I've not been writing as often as I'd like, but life has begun to settl into a day-to-day hum and I find myself a little busy from the time I wake up until I tuck myself (and the pups!) in at night. Nonetheless, in case you're curious about how I've been doing, life is good, happy and chill in the Land of the Morning Calm. It's summer in Korea now, and I guess really it has been for the most part since near the end of May, I'm just thinking more about it these days I guess. No more chilly nights, no more thoughts of snow lingering on the edge of my mind, only heat. All. The. Time. Now as many of you are very well aware, I *hate* wintery cold days, so I am totally in my element over here in the summer time temperatures.
Along with this heat, which sits around 25-30C most days, there is a thick, sticky wall of mugginess. For anyone who has never been to a tropicalesque country it's hard to explain just what this feels like... funny that Korea ISN'T tropical, but embraces mugginess as though it were!! What it pretty much boils down to is the feeling that you are ALways covered by a sort of slick on your skin, sweating just from sitting outside or walking outside, even when the sun is hiding under cloud cover. I guess it's kinda like you are walking inside a greenhouse, with the heat cranked up around 30, the air just hanging around you... or like when you're stuck in the tiny drycleaner's shop on a really busy day, the air almost hits you as you walk in the door, and leaving gives you a 'thank god, I can breathe again!' kind of feeling... humid, humid, humid! Almost EVerywhere you go you find air conditioning, so the heat and the mug are easy to escape if you like, but I am almost ALways to be found outside, soaking up the heat a bit like a lizard, enjoying the fact that it's summer.
That being said, I *DO carry my umbrella almost everywhere I go, because Monsoon season is coming. Some days in the past week or two I've thought it was here, but then the next few days were sunny so I was obviously wrong, because monsoon season means 2-4 weeks of rain! rain! rain! with slight breaks... not what I've seen in my end of the country these days! Last week on my afternoon break there was a shower while the sun was still shining. It was raining enough that you definitely needed an umbrella if you wanted to arrive at your destination dry, but I found myself tucking my umbrella under my arm as I slowly walked back to school with my mocha frappe... the rain was beautiful, falling in light whispers from the cloudless sky, soft and warm warm warm like the summer sea. I remember closing my eyes for a moment and turning my face to the sky... I just stood there in the park, letting the rain fall down on me and thinking it was one of the most perfect feelings I've ever had... no traffic sounds, no pushy people, just the sound of the fountain in the park and the warm sunny rain. I was almost late to work because I walked so slowly once my feet started again, but I was on the edge of bliss and at the time it was worth raised eyebrows from the boss :)
The Earth has a way of balancing itself out and doing it's thing, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. In the event that the rains DO come, perhaps I will have to go out and get myself a pair of polka-dot rain boots all the kids are wearing these days!! :) Ha, me, rainboots, haha, yeah... we'll see... stranger things have been known to happen!
That being said, I *DO carry my umbrella almost everywhere I go, because Monsoon season is coming. Some days in the past week or two I've thought it was here, but then the next few days were sunny so I was obviously wrong, because monsoon season means 2-4 weeks of rain! rain! rain! with slight breaks... not what I've seen in my end of the country these days! 
