"The walls are sweating"

It's now 8:44 am in Korea, and the humidity is finally getting to me. Jason and I had a fitful sleep, as it felt like we had fallen asleep in a sauna. The humidity here can be something awful, and it's very hot despite the fact that it's not even 9 o'clock in the morning. Utah weather is nothing like this. It's like hopping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Still, after some sleep, we are somewhat refreshed (as refreshed as someone with jetlag can be) and we're looking forward to our first free day in Korea. Most likely, it will be spent mostly shopping. The first thing I will be purchasing (if possible) is a messenger bag, as straps do not leave so much of a sweat mark as a backpack, which leaves a giant lake of sweat on your back after ten minutes in weather such as this.

The cicadas are not so loud today, gratefully. The sound of cicadas have often disturbed me, because it is incredibly loud, and it is everywhere, and they are made by giant bugs perched in the trees. In the middle of downtown Seoul, you can hear the monotonous droning of cicadas, crescendoing only to descend in volume for moments before climbing back up again. Sometimes, in a paranoid fit, I whirl around, looking for those bugs, but they are nowhere to be seen. They are like ninjas. It's scary, sometimes. I often wonder if they drop down on the heads of unsuspecting tourists to cause them to flail around, amusing the laughing Koreans around them.

But the crickets' symphony last night was rediculously loud. My brother has developed a deep loathing for them. Which is not too unusual - insects often are the bane of many a vacationer's existence.