautiously, whether she knew for sure the alarms were a test. She laughed and assured me that they were, and advised me not to worry. Which, most of the time, I don’t. But I didn’t grow up with air raid sirens, and I’m not finding it as easy not to worry as most of the people around me.
And there go the air raid sirens again. Yeah, guys, I think it’s working now. Maybe they’re trying to get their speed of response up? Or are little kids ducking under chairs in elementary school classrooms everywhere?
Haha. Guess you haven’t been here very long. Anyhow, the tests always go off at 2 p.m. Any OTHER time of day, and you should worry.
One thing that caught my attention today (Oct. 16), though, the “all clear” quick siren blast at the end came a little later than usual.
Actually, I’ve only been in Bucheon for a long time. I don’t really remember tests happening often enough in Iksan or Jeonju for me to pick out a pattern like 2pm being the normal time. In my 4.5 years down in Jeonbuk, I saw way less testing and so on that I’ve seen in the little bit over half a year I’ve been in Bucheon.