Lessons 84 and 85

(1/1) Lesson 84: There is such a thing as "too cold to go to Seoul for New Year's."

I am being completely honest when I tell you that I have never in my life experienced as cold a winter as I did in Korea. There were times when I would be walking around outside (wearing a coat, several layers, ear muffs, a thick scarf, gloves, socks, and knock-off Uggs - "Nggs") and yet my feet would be so cold that they were in pain.

Wind from the Siberian steppe is not a pleasant thing. Korean winters are cold enough without wind, but when the wind starts up you're better off indoors. So I spent New Year's at Osan Lounge drinking, socializing and not getting frostbite.

(1/4) Lesson 85: Six inches of snow in Korea is not normal.

January 4th - first day back at school... or is it? The girls and I headed out of our building at 8:30 to catch a cab to work as we always do, only to find that Suwon was covered in at least six inches of snow... and it was still coming down.

Walking down our little alleyway to the main road.

Anyone want to pick us up? Yes? No?

Holly had left her apartment at 7:45 (way ahead of us) and was still on the main road waiting for a bus by 8:55. We waited for a cab for nearly 30 minutes and, after calling Julia several times and getting no answer, we all headed back to the apartments. We called Holly and told her to head back as well. She arrived about 10 minutes later with icicles hanging from her hair.

Julia called us back around 9:15 and told us to walk out to the main road (where Holly had been for more than an hour) and catch a bus, despite us telling her that this was futile. We shared the idea of a Snow Day with Julia (who seemed utterly perplexed at the idea) because the public transportation was not running anymore and there was no way for us to get to school. By 9:25 (when the conversation/negotiations had ended) none of the Maple Bear vans carrying staff or students were anywhere close to the school. Class was supposed to start in 5 minutes.

Instead of going back out in the snow and waiting for a bus that would never come, we discussed a plan of action in the hallway, then called Julia back 30 minutes later. We told her we had gone to wait for a bus and we couldn't get one. She finally called a taxi company and then told us that the lines were busy and she couldn't get through. We again suggest that school be cancelled. By now it was around 10:00. Julia hadn't even gotten to school and the Maple Bear vans were still stuck in traffic.

With Julia still adamant that we find a way to get to school, Kelsey firmly and diplomatically told her that we've tried all of our options and, unless Julia, David, or Jay found a way to transport us to our jobs, we would not be leaving our apartments. And, P.S., it'd be a wise decision to cancel school. And she hung up the phone. Thank you, Kelsey.

11:30 rolls around and Julia finally realizes that it'd be a wise decision to cancel school. But we were already relaxing in our pajamas in our nice, toasty apartments and had stopped caring at this point.

A view of snow-covered Gokban from the staircase of our apartment building.

Apparently snow never falls this heavily in Korea, which would explain why the morning was so chaotic. In the States there's an early-morning alarm that goes off or a phone call that goes out to anyone in the district announcing a Snow Day. The other public and private school teachers I know got early-morning phone calls telling them that school was cancelled. It seemed as though our bosses were the last to take this novel idea into consideration.

Aside from the lack of emergency planning on David, Jay, and Julia's part, the other things that were lacking were snow plows, salt/sand/gravel/that-stuff-that-melts-snow-and-ice, and snow shovels. It really wasn't so normal to get snow in Korea. People on the streets were clearing the sidewalks with DIY snow shovels and brooms.

It's a little hard to see in this photo, but the man on the left had a DIY snow shovel made from a plank of wood tied/nailed to a stick.

I think Korea could use a few snow plows over here. And some hot cocoa. Send ASAP.