The Yellow Sand Cometh!

This photo appeared on the front page of one of Seoul's major newspapers today, along with a suggestion that people stay inside as much as possible. What is it that we should be protecting ourselves from? Is it SARS? Is it Bird Flu? Has the North finally launched their invasion?
Nope, it's yellow sand, blowing in from China.

Yup. Yellow sand that blows in from the Gobi Desert. It is called 황사 (Hongsa) in Korean. It's another one of those funky twists of geography -- Korea itself has no deserts, yet due to its location in relation to major wind currents, on a handful of days in the Spring, it is the lucky recipient of a fine yellow sand dust that blows all the way from inland China. In the past this occurred only on a few days each year, but increasing desertification in China has brought that up to about 20 days a year. Health officials always recommend that people stay inside to avoid breathing it, and make a point of rinsing out the eyes and washing the skin after being outside.

Actually, the photo makes it look a lot worse than it really was today. That dull yellow haze was there, but now nearly as bad as it looks in the photo. Many of the cars were covered in a yellow film as well. I was outside half of the day, but didn't notice any difficulties in breathing. It was a hell of a dreary day though, and an odd sense of lethargy seemed to hang in the air everywhere I went. This was even more noticeable because this week has been warmer with a bit of sun. Everyone has been getting their hopes up for the coming Spring, but we all had our hopes dashed with this nasty Yellow Sand Saturday. And to top it off, the temperatures have plummeted back down to below freezing levels.

Matt and I had planned to go on a hike today, but postponed it because of the damn yellow sand. Instead we went to Yongsan Electronics Market, a sprawling complex choc full of vendor upon vendor selling everything electronics related that you could possible want. That's one distinct characteristic about Seoul - people selling similar things are usually located in the same area, so if you need a particular item, you can chose to buy it from dozens of different shops, usually with only minor variations in prices. I wasn't really in the market for any electronics today, but I did pick up 10 new bootleg DVD's.

A case full of video game and anime character figurines. Notice that the sexy babes are separated from the savage beasts.

Looking out the entrance of Yongsan Station.

And as if I hadn't spent enough money yet, I then headed to Insa Dong, which is the artist and tea shop neighborhood of Seoul. Its touristy, but I just love it there. I've gotten really into tea lately, so I'm on a quest to pick up as many different kinds as I can. And not just the teas themselves, but the tea making implements. There are just so many different ways in which tea can be prepared and served, and I find myself fascinated by them all. My Tai Chi teacher is the primary inspiration for this new interest -- we start and end every lesson by drinking tea, which I find to be relaxing and spiritually nourishing in a way I can't quite describe. I have always loved tea, but my appreciation for it has really gone up since coming to Korea. I'm like a kid in a candy store in Insa Dong, and I really have to restrain myself from buying every unique tea pot and cup that I lay my eyes on. I have built up quite a collection already though, which I added to significantly today. In addition to a bunch of neat cups, I got some Lotus Leaf Tea and Beck San Tea, which is said to be very good for the throat. I left Insa Dong with an empty wallet, and Matt had to buy my dinner for me.

This week has been good to me, and I noticed a significant upswing in my mood. I imagine this was due to a combo of the warmer weather, the end of the Intensive Session, and the fact that I was able to start going to Tai Chi again. It was pretty amazing - I literally felt like a different person after leaving Tai Chi class on Tuesday, and several people at work commented that I seemed happier. I do feel much better, so I hope the moods sticks.

I also got a bunch of new students recently since we entered a new term. My numbers have almost doubled, something I will be not to thrilled about once report cards roll around. But so far I like my new kids, save for a few nutters and space cases. On the whole, my new students are a lot younger than the ones I had before, and I've even got a class of 1st graders. They are fun, and so darn cute, but I have to constantly remind myself that they are young and that I can't teach them the way I teach the older kids. There are a lot of adjustments to be made, but that's good experience for me I guess. Little kids are such funny creatures - you ask them if they can tell you what a noun is, and they look at you with a wide eyed smile and joyfully tell you that they have 20 new pencils at home. Sigh....

I also had one young boy tell me that he wanted to eat me. Um.....hmmm. What do you say to that?