I hate bugs

All the bugs are so big!

Today's topic is one that is undeniably unavoidable.  No matter where you are in the world you will find them.  Inside, outside, on the walls, in the curtains, on the floor, practically everywhere.  It seems like even the houses with the best protection cannot avoid them.  Bugs.  Just as a disclaimer, since I have a scientific husband, technically everything I refer to today is an arthropod but I'll just stick with bug ;). There are only a few people I've ever met who actually like bugs.  From everything I've heard of and experienced here, Koreans especially don't like bugs.  This seems ironic considering the names of bugs in Korean.  A lot of bug names sound much too cute to belong to creepy crawlies.  Let me give you a few examples:

거미 (Pronounced gomie) = spider.  Ya oh it's just a tiny little gomi!
모기 (Pronounced mogie) = mosquito.  I don't know when such a pest deserved a cute name
매미 (Pronounced memmie) = cicada.  I'll talk more about them later
개미 (Pronounced gemmie) = ant. Seriously, I can't be the only one who thinks these names sound cute!

Obviously there are many more bugs I haven't included in this list but this is just an example of the few I've come across while being here.  I started to notice the trend of cute sounding names and want to just prove how cute the bugs AREN'T here.

First off are the gomies (spiders).  There is a specific type of spider that is EVERYWHERE here in the summer time.  Mostly they make their webs in trees or bushes but we do have one living right outside one of our windows.  On average, their total diameter is probably about the size of a half dollar.  I'll leave all the explaining to these pictures.  Yes, these are pictures Trevor took, not just the creepiest thing we could find on the internet. Luckily I haven't seen one inside. I don't know what I would do if they were found inside.

Next come the memmies (cicadas).  Not only do they look like bugs that roamed the earth at the time of dinosaurs (seriously they look so creepy), but they are so incredibly noisy!  They like to spend their time mostly in trees.  They seem practically harmless but they make the list because of the sound they make.  One cicada might not be very loud but they will all start buzzing at the same time.  Here is a short clip you might have seen frequenting Facebook recently to give an example of what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHc288IPFzk.  I'm not sure what it is, but the sounds will come in waves as if there is a big alpha male cicada telling everyone else when they can and can't buzz.  Another creepy thing about cicadas is that they shed off whole layers of their exoskeleton.  I've learned that if it's not black, it's not a real cicada it's just a shed.  The last mentionable quality of a cicada may or may not be true (I certainly hope with all my heart that it's not!).  Supposedly a lot of the cicadas all die around the same time at the end of summer and if it gets windy, the dead cicadas will all start to fall out of the trees like it's raining cicadas!  Gross! Hope it doesn't really happen but we will see!

Our next guests are certainly both creepy and crawly. Centipedes. We have seen regular centipedes and house centipedes.  We've only run across a few here or there but each occurrence is just as horrible as the next.  They like to hide in dark places and when their hiding spot has been revealed or disturbed, they go nuts!  They squirm and skedaddle as quickly as possible to safety.  It's not an easy task killing these guys either.  They take multiple hits with a tennis shoe.  And of course, as it goes here, all of the shoes are safely tucked away at the front door.  We have tried to be more careful not to leave any clothes lying on the floor because that is a prime hiding spot.

This one's from the internet but it's
basically what I've seen

Another honorable mention goes to the bees.  Well I'm not sure exactly if they are technically bees or wasps or what but to me what I've seen look like bees.  They are GIGANTIC bees!!! I'm pretty sure they are about the size of my thumb!  Really though I've seen them fly around collecting pollen or whatnot and they are seriously freaky.  Don't think I want to get stung by one of those bad boys!  They seem easy enough to get along with as long as they aren't bothered too much so I guess that's my game plan.

Last for today are the mogis (mosquitoes).  They have been such a problem for us we had to get a mosquito net to go over our whole bed so we don't get eaten alive while we sleep.  They were most popular at the beginning of the summer.  One of these pictures shows the bottoms of my slippers during one mogi killing spree that took about 5 minutes.  Seriously they are everywhere and they have been such a nuisance!

Well folks, that's it for me.  There's my rampage on one of my least favorite things.  Hope you didn't get grossed out too much!