The New Addition... And His Reign of Terror

Some may not know yet, but about a month ago, me and Robin adopted a dog. The dog was saved from the pound and was being taken care of by a foster parent that would be leaving Korea soon, so we took him in. It all started when a friend of ours told us about how she volunteers at a animal shelter. Robin was interested in helping out, and stumbled upon the adoption postings. After a few weeks of debate, we decided to make our move and set up a meeting with the foster parent in Seoul. I think for the both of us, once we saw him and got to hold him, we were not letting that dog go! We took him home that day, and he has been great ever since. His name is Kip, he has a great personality and is kind of like a baby really, he loves to cuddle and sleep on your lap. We've had to work on a few bad habits of his, but he is doing great!

In Korea, they do eat dog. I've learned that it is much less common than before, many of the kids at the school do not eat dog, and only some of their parents do. I've also learned that there is only one type of dog that they eat, and the regulations on their farming, distribution and selling is very strict. Having a dog as a pet is also fairly uncommon as well, most people have rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs or mice. However, it is becoming more popular, there are a few pet stores in our neighbourhood. Although it is becoming more popular, there are still several people who are downright terrified of dogs, especially our little Kip.

The terrifying Kip

We take Kip on the mountain near us almost every day, and we also take him on walks around our neighbourhood. Almost every walk has some woman or girl screaming for their lives because Kip got too close to them. In some cases, if people see us coming, they will cross the street, walk down a bit and then go back to the side they were originally on. Most people who have dogs, well they aren't really dogs, they look more like rats or miniature sheep, standing 5 inches from the ground. One night, when me and Robin were going to get a pizza, we took Kip with us. We were going up a street that had parked cars on both sides, so there was enough room for a car to get through. As we started walking up this street, a man going the opposite way started freaking out. This man had to be at least 30 years old. He threw himself against one of the cars, flattened himself out with arms spread muttering in fear, "Pitbull! Pitbull! Pitbull!!". We tried to tell him that Kip wasn't a Pitbull but realized how ridiculous the situation was. Two owners, with a small dog on a leash that really couldn't give him more than a scratch if he really wanted to. We had a good laugh. 

Watch out Cheonan, the big bad wolf is in town.