Introducing Lucky

Some of you may know that I’m a huge fan of four-legged, floppy-eared, bushy-tailed beasts of all shapes and colors! When I think about the friends and companions I miss, more than a few claw-retracting creatures comes to mind. I love the critters! And so, perhaps it was this, above all else, that prompted me to say yes to cat sitting, here, in Korea. (This is where the dramatic music would play.)

This is Lucky. Say hi Lucky... Lucky??? This bloody cat never listens to me!!! Seriously though, he's one cool cat, eh?Okay, so I’ve known Lucky for a few months now, and every time we’ve hung out he’s been oh-so charming. So when his slave, I mean owner, told me Lucky needed some lovin’ I offered my professional services enthusiastically!

One little glitch to this plan, Lucky lives in Seoul and I live in Andong.

So here I am, defender of animals rights, (unless they taste good or are endangered, then they’re on their own) trying to shove a resisting cat into his uber hip carrying case. Phew, got that done. On to the real challenge, public transportation with a hysterical kitty!

One of the things I adore about Lucky is his complete unwillingness to compromise. He has more gumption than some of the girls I went to high school with, I’m telling you! And he’s not afraid to demand whatever it is he wants, including freedom from unjust imprisonment. So he was squawking away, making angry meows in a highly accusatory voice that pierced the eardrums and I decided to splurge for a cab, instead of taking the subway. He never stopped meowing during the 25 minute cab ride.

An important piece of information is, on a whole, Koreans don’t much fancy cats. They regard them like Americans regard racoons, feral, diseased and dirty. Cats are thought to bring bad luck, Koreans have a great deal of superstitions. And there I was, walking around with a possessed cat yelling his head off! You can imagine the looks I got!

Finally, we made it to the bus and quietly waited. Well, I waited quietly, Mr. Loud-Mouth on the other hand, screamed bloody murder to anyone under 5’2’’! We calmly get seated, and for a brief moment I thought his protestations were done with, and that’s when an unsuspecting victim sat next to me on the bus. I watched in horror as the bus filled to the brim. And what do you know? The second we hit the highway, the cat starts up his fierce consternation!

About 30 minutes later, with my ipod up as loud as it goes, I hear a ruckus coming from behind me. I unplug my ears as civilized as one can and find a middle-aged Korean woman bawling up the isle to give me a piece of her mind. Her finger’s a-waggin, and her voice is a-screatchin, and she doesn’t seem to be able to filter her words as I recognize more than one Korean slur and cuss. And to top it off, are you paying attention? Because this is the best part of the story, the bus driver TURNS ON THE LIGHTS, you know, so she could see me properly, and yell accordingly! Let the whipping commence! Seriously, how perfect was that?

I let her speak and just nodded in agreement. When she stopped for air, I told her I understood her frustration, I wish he would be quiet too, but he’s really angry right now and there’s nothing I can do. The guy sitting next to me must have understood English because he nodded his approval and considering he was closest to ground zero, that bolstered me up some.

With about 30 minutes left of the 3-hour bus ride, Lucky decided it was time to rest, and we rode the rest of the way in peace. Oh, so I forgot to mention, there’s a bathroom break half way through, but I didn’t want to get off the bus, because, well, you never know where Lucky could have ended up in the 5 minutes it took me to pee. So while I was guarding the incessantly meowing kitty-cat, the bus driver walked back to our seat and pointed and laughed at both of us! His sole purpose for walking back was to laugh at me and Lucky to, well, my face, I suppose! And finally, when we were getting off the bus, the driver starting laughing again when he saw us! Classic!

Other than the calamitous transit experience, he, crammed into carrier that may as well have been a box with air holes, and me, a heavy backpack crushing my legs as I tried to mute the sound coming out of this ball of joy. But, yeah, other than that, we actually had a really great ol’ time together! He’s more like a dog than any other cat I’ve ever met. He runs up to the door when you come home. He flops over, he eyes bequeathing you, ‘for pitysake, scratch my belly!’ Lucky enjoys people food just as much as people do, thank you very much, and made this clear as he inhaled the fried chicken breast I gave him.

Lucky’s owner, Todd, found him tied inside a plastic bag, in a dumpster, meowing for his dear little life in Seoul. Upon saving him from eminent death, Lucky has always expected the same devotion from all his subjects. He’s a completely entitled princess, so how can you not adore him?

I really loved our evenings together. Lucky would burrow under the covers and sleep by my feet, which actually worked out perfect because I slide my foot back and fourth when I’m comfortable or going to bed, so I could pet him for hours. Some people, who know I wiggle my foot when I’m comfortable call, it my ‘purr,’ which seems fitting.

Lucky and I played lots of games. We’re both a fan of the-mouse-on-the-string game, that one’s fun, or Lucky played, I-wanna-lay-on-all-the-clean-clothes-in-the-closet game, but he lost, because, uh-uh, you can’t lie on the clothes I’m going to wear. Sometimes he’d try to see how far he could throw the cat litter, which was surprisingly impressive, if you kept an open mind. All and all, it was a good visit. My first houseguest ever!

As you can imagine, I was weary of our return voyage to Seoul. Once Lucky saw that carrier, it was every man for himself! But the journey was pretty good. He meowed, but they were these sad, little pathetic meows. It was like, ‘help... please help me...’ in the most whimpering voice you can imagine. And it was quiet. But for some reason, the 3 hour bus ride ended up being 4.5 hours, and Lucky didn’t mind stating his disapproval.

I figured the bus was late because of all the traffic, so even though I wanted to take a cab, I took the subway to make it faster. People would hear this little meow on the train, and look all around, but he was behind my legs, and covered by a backpack. It was hilarious though, people jamming fingers into their ears to check their hearing. And finally, oh-my, we made it back. Safe and sound!

Luckster was quite relieved to be home and, even though I miss him something fierce, I am also quite relieved to be done with that adventure!