The Bird

Today, I saw a bird. This may seem like a totally ridiculous statement, which may even provoke you to ask the question, “Adam, what is a bird?” My response would include a description of a normal, average, run-of-the-mill, feathery, flying and standard bird. So why would I waste my time and write about such a perfectly normal sighting? Because it’s not a perfectly normal sighting. Because I’ve been in Korea for 3 months now and I’ve never seen or even heard a bird.

The effect the lack of birds has on the surrounding ecosystem is massive. I’ve heard stories, tales and near legends of the largest insects you could imagine (well, maybe a bit smaller) appearing during the summer months to take advantage of the predator-less area. Rick has told me that the mosquitoes are all the size of your index finger and, additionally, show no mercy for places to feed. He told me a story, which to sum up, sounded as if a small helicopter landed on his forehead during the middle of the night and implanted a golf ball sized lump underneath his skin. Foreheads don’t even have any meat on them.

To quote Bill Watterson (if you don’t know who he is, I don’t know you): “Good ol’ itchy island! Home of the nuclear mosquitoes!” Although this wasn’t in reference to Korea, I think the obvious message still rings true. Hopefully I see more birds outside as the weather continues to warm up. As for now, the 1 bird will probably die from obesity.