Oh, just another day of normalcy in Korea-land- also know as let me apologize in advance for this one . . ..

   On foot I was making my way for some Hwe Da Bob Dinner (raw fish, rice and greens with chirashi) this evening.  Along the way I navigated through the usual street market vendors selling their colorful assortment of farm fresh produce, kimchi's, grains, and well, slightly smelly fresh fish. Yes, here you can buy various sea creatures right off the street, so fresh they are still alive- very alive- very moving alive (and very on the street). 

   So I rounded my last corner before the restaurant when suddenly out of seemingly nowhere an octopus, in a last courageous and desperate attempt of escape, lept from his shallow plastic vendor bin and kami- kazi-ed inches away from my much surprised bosom to the unforgiving sidewalk below. (All I can say is that it was a very unsettling and cartoon-like splat noise. ) Startled and perhaps slightly flatter than moments before, this tentacled beast made not a few seconds of headway toward freedom when the even quicker Ajumma (older Korean woman) scooped him up and plopped him right back into the crowded salty shallow water from which he came. "Poor guy" I thought as I walked on. 

   I tried to make light of the situation: "Well, Amy, you are one of the few people in the world who can say they were almost groped by an octopus!  Ha- heh- eh . . no . . ."  I resistantly began launching myself  into my own inner existential conflict about this experience, but eventually took comfort in the realization that all creatures- big and small inevitably find themselves doomed to some(thing)one's dinner table someday

-  that and that an octopus just tried real hard to grab my tits! But what can you say, the octopus's has got good taste- eh? [ba- bum-tiss]

[and the world rolls it eyes at me in unison]