Playing with fire, North Korean-style

As I'm sure many of you have already heard,  our wonderful neighbors to the North attacked a small South Korean island yesterday afternoon. The North fired dozens of shells at the island of Yeonpyeong, killing two of the South's soldiers and further blossoming the bitter tensions on the Korean peninsula.

But rather than tell what you can read on any news site, I'll tell you what it's like to be living here right now. According to many major news outlets, there is a sense of panic and anxiety sweeping the peninsula. I just got to school a little bit ago and no one has showed the slightest bit of worry. No one has even bothered to mention it to me! (which is surprising because they think I'm very incapable at many things, and I'm sure "reading the news" is on their list).

This is all very new though and I'm sure there will be further updates. I will try to keep you posted on the local news and opinions. Who knows what will culminate from this caveat? The South Koreans that I encounter never seem to be very worried what their northern siblings are up to. They are known to be very optimistic on the matter, using words like "when" they will reunite and not "if." I personally am not too worried, but we'll see what happens from here.

For some really great photos from all of this check out The Big Picture on boston.com.