The Good, The Bad, and The Adjumma

The Good: Public transportation is quick and easy.

The Bad: Maneuvering through the subway is like a pee-wee soccer game. Everyone scrambles for the same goal but in the most unorganized possible way.

The Adjumma: Adjummas have nothing to lose. The kids are out of the house, the husband is a drunk and never home, life is winding down to the end. What's the answer to this mid-life/empty-nest crisis? Push your way through others, cut in line, and swipe empty seats on the subway. Logical, right?

The Good: Food is cheap, cheap, cheap.

The Bad: Hair is a frequent ingredient.

The Adjumma: Hair nets might cramp their style of 3-inch platforms, floral-print shirts, and camel toe-tight pants as they make my food. I understand.

The Good: I'm a freakin celebrity here. I've signed autographs. I've posed for pictures. People want to know me.

The Bad: I'm a poster child for the caucasian race. I've got to be careful of what I wear, what I say (even though most people can't understand me), and how I act--who likes to do that?

The Adjumma: She stares. She glares. But she doesn't say a word. Is it admiration? Disgust? Jealousy? Only she knows.

xx
hh

Note: Adjumma is a polite term in Korean for "married woman" typical given to older women. The waeguk world has transformed it into a negative term for the pushy old ladies of Korea.

Note: Waeguk is a Korean word for "foreigner."

"I have seen the Others...

...and I have discovered that this fight is not worth fighting."

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is an eerie place. Time stands still, frozen in 1953 when combat ended. But I could still sense the tension, the conflict, the animosity, the resentment, the history. It's been 60 years since North Korea attacked the South, but not much has changed in the DMZ. Land mines still litter the lush hills, a now-sanctuary for birds and other creatures. Propaganda Village rests in the North close to the border with the biggest flag in the world hanging high, a town with zero inhabitants and empty buildings beautifully decorated on the outside to lure Southerners to defect to the North. An oppessive dictatorship and communist country to the North and a fast-growing, modern democratic republic to the South. Heart-breaking.

In the Joint Security Area (JSA), I entered the U.N. room where talks of peace between the two Koreas take place. As I walked to the northern part of the room, I passed into North Korea. That alone had my heart racing. Two South Korean soldiers, trained in martial arts, guard this room--one stationed at the door leading to North Korea and one at the line of demarcation (the border). After we exited this room, we stoodnd on the stairs leading to a building on the South Korean side. As we turned around, an American soldier informed us that there was a North Korean soldier watching us from the stairs of the building on the North Korean side. They are always watching visitors in this area, but seeing his uniform, his rigid stance, I realized that I was on a battleground, that I was vulnerable and exposed. Any gesture--pointing, making strange faces, raising your arms in any way--is strictly forbidden as North Korea can use it as evidence that the South and the people inhabiting it are... crazy? Inappropriate? For this reason, we had to adhere to a strict dress code.

Next, we went to the Dora Observatory, where we were able to see far into the DMZ and into the North, a beautiful yet sad sight. Then it was on to the 3rd Tunnel. A North Korean engineer defected to the South in the early 70s and reveiled that North Korean has been building tunnels to the South in an attempt at a sneak attack. South Korea found four but are certain that there are more than 20 in total. I visited the 3rd one that was found. I walked down a steep incline 73 meters underground and followed the tunnel from the beginning (on the South Korean side of the DMZ) to the first blockade that South Korea set up in order to prevent North Korea from continuing their digging. Oddly enough, North Korea claims that these tunnels are South Korean-made. However, the dynamite blasts face the South, clearly telling us that the North was making their way south.

It's easy to forget sometimes that the Korean peninsula is still at war, but that trip reminded me why it's going on in the first place. The lineage of Kim Jung-il is power-hungry and crazed, brainwashing and abusing their people. The South is so lucky to be free.

xx
hh

Trash Wars

I alluded to this on my facebook page the other day, but I'd like to properly address it. If you missed it, my status was as follows:

"Holly Hutchens... witnessed a "Box War"... i.e. two elderly men fighting for boxes on the street. Why would two elderly men possibly do this, you ask?? Because the government pays people (usually the elderly population) to collect trash from the streets. Doesn't Korea have trash cans, you ask? No, that's what old people are for, apparently."

