Sometimes when it is raining so hard I try to take a bus, even though my walk is about 20 minutes. I figure it's faster and dryer, so why not?
I was waiting for the bus today and a car did this in front of the bus stop. Everyone screamed and acted dramatic, I was too pissed off to say or do anything.
When I got to work the co-teachers told me they have never seen a typhoon season like this, and that it usually lasts between one or two weeks.
Here is an article (English) about the typhoon season from the Korea Herald.
I also just realized I could use hyperlinks and thus the three links in the last two posts. COOL.
stay dry,
keith
Monday, July 11, 2011
typhoon season
It's been over two months since I've blogged and I'm afraid if I don't use it I'll lose it.
A variety of things have happened since I last wrote and I'll try to touch on a few of them.
First, typhoon season is in full effect and it is quite possibly the most depressing thing I've ever encountered. The rain is unrelenting and sometimes unpredictable. Looking at the 5 or 10 day forecast is useless because every day it just says a 90% chance of rain and sometimes thunderstorms. Initially the rain was welcomed because the humidity was brutal, however some how the rain doesn't reduce the humidity to a manageable level... I'm still sweating an absurd amount and the kids think I'm a monster. The walk to school is the worst because I will sweat through a clean shirt by the time I get to school and I have to either change shirts or dry out with a fan quickly before the students arrive. Also, the mornings of heavy rain make for a difficult walk to school because my pants are soaked and usually parts of my shirt are too by the time I get to school... Umbrellas are no match for this weather!!! I've killed 4 or 5 umbrellas in the last two weeks, and the most recent one (bought it yesterday) doesn't seem like it'll last much longer, either.
This sums up typhoon season rather well.
The rain has been SO ridiculous that we had landslides near Seoul and it derailed a subway on line 1 (my line). I don't think anyone died, but a handful of injuries I'm sure. The initial storm that kicked off the season was particularly brutal as it killed 7 and a handful more were missing for quite some time. Luckily, I slept through the typhoon and woke up to clear skies.
I'm certainly looking forward to the Wisconsin weather when I get back in late July! I suppose it'll be the dog days of summer, but hopefully we have a few hot/dry days so I can get a few rounds of golf in with friends. Warm weather and the ability to hangout outside while grilling has been one of the more common daydreams I've used to get myself through the long afternoons of doing nearly nothing.
Classes are somewhat over for the semester, which has been kind of nice. For some unknown reason the students have their finals day two weeks before the end of the semester... this leads to two problems. 1- students do not care about anything and thus are the most unmotivated/horrible creatures on Earth. This is scientific fact... they're worthless. 2- my curriculum is finished and now I have to babysit/teach for a week and a half... movies have been my most effective weapon against the monsters. Luckily, I have not shown many movies (none actually) to them, so I've been picking out pixar movies to show each class. This has essentially ruined all pixar movies for me since I watch the same 40 minute clip 2 or 3 times in a row and repeated for the next 40 minute segment the following day... Oh well, I'm just trying to survive until next friday.
Weekends have been a mix of dinners, drinks, and rec team sports. My attendance to frisbee was poor, but I had one good excuse and a handful of other excuses that pass in my book but not for nearly anyone else. However, my attendance to volleyball league has been perfect and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time playing with my new team. The whole team is a good group of people who enjoy the games and make a point to laugh along the way... I can't say the same for some of the other teams so far.
Next Friday I'll be finishing up my first week of English Summer Camp 2011, and I'll be high-tailing it to Incheon Int'l Airport to make the long trek home. Excited would be an understatement, but I'm sure the time will fly before my vacation. It'll be nice to see the family all together which seems to be hard to do for many reasons. This may be a good time to also mention and congratulate my brother, Josh, and his girlfriend/fiancee, Angela, on their engagement and recent move! Couldn't be happier for them, and I couldn't have asked for a better family as a whole... now I just need to get out to Wyoming to visit them! (more travel!!!)
This year is quickly coming to an end, and although I'll be here for another year after I return from the US in August, it definitely is a bit sad to see this year come to a close. I've made a few great friends and I'm positive we'll be good friends when I return back to the US permanently. It'll be sad to see those people go back to the US while I stay here for a whole year alone. Of course those are the same words I said about leaving my friends in Madison to come to Korea, so I'm certain I'll make new friends and be more than fine.
