Where are all the Kims?

According to Wikipedia, as of the year 2000, there were 18,925,949 Kims distributed throughout the world, more than twice as many as the next most common surname Lee which falls at a mere 6,796,227. I, however, have met less than ten my entire two years here in Korea. My best friends here have the surnames Yoon, Cha, Choi, Suh, Jeon, Kang, Choo, Lee, Moon, Park, and Jang. If you scroll through my phone you will also find that out of 103 names only four are Kims, one of which is a doctor, one with whom I worked, and two random numbers that I probably picked up while drinking with the guys. This is rather strange for me since in the United States I knew many Kims. What's even more strange is that I used to teach English to over 70 kids and less than five of them were Kims as well. Furthermore, my office last year contained 2 Ims, 2 Kangs, 1 Joo, 2 Chois, 1 Park, 1 Lee, 1 Hwang, 1 Shin, and 1 Jung. My current office contains 2 Suhs, 2 Kangs, 2 Lees, 1 Jang, 1 Jo, 2 Chois, 1 Oh, 1 Nam, and 1 Jin.

My roommate claims that given the statistics, I must be somehow unconsciously avoiding all the Kims in the nation. If people can have magnetic properties, then the Kims and I must repel one another because we're both north. Or south.

Seriously, where are all the Kims?

The Lobster Claw Machine

When you hear the words "Lobster Claw Machine" what comes to mind? A machine filled with toys for you to grab with a big mechanical claw right? Wrong! It's exactly what the name implies: a machine filled with live lobsters for you to grab with a big mechanical claw.

As inhumane as it sounds, my friends and I spent up to 20,000 won (roughly 20 dollars) trying to grab one of those big guys. However, we had a chance with only one of the lobsters that was light enough for the claw to carry, which resulted in a good deal of torture for that particular lobster. Sadly in the end, we went home empty-handed.

I didn't have my camera on me, unfortunately, but I did find this similar Japanese UFO catcher on the internet.

The best part is, if you do catch a lobster, no one cooks it for you afterward. There isn't even a bag with which you can carry him home. So I guess if you didn't want to cook it you could always keep it as a pet. Just don't "accidentally" give it a hot bath like Homer Simpson did with his.