This is not a joke. When we first arrived in Seoul, we noticed that there was nowhere to throw our trash, yet there was not any trash on the streets. Where are people putting their trash, we asked. Eventually, we would see people set their trash on curb, on a fence post, really anywhere that wouldn't get directly stepped on. I remember the first time that David threw trash on the ground--it was a small paper cup, previously filled with either coffee or dokbokki (see my food blog). I was flabbergasted that he'd litter because even though it's the culture here, it's not ours. However, I'm fully guilty of it now. Yes, Miss Save-the-Earth litters. I'm ashamed to admit it, but what other choice do I really have? I either have to carry my trash with me in hand or in my purse everywhere I go, which is extremely inconvenient when I have to take subways and buses and walk all over the city. Normally, I'd say, yes, of course, the Earth is worth it. However, here, I am assured that my trash will be picked up within the next 12 hours by some elderly folk. Every morning and night, they comb the streets, crooked backs hunched over picking up my popsicle wrappers, soda bottles, whatever. Seriously, though, it's kind of smart. A great way to make a little extra cash? Or perhaps make a living. Don't quit your day jobs just yet, though, as it's quite a competitive business. It's on par with drug and prostitution corners--everyone has their territory, and invading on someone else's could get you killed. I'm kidding. Who would kill over trash? That's ridiculous, but you might get your ass kicked or a good talkin' to. Take today, for example: While Elderly Man A was scouting out a building for boxes, Elderly Man B grabbed Elderly Man A's pile of boxes (These boxes were stacked so high, I don't think elderly man B could see where he was running). Convenient Store Man warned Elderly Man A. Elderly Man A ran after him yelling what I can only imagine were profanities. Elderly Man B smiled, laughed, probably apologized, and handed over the stolen goods. Is it bad that I was laughing the whole time?

I say, "Way to go, Korea!" Way to create jobs for those who otherwise wouldn't be qualified for anything. Or those who were oppressed by the Japanese and had no opportunities for education.

xx
hh

The Missing P's

What makes a student successful? Good teachers? Good schools? Good parents? Good communities? Wealth or socioeconomic status? God-given talent? Hard work? Pure luck?

I can narrow it down to two things. They are the two biggest differences I have observed between Korean students and American students.

I teach in a private language academy--we strictly teach English, nothing else--to kids in grades 1-6, AFTER the regular school day. I can't speak for public schools, where students are learning all subjects, but I have NOT noticed a big difference in behavior. Kids here misbehave just as much as their American counterparts. They goof off, get off-task, daydream, forget their books at home, don't do their homework, talk to their friends in class--everything I was led to believe simply didn't happen here, which is why I originally believed they did so much better than us. Don't get me wrong--I didn't come here to escape from American children. I loved my students at home, but I've been wondering what makes the test scores of other countries higher than in the United States. I worked hours upon hours of every day, non-stop, exhausting myself to no end to make my lessons engaging and encompassing multiple uses of intelligence--like I was taught and expected to. Teachers and schools word hard. Really hard. Probably the hardest working people in America. So the blame can't rest solely on us.

Here are my ideas:

1. Parental support.

Parents have extremely high expectations for their children in Korea and push them harder than American parents do. In fact, the suicide rate for pre-teens and teens is sickeningly high. The pressure is really on here. Parents at the academy I work at actually get upset if we don't give enough homework. Parents will even pull their kids out of one academy and place them in one that has a reputation for giving more homework. This, needless to say, never happened to me in America. Parents sit with them while they do homework, test them while they study, get involved in whatever way they can. Education doesn't start or stop at school but continues in the home. They nurture their children's minds. Once when I visited a museum on a Saturday afternoon, I saw a group of what I would guess were third or fourth graders. They were taking notes on each exhibition. Whether they were with their parents or with their teacher, I wasn't sure, but I was impressed. How many American students get the opportunity to visit a museum or any other educational institution on a random Saturday afternoon? The successul ones. Parents here are constantly stimulating their children with useful, educational information, making them into hard-working, self-reliant students. It may be a cultural difference, but it's a big one. High expectations translate into success.

