Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SPINOZA]

The pic of a Jumping Spider (that someone's taken in Korea) in the 'pic of the day' thread made me think - how would I react if I saw this bugger?

I saw a multicolored spider on a tree late last summer and I wouldn't wanna come across that in my apartment either.

I'm not scared of spiders. I'd just rather they not be in my house. Back home, in Autumn when it's mildly warm and very damp, some huge house spiders (with big hairy legs and boots on) would crawl around in my room and I'd have to do the whole glass-and-beer-mat thing and put it outside. I don't like killing them, although have done once or twice. Because the spiders here are an unknown quantity to me, unlike spiders back home which are completely harmless, I'd probably have to resort to killing it. I hate killing things, so all the spiders in Seoul should be advised to stay well away from my officetel - there's really no point in trying to scare me because you'll just end up dead. I like and respect spiders. They do a great job and are darkly-beautiful in appearance.

Folks, gimme your spider stories, every last detail. Feel free to discuss Korean spiders generally, considering the search function is about as much use as a solar-powered torch. The average person eats 8 spiders during sleep in their lifetime apparently.

[captain kirk]

Yeah, the second largest tarrantula in the world and her name is Brazil, she's two years old, and mellow.

[SPINOZA]

well I don't approve of keeping them as pets. Get a cat or a dog instead, mate.

[Porter_Goss]

I have had a spider in my apartment. Wee little bugger, more like a dust particle.

[Thiuda]

Two years ago I lived in Andong. Nice place. Was taking care of the regular morning routine when, to my complete surprise, a spider popped out of the drain hole in the floor. The drain was covered by a small metal cover that the arachnid in question moved! Pretty sizable beast. I like spiders, but this one surprised me greatly and became my immediate enemy. I squealed, jumped, slipped, hit my head, ran out of the bathroom and asked my wife to take care of the spider. She was greatly amused, went into bathroom, told me she couldn't find it and told me not to be such a child. She then walked up to me and opened the piece of toilet paper in her hand, the spider, still alive, pops out, falls out of her hand, runs over my foot, and hides under the refrigerator. I yelped again, my wife laughed some more, and we never saw the spider again.

[gdimension]

[krats1976]

I used to be the world's biggest arachnophobe. But now I'm pretty good about the little buggers. We have a deal in my apartment: they stay up in the corners and eat ���s for me and they live. But, if they venture down into my territory, they die.

When I was a kid, though, it was a different story. If I saw a spider in my room I wouldn't sleep in there for at least a week. Of course, I lived in Eastern Washington where black widows and brown recluses were common, so arachnophobia was simply common sense.

[Bulsajo]

I had a dozen of these living in my 'bathroom', they're the size of my hand and they come out at night.





But you'll be happy to know that this wasn't in Korea.

[SPINOZA]

[Qinella]

The only spider I've seen in Korea was the first time I entered the veranda in my apartment. A red bucket housed some old detergent, a spade (?), and to my chagrin, a long spider. Its length of approx. 5cm exceeded its width, freaking me out significantly.

I'm no fan of spiders. I flipped into survival mode -- slammed the veranda door shut, ran inside, located the nearest weapon-an umbrella-and bludgeoned the spider with its blunted hilt.

That was the only spider I saw all year.

[desultude]

In Miami I was helping some friends unload a container from Thailand (as in huge shipping container) and we found a lot of huge spiders- they looked quite nasty- save for the fact that they had been killed in the fumegation of the container.

[schwa]

I'm a recovered arachnophobe & quite like them now, short of skin contact. I've taken a few tiger spiders in the face hiking autumn woods around here -- they like to cast their webs across trails. Spookiest spider I ever saw in Korea was an all-black critter with a body the size of a pingpong ball.

If you really hate spiders, an effective trick my grandmother used to use was to place chestnuts near likely entrances.

I would welcome a resident spider or 2 but in my experience house spiders are really rare here (& yes, I've never allowed the bugspray ajummas into my home). But they'd have to be wary of my cats.

[kermo]

Funny this should pop up today. I've just been searching the Internet trying to find out what my new arachnid friend could be.

A Zen nun came by my apartment today to share the "first fruits" of the season with me (she's a darling.) She packed kiwis from Jeju Island, mangoes from the Philippines, oranges, apples, pears, tomatoes, melons and avocadoes from who knows where. I set the (heavy) box down on my floor, and sat down beside it. Not long after, a remarkable spider climbed out from amid the fruit and perched on the edge of the box.

I moved the box to my veranda, and had a good look at it through the glass. It's pale green, with a rather succulent appearance like a juicy leaf, with a long, thin body, and stubby but prominent palpae. I can't see how many eyes it has. I don't know if it's local, or if it rode in on a banana, but it's an interesting little thing.

I'll post a couple more pictures of spiders here-- one that I took, and one I didn't.
These guys looked like fat grapes and hung from the bushes everywhere around my rural Korean town. This one has his legs all tucked in.


This was nabbed from "JeffinKorea"'s blog.
http://jeffinkorea.blogs.com/ruminations_in_korea/2004/04/i_hate_spiders.html

[coolsage]

In my house in Thailand, occasionally a spider about the size of a phone-book will appear in the bathroom. That's when I decide that it's a good idea to take a wizz outside. Now that we have a cat, that hazard should decrease. But there are still the scorpions to deal with....

[deessell]

None in Korea but when I lived in Vietnam I frequently had large visitors. Luckily enough I always had a few beers inside me and was brave enough to kill them with the aid of a broom.