We are in Seoul for Chusok. Like usual, my family is lying around the house pretending that they will go outside 'later'.

I can take it no longer, and announce that I am going out for another walk.

"Oh," says my wife, "Could you pick up a band-aid?"

"Sure," I say as I leave.

Two hours later, I'm sitting in a park, on my phone, fixing typos on my website, when I remember about the band-aid.

I quickly send my wife a message, "Are you still bleeding?"

She doesn't respond. But she never looks at her phone, so I expect that.

When I get home, about an hour later, I ask her about the cut as I hand her the band-aid.

"The band-aid was for my Mom."

"Is she still alive?" I try.

"Yeah, it was nothing"

A little bit of silence, and then I ask. "Do you get the joke?"

"Did you tell a joke?"

"About the cut, the bleeding." I explain.

"Is that a joke?"

"Yeah. I sent you the message two hours after I went out."

"So the joke was making me wait two hours for a band-aid?"

"No. That was just because it didn't seem urgent. The joke was that bandages, by their nature, are things that when you need them, you need them urgently. So if..."

She hasn't understood me. I can't explain it in Korean. It's a little subtle.

"Lucy, can you explain my joke to your Mom."

"I don't see the humour, either."

"Dammit," I curse, frustrated, "What's the point of making jokes on this humorless peninsula!"

"Why don't you send it to your brothers on Whatapp? See if they get it."

"It's not really a Whatsapp joke." I say.

"Well, I'm sure it's funny. Put it on that blog of yours."

"I might just do that."