Well this post was going to be a quick rant about typhoons and it quickly got out of hand. Semi-sorry about that. Not really though.
Best regards to those who've made it through all my blathering,
Keith
A variety of things have happened since I last wrote and I'll try to touch on a few of them.
First, typhoon season is in full effect and it is quite possibly the most depressing thing I've ever encountered. The rain is unrelenting and sometimes unpredictable. Looking at the 5 or 10 day forecast is useless because every day it just says a 90% chance of rain and sometimes thunderstorms. Initially the rain was welcomed because the humidity was brutal, however some how the rain doesn't reduce the humidity to a manageable level... I'm still sweating an absurd amount and the kids think I'm a monster. The walk to school is the worst because I will sweat through a clean shirt by the time I get to school and I have to either change shirts or dry out with a fan quickly before the students arrive. Also, the mornings of heavy rain make for a difficult walk to school because my pants are soaked and usually parts of my shirt are too by the time I get to school... Umbrellas are no match for this weather!!! I've killed 4 or 5 umbrellas in the last two weeks, and the most recent one (bought it yesterday) doesn't seem like it'll last much longer, either.
This sums up typhoon season rather well.
The rain has been SO ridiculous that we had landslides near Seoul and it derailed a subway on line 1 (my line). I don't think anyone died, but a handful of injuries I'm sure. The initial storm that kicked off the season was particularly brutal as it killed 7 and a handful more were missing for quite some time. Luckily, I slept through the typhoon and woke up to clear skies.
I'm certainly looking forward to the Wisconsin weather when I get back in late July! I suppose it'll be the dog days of summer, but hopefully we have a few hot/dry days so I can get a few rounds of golf in with friends. Warm weather and the ability to hangout outside while grilling has been one of the more common daydreams I've used to get myself through the long afternoons of doing nearly nothing.
Classes are somewhat over for the semester, which has been kind of nice. For some unknown reason the students have their finals day two weeks before the end of the semester... this leads to two problems. 1- students do not care about anything and thus are the most unmotivated/horrible creatures on Earth. This is scientific fact... they're worthless. 2- my curriculum is finished and now I have to babysit/teach for a week and a half... movies have been my most effective weapon against the monsters. Luckily, I have not shown many movies (none actually) to them, so I've been picking out pixar movies to show each class. This has essentially ruined all pixar movies for me since I watch the same 40 minute clip 2 or 3 times in a row and repeated for the next 40 minute segment the following day... Oh well, I'm just trying to survive until next friday.
Weekends have been a mix of dinners, drinks, and rec team sports. My attendance to frisbee was poor, but I had one good excuse and a handful of other excuses that pass in my book but not for nearly anyone else. However, my attendance to volleyball league has been perfect and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time playing with my new team. The whole team is a good group of people who enjoy the games and make a point to laugh along the way... I can't say the same for some of the other teams so far.
Next Friday I'll be finishing up my first week of English Summer Camp 2011, and I'll be high-tailing it to Incheon Int'l Airport to make the long trek home. Excited would be an understatement, but I'm sure the time will fly before my vacation. It'll be nice to see the family all together which seems to be hard to do for many reasons. This may be a good time to also mention and congratulate my brother, Josh, and his girlfriend/fiancee, Angela, on their engagement and recent move! Couldn't be happier for them, and I couldn't have asked for a better family as a whole... now I just need to get out to Wyoming to visit them! (more travel!!!)
This year is quickly coming to an end, and although I'll be here for another year after I return from the US in August, it definitely is a bit sad to see this year come to a close. I've made a few great friends and I'm positive we'll be good friends when I return back to the US permanently. It'll be sad to see those people go back to the US while I stay here for a whole year alone. Of course those are the same words I said about leaving my friends in Madison to come to Korea, so I'm certain I'll make new friends and be more than fine.
Well this post was going to be a quick rant about typhoons and it quickly got out of hand. Semi-sorry about that. Not really though.
Best regards to those who've made it through all my blathering,
Keith
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