Post 76: 070806 Picnic in the shade

Yesterday was the last day of my holiday. Nine days with the absence of work. How quickly the time went. My intention was to spend it in the most slovenly way, sitting on the couch or in a darkened cinema, staying out of the heat and trying not to move too much. That was not to be as Sukhee and I were invited to join the staff of the local watering hole on a picnic.

My idea of a picnic and the Korean notion of one differ greatly. I imagine the cliché of a broad green field, a checkered blanket and a basket weighted down with sandwiches and perhaps a bottle of bubbly.

Damn, just thinking about it, I am riddled with clichés. Doesn’t that make you just a little pissed off knowing that your thoughts come from someone else’s notion of what is ideal. Gives you a little insight on how a population can be controlled. May sound like a leap but when you control the media and stuff it full of notions of your own sense of right and wrong then doesn’t it follow that the population watching said media will pick up on those notions and slowly loose the ability to discern for themselves.

Anyways, the Korean idea of a picnic turns out to be, and this is just one example, going into the foothills of Sarak mountain and sitting at small tables on polystyrene platforms wedged between sheets of metal and plonked on metal frames. These platforms are an extension of small restaurants that in their infinite wisdom have set them up not only beside small creeks but on top of them as well.

Then to keep us out of the harsh summer sun, as if the shade from the trees wasn’t enough, the whole scene is covered in tarpaulins strung in spaghetti like web-works to those bruised and battered trees.

A pool was made nearby which teamed with artificial life, blow-up buoyancy rings, five foot sharks and beach balls. It seemed everyone and their dog, yes there were plenty of pet dogs lulling about, had traversed narrow roads and clotted small car parks to enjoy a summer’s picnic beneath the tarp.

So that was how the last day of my holiday was spent. I didn’t go for a swim like most others from our group but played Go-Stop as we waited for the food we ordered that never arrived and drank the beer we’d brought with us.