Monday, August 27, 2012

All's okay on the northern front for now

[Update 2: it's 6:55am and there's no sign of rain yet. How'd the rest of the country fare? Will the schools reinstate classes after all? Is that even possible?]

[Update: It's 11:25pm here and the weather's calm. Is it the calm before the storm? We'll have to see...so far so good]

While Tropical Storm Isaac is making its way toward the Gulf region of the USA, Typoon Bolaven's on the way up the East China sea and will go past western South Korea before landing in North Korea. You can see the map of the typhoon's progress here. Everyone's expecting heavy winds and rains here in Cheorwon. Some of my students have made dire predictions about people dying, but the Korean teachers seem largely nonchalant about the coming storm. "It's no big problem," says my co-teacher Mr. Choi. Both my two schools and Kirsten's two schools have cancelled classes for the students tomorrow. Dong Song's off as well. Rochelle mentioned that Seoul's getting an off day as well, but for all the closings and coming crummy weather, we and our fellow teachers still have to come in. Getting to school tomorrow should be interesting if I can't get a ride. We'll see how that one goes; I would've had 5 classes tomorrow, so I welcome the break from a busy day and can now concentrate on planning further ahead.

All's fine 'round the DMZ for now, as it's around 8 o'clock at night here and it's like most other summer nights--warm and humid with clouds overhead. I made a quick run to the grocery store on the way home to buy food and water. People didn't look like they were in any hurry. The store's stock of 6-packs of 2-liter water jugs had taken a hit though, so perhaps people are worried about the coming rains. We've already had plenty of torrential downpours here anyway, so a few more rainstorms probably won't make any difference. The rainy season started at the end of June and has yet to stop. We may get a half or full day of sunny weather, but the clouds and the rain always come back.

This link has more information. Here's to everyone riding out the storm and staying dry. Have a drink for those in Jeju and everywhere else that's going to get hit. The same goes for everyone in the US's Gulf region.

Tonight's music's some classic rock and roll about harsh weather and hard times:

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising


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