Thursday, May 10, 2007

Spring has sprunged

I know "sprunged" isnt a word but it damn well should be...

It’s been awhile since I last posted and I was figuring it would be good to drop a little blurb before the weekend since I plan on posting another picture/video update then.

Spring is officially here in Korea. The change of the seasons and weather in Seoul are remarkably like that of Chicago with a few differences.

First, it gets much colder in Chicago than Seoul during the winter. I’ve never had to wear my “winter” jacket in Seoul more than 4 or 5 times per year and people thought I was crazy when I was walking around in shorts and a t-shirt in April. All I can say is, “That’s how it’s done in Chicago”.

Second, springtime in Korea brings the “yellow sand” phenomena which is pretty much sand from the Gobi Desert in China being swept up and spread through the air of Seoul in waves that hit every spring. It causes plenty of health issues for people with lung problems and those with allergies every year so it always helps to have a face mask for those particularly nasty days. I’ve also adopted the routine of washing my eyes out with saline when I get into my apartment and keeping my humidifier on at work all the time. Color me a hypochondriac.

Other than that, like I said, pretty much the same.

I have been enjoying the nice weather and have been taking longer lunches than usual so I can stroll around the little gardens with my co-workers. It’s also really nice to be able to wear my sandals again. The unfortunate thing is that spring only lasts like 3 weeks before it starts getting hot. That is why I plan on enjoying this weather while it lasts.

Things on the work front are pretty much the same. I work, do some presentations, yada yada yada. I will be up for a promotion pretty soon and though I don’t really want it, the extra income will be nice. Other than that, work is fine.

I will be traveling to Japan next weekend to meet up with my grandmother and the rest of my family who I haven’t seen in almost 4 years. It should be interesting to see how far my Japanese skills have fallen off while actually in the country. Here’s to 36 hours of Japanese practice and lots of delicious food. I should have some cool pictures to share when I get back.

So this is my “little blurb” entry.

I will get to posting pictures and videos this weekend sometime so be on the lookout for that.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i sure as hell wasn't rockin shorts & t-shirt in April over here...where were you living?? the Chicago Islands?!...LOL

Mike said...

Ah, I guess I should have explained better.

What I meant was that it was warmer here than it was in Chicago in April, therefore I was rocking shorts. Of course the people here still think it's cold in April, but it feels quite refreshing to me. So when they would ask me why I am wearing shorts, I would just tell them that when it became this warm in Chicago, I would rock shorts.

Hope that cleared up the confusion Art Van Delay...HA

Doug said...

Dude - it's just now getting around to spring there? If that's the case you'll be burning up down in Tokyo. I'll actually be in town this weekend for a show someone invited me to, but if you're gonna be busy then yeah, just try and gimme a call or something. (# on the way)

Oh, and we get the remnants of that yellow sand shit all the way out here too. I never heard of it when we were in Chiba, but apparently it's known as 黄砂(こうさ, yellow + sand = duh)and sucks (and blows) pretty hard in Kansai.

Stupid China with their stupid world's fastest growing economy ruining the dumb ecosphere. Never trust a man that'll eat pig's testicles, that's what I say.

How much for a ticket to the Chicago Islands?