2. Practice, practice, practice.

Kids are in school or academy (math, English, science, music) all day. The students at my academy attend classes here for an average of 3 hours. Some come early for something called E-camp, an computer program to improve listening and speaking skills. Most stay for a daily vocabulary test and to make up any homework they did not complete for that day's class. In the regular school day, for elementary students, school starts at 8:30 AM and ends around 2:30 PM. Middle school and high school students: 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. In addition, high school students either stay at school to study or attend private academies (like mine) until about 10:00 PM. If you do the math, that's 15 hours of studying in an educational institution, not to mention the homework and studying they need to complete outside of school and academy. About a year ago or so, a new law was passed forbading academies from running past 10 PM because students were staying in academies until 2 to 3 AM in the morning, and this was deemed unhealthy. A student texted me once on a Sunday morning around 10:30 to say hello. When I asked what she was doing, she said, "studying." Three extra hours of studying/academy per day times 5 days a week translates to 15 hours more than American students are doing.
Guess how many months Korean students get off for summer vacation? One. That means they are in school TWO MONTHS more than ours each school year. 8 weeks of school times 7 hours per day (regular school) plus the extra 3 hours of academy per day translates to 560 more hours of school and studying than American students. After doing the math, I've just realized something. Korean kids go to school on Saturdays too--two Saturdays per month for about 4 hours. SO, that's 4 hours times 2 times per month times 10 months of schooling (They get time off in the winter, too) plus the original 560 hours, for a grand total of... 640 hours. Is it any wonder they are blowing us out of the water?

Perhaps our schools ARE doing enough--in the time given. A typical American school day lasts from about 8 AM to 3 PM. Is this enough time? The test scores show it: we are falling behind. Therefore, our measily 7-hour days just aren't cutting it If we want to compete with the world, we've got to increase the length of a school day and decrease the number of summer vacation days. As a teacher, who works her tail off, this does not exactly appeal to me either. Sometimes I'm ready to throw in the towel by lunch from pure exhaustion from being on my feet (usually in heels) for 4-5 hours tending to the needs of my students.

Are the teachers that much better here in Korea? Absolutely not. Do the schools have better resources--more books and computers? Not necessarily. Why are we blaming teachers and schools for failing kids? Maybe students simply need more practice than what 7 hours can provide. More studying, I can guarantee, will lead to higher overall test scores.

We know the two big issues--parental support and practice, so what do we do about it? What are students doing when they get home? Sleeping, watching TV, playing sports, sitting at the computer, eating, playing video games? Did I mention that Korean students manage to do all these things too--along with studying? You will see kids playing at the park until midnight. Young children only get about 6 hours of sleep every night, while high schoolers I've heard get about 3 or 4 hours. I'm not asking parents or students to sacrifice their health but to better balance learning with "fun." . We don't have after-school academies in America. Some schools support after-school programs, but how many students participate and who participates? Not many attend, and those who do probably are already successful in school. Should schools require that students stay after school? Would academies be successful in America? Can we convince parents to pay for extra education? Can we convince students to go?

After writing the first draft of this blog, I got deeper and deeper into a book called Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. This book outlines what makes successful people successful, and while I'm not finished with the book, I'm starting to see a pattern. People don't luck into success, and they don't necessarily get there on their own either. There are many factors that go into a successful person (ethnicity, cultural upbringing, the century or decade you were born in, unique opportunities given to you), but can you guess the two that stood out to me the most--what really separates successful students from unsuccessful students? You guessed it: parental support and practice. In one study discussed in Outliers by Karl Alexander, he tested the math scores of children from low, middle, and high income households. From September to June, students made obvious advances in math. Sometimes low-income students even outperformed their high-income counterparts. However, when students were tested in September, after the three-month long summer break, the high-income students outperformed the low-come students by more than 40%. What does that tell us then? High-income students are given more opportunities to learn over the summer. Their parents take them to museums, the library, vacations--various activities and resources are at their disposal. Not so for the low-income students. Gladwell writes, "...the way in which education has been discussed in the United States is backwards. An enormous amount of time is spent talking about reducing class size, rewriting curricula, ...increasing school funding--all of which assumes that there is something... wrong with the jobs schools are doing... Schools work. The only problem with school, for the kids who aren't achieving, is that there isn't enough of it."

