The Hug Campaign

As if Korea isn't surreal enough, we sometimes feel the need to inject extra surreality into the mix.
Carol got a bunch of us together to go to downtown Suncheon to hug people.

Yes.

It's an international campaign of sorts. You can find the video on Carol's blog that explains it all. Basically, you stand on a corner with a sign that says "Free Hugs" and give people hugs.

Now, Korea is not a "huggy" society. We met with a lot of confused stares, giggling, and swerving away. We also had people throwing themselves into our arms, doing full-on running hugs and some who came back a few times. I saw quite a few of my students too, and they thought it was rather cool.

It was a very strange, very cold and rather uplifting experience. I had started the afternoon asking if I could have a sign that said "You Suck!" (because of missing wallet crisis) and ended the afternoon quite happy and smiley.

Update to stolen wallet: Will get apartment lock changed next week, and get a new Alien Registration card too. I used my other bank card to empty my bank account and will cancel the card that was in my wallet when it walked away. As for the keychain and purse... well, there's really nothing I can do.