Landlords, like kidneys, cause no pain if they don't bother you

In any country in which you are living, a landlord is very much like a kidney: A healthy, properly functioning one is silent, and allows both organ and body to go about their respective business in blissful ignorance of one another's existence. If, however, something should go wrong, you are made all too aware by a sharp, stabbing pain which you cannot, and would be incredibly unwise, to ignore.

When I was living in South Korea, one of my friends had a sharp, stabbing pain called Mr Park. Much as my friend would love to have been able to ignore him, he - unfortunately for my friend - lived just upstairs.

Mr Park was a square-shaped, angry, middle-aged character. He made loud, incomprehensible demands and complaints in what my friend could only assume was Korean. His staccato grunts were often accompanied by the odd push. Mr Park was very much a kidney in distress, and there was little my friend could do by way of treatment.