Sifting through my past

I passed through passport control with ease. No queues, only Korean efficiency. As I came through customs, though, I was targeted by security. They could read the fear on my face because as I came off that flight and took my first steps in Korea I was carrying the full weight of my decision with me. I had jumped into this so fast I barely had time to accept what I was doing, where I was going and how truly different it would be. I was just desperate for different.

So my baggage was put through an x-ray before being dissected with gloved hand yet again. My luggage had been sealed shut with not only zip ties but plastic wrap, the kind only South African airports seem to have available for travelers. It became obvious early on that the awkward Korean security official designated to search through my bags, spoke very little English. Using a box cutter he battled his way through my security measures. As he finally unzipped and unclipped my bags he begun to remove and examine everything I’d chosen to take along with me from my past. I soon began to feel guilty and worried. So I pointlessly explained everything in his hand.

“It’s an antihistamine, for my allergies, I sneeze a lot,” I say as he opens up every box of my four month supply and pulls out the foil casing to examine it. “Oh those are vitamins, so I don’t get sick, I use a lot of vitamins. Do you have vitamins in Korea?” I ask. No response, I suddenly feel a little awkward. He then goes for my four month supply of birth control pills. “I take those so I don’t get pregnant, so I don’t have a baby.” As the words come out of my mouth I instantly regret them, I’m feeling even more awkward now. I should have just said they were birth control pills I think to myself, at least he wouldn’t have understood that. I resolve to keep my mouth shut from this point. Next up he pulls out my supply of tampons. I’ve brought a lot with me, apparently you can’t get them out here. He opens up one of the boxes, pulls out a tampon and curiously stares at it before placing it back in the box and setting it aside, so as to search through the other boxes I’ve brought.

So it continues, I stand there for an hour. Eventually he’s pulled everything apart and satisfied I’m not smuggling drugs or weapons. His curiosity gets the better of him and as he replaces everything, he can’t resist, and asks me about the tampons. “What these?” he says, in his basic English as he waves a tampon around in the air. I’m laughing to myself now, it’s my turn to make him awkward. “For ladies,” I explain. “We use, once a month,” I continue before he blushes and says, “Oh sorry.” Needless to say I was on my merry way shortly after that.