xx
hh

The Eating Experience

Korea is full of such a variety of delicious, unique dishes that you won't miss your steak or potatoes back home. In the states, I mostly stuck to sandwiches, salads, fruit, cereal--ya know, typical homemade, quick-n-easy stuff--not to mention the amount of microwavable meals (Healthy Choice only) was quite high as well. And of course I treated myself to burgers and fries on occasion. It's like a whole new world here though, and I wanted to try everything and anything I could because, well, why not? I thought I'd give a run down of the best types of foods that Koreans have to offer. If the topic of food ever comes up in class, my students will inevitably ask, "Teacher, you like kimchi?" And my answer is invariably, "Yes, I love kimchi!" It pleases them to no end. On the topic of pleasing Koreans, to noticably enjoy a Korean's food or really just to simply consume it in their presence gives them great pride in themselves as a people--if a westerner enjoyed a strange eastern dish, it must have been extra special. This equally pleases me.
So here's the low down...

1. Kimchi - pickled cabbage loaded with spices, served with every meal--even breakfast. It' extremel difficult to make yourself as my students and coworkers tell me. One day, I saw a group of older women making kimchi for the winter on huge tarps. I think an organization was sending this food to the armies. Kimchi is pickled in large clay pots and supposedly stored underground in the winter months where it gets yummier and yummier. You can tell how fresh your kimchi is by its taste--if it doesn't taste great, it's fresh.

2. Bap - or as we like to call it in English, rice. Obviously, rice is a big deal in Asia. Kids tell me that they eat rice for breakfast, sometimes plain, sometimes with milk, but most of the time with kimchi. David and I inherited a rice cooker from a friend, and we have been using it about 4-5 times a week since. What a genius device!

3. Galbi - Gabli is a general term for meats grilled at your table and served with lots and lots of side dishes that are refillable at your request. Our favorite local place serves an amazing salad with a vinegarette dressing--we usually go through three of them. They give you spicy kimchi, spiceless kimchi, onions, fresh garlic, a burnt orange-colored sauce that is oh-so yummy, and lettuce leaves. For about $1, you can order a side of rice that comes with jiggae, which I'll explain later. The technique: take a leaf of lettuce, spoon a small amount of rice on top, add a small piece of cooked meat from the grill built into your table, add a sliced onion and grilled garlic, add sauce with your chopsticks, maybe throw a piece of kimchi on there too, and then wrap it up and munch away! This is, by far, my favorite thing to eat in Korea. I crave it at all times. It will fill your belly for days.

4. Dukgalbi - Similar to galbi only in that this dish is cooked on the grill that is built into your table. This dish consists of chicken and loads of vegetables (onions, leeks, carrots) tossed in a teryaki (sp?) type sauce. The waiter mixes it while it cooks every few minutes, so you don't have to do any work. Once he or she gives you the signal that it's ready, everyone shares from the large pan.

5. Kimchi jeem - There is a great place near our apartment that my Korean coworker introduced us to that serves this dish. Again, you sit at a table with a grill in the center (or in the case of this restaurant, it's a stove top burner). A full head of cabbage is steamed and stewed with yummy red spices and chunks of pork. They also throw in some tofu, which isn't actually too bad. This place also serves loads of side dishes like japchae noodles, salad with raisins and creamy dressing, and obviously kimchi! This is a favorite of ours.

6. Jiggae - Jiggae is a soupy stew with tofu cubes, onions, jalapenos, green onion-type vegetables, and yummy spices. You can also order this as kimchi jiggae or chomchi (tuna) jiggae. It's orange-red colored, so I'm guessing the spices used are similar to those used in making kimchi. It's always served with rice. Scoop up some rice with your spoon (rice is only eaten with a spoon--not chopsticks) and then dip it into the jiggae, picking up some tofu or onions. Be careful, though, it's served very hot.

7. Dokbokki - compacted rice that comes in many shapes. At street vendors, it is the shape of a breakfast sausage. It's served with an orange-colored, spicy sauce. The texture is strange, unlike anything I've ever felt, maybe most comparable to a gummy worm. I wasn't fond of it at first, but now I crave it. (Note about dokbokki: this is made from leftover rice that is then compacted into any desirable shape. It is impolite and wasteful to ever leave rice on your plate, so dokbokki is a great solution. If you make the journey to Korea, or really anywhere in Asia, always finish your rice, and never leave your spoon or chopsticks sitting in your rice bowl--very rude!)

