or a very fuzzy morning! ㅋㅋㅋ

I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’ve been having insomnia and really struggling with stress. I’m kind of in meltdown mode.

As a result, I got a later start than normal this morning. I dropped by Paris Baguette for a very unhealthy breakfast snack and orange juice. Snarfed it all down, hopped on my bus and headed to school while still half-asleep.

When I got to my bus-stop and crossed the street towards my school I saw something that shocked me awake. There was a little pink cage with a black bag on top sitting on a park bench, all alone. I looked more closely and there were two hamsters running around inside the cage.

It’s not everyday you see a fully accessorized hamster cage just sitting on a park bench.

I asked a nearby high school student waiting for the bus if she knew whose hamsters they were. She didn’t. She’d been there a while.

Then I asked a few other random people. It seemed like no one knew whose hamsters they were, and no one really seemed to care either. I waited around for a few minutes, even though I was late for work. No one was around. No one seemed to be coming back for their hamsters.

Passer-bys glanced over curiously but kept walking. A tipsy Haraboji walked over and started poking the cage.
It seemed pretty clear that these hamsters had been abandoned.

So I picked up the hamsters and took them to work with me, much to the amusement/shock of my co-workers. [Click through for more pictures] They are sitting on my desk and sleeping in a little ball together right now.

You might ask why I bothered to stop, and why I cared.

After all, hamsters used to live in the wild. This particular kind of hamster originated in Sibera (I think they are Winter Whites, according to their coloring and size). Anything originating in Siberia would probably be ok in the cold. Right?

Well, not really. Hamsters are really sensitive to sunlight, and there wasn’t any shade. These little hamsters are domesticated, and if someone had decided to open the cage to play with them or hold them and they got loose, they wouldn’t know how to survive. Hamsters are not used to urban living.

Imagine if they did survive though? That would be a problem too. Hamsters overrunning the city! A cute but serious ecological imbalance!

Lecturing aside, here’s the thing. I’m weak. I have a problem with not being able to say no.
So when those little hamsters looked up at me with their cute little beady eyes I was done for.

It was cold and windy outside, and as far as I could tell no one else cared about the hamsters on the bench but me.

I’ve had several pet hamsters and really enjoyed them. Watching the antics of these hamsters today at work has cheered me up and made me happy, and I’m really glad to have rescued them

These little guys don’t seem sickly, and they come with a cage, water bottle, extra food, an exercise wheel, and some cedar shavings. I don’t know how old they are but hamsters usually live several years if they are well cared for.

However, I can’t keep them. My contract ends in a month. I’m leaving Korea soon and need to find a home for these hamsters. My friend Dan might be able to help me out with that.

The hamsters just woke up – so here are some pictures.

Awww.

Me First! No me!

I win!

Sucker!

Aren’t they cute? Don’t you want them?
I just keep wondering how they came to be sitting on that park bench this morning.