Let's start this post off with telling you the play list I heard on the radio a week ago. I am not kidding you when I say these are the five songs they played--in a row, within one hour:
Singing in the Rain
Umbrella by Rhianna
Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
It's Raining Men
Over the Rainbow
There is a very popular saying among the Koreans: "Korea has 4 seasons." I hear this all the time. They are very proud to tell people that Korea has four seasons, which is almost always followed by "Does your-country have four seasons?" They then seem generally confused that other countries have summer, spring, winter, and fall. But I digress.
The reason I mention this is because I disagree with the Koreans. I don't think they have four seasons--they have 5. Summer, Spring, Winter, Autumn and Rain. Monsoon Season. Rainy Season. Mold Season.
It has literally been raining non-stop for 5 days now. And not just little misty rain, but buckets--all the time. It is disgusting. I am not a big fan of rain--it gives me a headache. And I'm used to just a good spring rain where it is a downpour for a while and then it clears up and is beautiful--not the Korean version of being grey, overcast, and raining for the WHOLE day.
I don't really know what is worse--my intense dislike for rain or the humidity. Because Korean rain is not just water falling to the ground. Its like the raindrops have fights and split in half and then decide to hang out in the air--forming this incredibly dense cloud of hot, humid nastiness. It almost doesn't matter that the rain stops because the moist, damp air is so bad that you almost wish the rain would start again because it brings a bit of a breeze. It is not like anything I have ever felt: including South Carolina summer.
It started on Saturday. Around 11 am. I think it stopped raining around 3 for about 15 minutes before it started again until I went to bed. The next day, a friend posted these pictures on facebook:
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| Those car tires are complete submerged under water. |
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| There is a sidewalk ledge here--a 7 inche sidewalk ledge. |
These are from his apartment. The sewer system couldn't handle the downpour of rain and the streets had flooded over onto the sidewalk. This caused the stores to all flood because there really isn't a ledge between the sidewalk and store. And why would there be? There is a 7 inch sidewalk lip and a 5 foot sidewalk--surely the water wouldn't rise that far...WRONG!
On Saturday I couldn't help but worry about the school. What would it look like?
I have been very lucky to have an awesome landlord/co-teacher and have been getting rides to school in the morning when it is raining. I got to school and was greated with the lovely 4 feet of steps between the flooded ground and the school. Granted, I was really glad I had plastic sandals on because it was like walking through a mini lake getting into the school, but the school was ... relatively dry.
Korean buildings--at least the schools--are built differently than my American counterparts. I noticed this first in winter when I had to walk from my teacher's office to my classroom. Koreans don't heat/air condition the whole school--but they do individual rooms. So in winter, I walk from my heated office, into the hallways (which are freezing), through an outside drive-through ledge that connects to another part of the school, down a hallway and to my classroom--which I promptly turn on the heat. So, when in summer one goes through a similar process. My teacher's office and classroom are the only cool parts of the school--and I basically feel like I am walking through the rainforest getting from one to another.
In America the buildings are nice and enclosed. You walk from outside and get a nice blast of air con. Or you get out of the rain/moist-ness. Here, the buildings are not enclosed. I can literally look through the front doors of the school (which are open) and see all the way to the other outside of the school--with nothing stopping me. No windows, no glass doors, nothing. It is completely open. So that nasty moist cloud of humidity moves has free rain/reign to move into the school and settle (pun intended).
This means that my school's floors have turned into something resembling a skating rink. I wear rubber sandals as my school shoes. These suckers turn into skates when I walk from office to school. I slip and slide, scoot, and prepare to fall on my behind. I have not fallen yet, but I'm just waiting for the day I have to walk around with a giant, butt-sized stain on my rear from slipping on the water on the floor.
All this rain has caused a giant rise in the talk of mold. Now, in America, mold is not common. And if it is, it is combated and defeated with practically nuclear-strength cleaners until any trace of mold is erradicated. But, in Korea, it seems like mold is just something you deal with--like scratchy sheets or having to do laundry. My landlord tells me every time he sees me to check for mold--not really how to combat it but to keep tabs on it. My friend is living in a place where there is mold growing on her ceiling and he landlord is "working on it." It has started moving into her closet and some of her clothes have little spots of mold on them. Which just grosses me out--sorry, Sarah.
Luckily, I have not experienced any mold. My apartment is very new and I've been very lucky. When it is not raining I will open my windows to circulate the air. If I start smelling mold I'm suppose to turn the heat on and bake the apartment out (I think I'll go get coffee for an hour or two if I have to do this). I have cleaned out my closet so that blankets and stuff are safely stowed--but I still think I'm going to get mold on clothes and have to throw them out.
Unfortunately, this rainy season is supposed to last the rest of July and a week or two of August. And, I hear, it's going to turn from rainy season to moist season. The cloud of wetness is suppose to stay while the rain leaves. And it supposed to just be unbearably hot.
I miss American summers. My family is so active during the summer and the Indiana summer usually is very coorperative. Hot, but dry and only short showers (if any). Sunny and beautiful. Korean summers, so far, leave much to be desired.
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