8. Mandu - This is most comparable to a dumpling. They're stuffed with meat, clear noodles, chopped onions, green veggies, and special ordered with kimchi. You can dip them in a sortof soy sauce, but they are just as good without it. We bought a big frozen bag of them from the supermarket, and I noticed they are not too high in calories.

9. Fried anything - Street vendors line the street that I live on because there are so many English academies (hagwons) on this block. Since kids spend most of their time in school or academies (math, English, writing, you name it), they need to fill their brains with energy for all that learning. Vendors sell fried carrots, potatoes, corn dogs, chicken-on-a-stick, blood sausage, mandu, again, you name it. I pretty much avoid those places.

10. Waffles - Waffles are apparently a huge fad here at the moment, like anything else in Korea. They make them right on the street or in the subway station (imagine that smell filling the tunnels..Mmmmm..) in waffle-makers under tents. They smear a honey-like spread all over it then coat it in a mousse-like vanilla or chocolate icing. For ean extra 500 won (45 cents), they can add vanilla or green tea ice cream. David and I will order one waffle (about 90 cents) and split it because these things can't be to great for our health.

Are you hungry yet?

xx
hh

Images above are not my own:
Bottom left - Galbi
Bottom right - Jiggae
Top left - Kimchi
Top right - Mandu

Fun with Korean

This is what it's like to read a sign in Korea that is splashed with English:

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Coca Cola blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Chicken blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Love for Women blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Pizza blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Free Drinks blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

It's really fun.

xx
hh

Keep Right, PLEASE!

Who has the right of way? No one. There is no "right of way" to speak of in Korea. The traffic here could quite possibly get you killed, whether you're a passenger or a pedestrian. Here are some general non-rules of the road:
1. Stoplights mean nothing. If you have the green light, that doesn't necessarily mean that cars coming from the perpendicular direction will stop. Oh no, a red light simple means look very carefully before crossing through the intersection. You won't see too many cars doing this, but when it comes to motorcycles/mopeds and public buses, watch out.
2. Lines mean nothing. Lines? Who needs to stay in the lines when you can squeeze your way to the front of any line of cars by using the left or right turn lanes, perhaps even the lanes for oncoming traffic. Don't you love that feeling when you are the first in line at a stop light (unless, of course, you just missed the green. Then it sucks)? It is a short-lived thrill in this country as drivers tend to steal that thunder right from under you at any chance they get to save themselves 4 seconds of waiting at a light.

So what's it like to be a pedestrian in a city of 10+ million? A rule to stick by is as follows: Never be the first or the last person in a crosswalk. This one simple rule could save your life here, and it's one I try to follow--unless I'm in a super-big hurry, then I just run for dear life as the crosswalk's red hand flashes, warning that "death awaits you!" I'd like to think that in America and most countries, no matter how busy or crowded, there's a general unspoken rule to keep right and walk in a straight line unless avoiding obstacles like parking meters, other people, trash cans, etc. Here in Seoul, I could be walking towards another person on the sidewalk, both of us on opposite sides, and suddenly, without warning, they will cross over onto my side, nearly knock me over, possibly brush my arms with their arms, and pass me to their left. Unless you are in Australia or England, this is completely ridiculous--pass on the left??! No, friends, you pass on your right. That way, everyone avoids each other when walking in opposing directions. Why has this not caught on yet? In fact, I heard that for the World Cup, Seoul introduced a campaign to teach pedestrian etiquette to its Seoulites. In subways now, there are arrows on the ground to help remind people to stay right when walking up and down stairs. I'd say 75% of people ignore these arrows. I'd also say that without 99-100% participation in this rule, it's pretty much ineffective. It really only take a small number of people to cause major congestion and muck up the flow.

Needless to say, it only takes one day, maybe even one moment, in this country to realize that there is a major issue here with order on the streets. It was the first major difference that I noticed, and from time to time, becomes a bit of a stressor for me. Relaxing walks in the park around the track? Not so relaxing when groups of older women stretched across the entire width of the road dilly-dally and zigzag, perhaps even stop to stretch, as you try to pass them. It's like they know a waegook is approaching! It's frustrating, to say the least. But David and I have a laugh about it almost everyday, "You'll never guess how I got cut off today!"

