What would you do if a customs official welcomed you to a foreign country with a "KISS"? In a manner of speaking, that's exactly what happened to me today as I arrived in Seoul for a series of meetings and -- like so many other travelers before me -- answered a series of mind-numbing questions from a group called KISS (the Korean Immigration Smart Service) before I could enter the country. Questions included: (1) "Are you carrying a crossbow, explosives or poisonous radioactive substances?"; (2) "Are you bringing opium, heroin, cocaine or other illicit or potentially dangerous drugs such as diet pills into the country?"; (3) "Are you transporting endangered species such as tigers, cobras, turtles, crocodiles or bear's gull into the country?"; and (4) "Are you carrying any pornographic materials such as books, CDs or photos into the country?" I fought the impulse to laugh -- "Yes, my crossbow is in my carry-on bag, right near my supply of uranium which I take purely as a dietary supplement ..." -- and just answered "no" to everything. After all, joking with a customs official is usually the KISS of death in any country ...!
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5 comments:
I once had a rather unfortunate experience with an Israeli customs official. Some people have no sense of humour!
http://journals.aol.co.uk/acoward15/andy-the-bastard
Keep away from the KIMCHI, it's rotten cabbage and garlic, your breath will smell like a dog's fatred in your mouth! Yeeeeewwwwww
Gaz ;-)
Yeah, you probably don't want to be funning with a Korean customs official in their country. I wonder if anyone has ever answered "yes" to any of thos questions. When I first opened your post, and saw the long line, my first thought was, "dang, thats a long line, no wonder they need a parking lot attendant at Starbucks"...but then I saw it was an airport, and you weren't at 7th & Montana...
xoxo ~Myra
i thnk theose questions would be better suited for the koreans leaving the airport!!Beckiexx
Ignore Gaz...I love kimchee! --Cin
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