I still love you, Korea.

xx
hh

Note: "Waegook" means any foreign westerner (basically a white person). And when you hear that word in public, they are definitely talking about you.
Another Key note: This is literally the city where the streets have no names. Good luck finding your way around!

A, Ya, Eo, Yeo (ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ)

Today it's been 3 months since I arrived in Seoul. If you've read the story about the flight to get here, then you know how stressed that first day must have been. In the taxi ride to my apartment from the airport, I was pretty much terrified. Looking at the traffic signs on the highway and the shops and restaurants lit in neon lights on the hour-trek there, I wondered how I'd survive in a country where I did not know the language. I thought about my ancestors who came from Germany and Syria. And I still think about the melting pot that is American culture today. So many have managed to survive in a world so different from their norm. But is it normal to be scared? Why wasn't I scared 24 hours ago? I have a tendency to put off... well, everything--even my feelings. It literally didn't hit me until the day before I left for Korea --that I was leaving for Korea. I put off being sad to leave my family (and dogs) and friends. I convinced myself that a year wasn't all that long, heck, I remembered my college graduation like it was yesterday, and it was TWO years ago. So how long could a year feel in a foreign country? Day 1 felt like a week. My first thoughts on my day one went something like this: How will I eat? How will I find my way around the city? How will I meet people? How will I read signs? How will I survive here? I'd say I was in panic mode. Like, what the heck was I thinking? How cocky could I be to think I could function in Korea??

Piece of advice number one. Learn the language of the country you move to. Life will be much more pleasant. So I did. I actually taught myself to read the Korean alphabet. I started off slow, used my teacher skills on myself. I chunked my learning, memorizing 4 letters at a time and repeating them outloud and writing them on paper as many times as I could fit on one line. If you heard me in those early days, you'd practically hear me saying these first four sounds in my sleep, "a, ya, eo, yeo" (ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ). Slowly, but surely, I learned all the letters. There is a restaurant we go to about 5 times a week whose menu is solely in Korean--no pictures, no English, just Korean. That was great practice. I learned my letters, pronunciation, and types of foods all rolled into about 5 minutes. Now, three months later, I know more phrases, and though I seldom practice them in real-life, I am still proud to use them to impress my students. I pull out the phrase, "chincha," for the kids, and they oooohhhh and aaaahhhh at me (chincha=really? or seriously?). Youtube has some really great videos (busyatom) that teach special case rules about the language, which are probably unnecessary for me to learn, but regardless, I like knowing them. Things are looking up now on the language front. That, simultaneously, relieves enormous amounts of stress from everyday life.

If you were wondering... yes, I still get stared at. And children still stop to say hello or simply wave. I am still a celebrity. And I still kinda like it.

xx
hh

Image: http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/Language/Korean-big.gif

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Let's be honest: No one likes the cold. Not unless, of course, you are from Canada. It's not pleasant. Your skin dries and cracks up. You look pale and sickly. All you want to do is cuddle under thick warm blankets. Forget the outside world, you are hibernating for the winter. Then, you pack on the pounds and hide it under layers of sweaters and scarves, then promise yourself you will get to the gym come April.

This is my excuse for not blogging. For the past month, I've basically been in hiding from the tundra that is Seoul right now. I'm pale, I'm a little overweight, and I'm really, really cold. It's no colder than St. Louis though. I am at about the same parallel (just south of the 38th parallel) and in the same climate type - temperate. I'm really kicking myself in the a** for not choosing a warmer place like I had intended. Last winter, I kept telling myself that I was going to escape winter this time around and move to Central/South America. Sadly, I made my travel plans in August, where summer's heat tricked me into believing that winter wouldn't be so bad--some relief from this sticky, humid air, even. And now that it's here, all I want is for the summer to come back to me.

In conclusion, if you need to find me, I'll be curled up on my ondol floors*, sleeping like a grizzly.

xx
hh

*Note: Ondol floors: Korean-style heating system where pipes running hot water under the floors heats the entire apartment