Archives for June 2015

Beach break.

The weather over here is starting to heat up. Naturally, the warmer weather put me in the mood for some beach time. A few weeks ago Mike and I traveled down to Busan to enjoy Korea’s most famous beach, Haeundae. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great our first afternoon there. It was windy and rainy. Not at all ideal for a beach getaway. Thankfully, the weather cleared up in the evening so we were able to enjoy a walk along the water.

The next day we relaxed on the beach under our 5,000 won umbrella and mat rental. It was definitely a worthy indulgence. I just wish we didn’t our own beach mat all the way from Suwon! I wasn’t anticipating the beach experience to be so convenient. In fact, the beach experience is so convenient that chicken and beer vendors stroll up and down the beach. Thirsty and hungry beach goers only need to wait about five minutes for the next vendor to pass by. Cold beer and warm chicken, right at your sandy fingertips.

Eventually, Mike declared relaxation time over. It was time to hike and explore. We headed down a popular path that ran along the rocky coastline. It was easy to forget we were in Korea’s second largest city.

I suspect there will be a few more trips to Busan during the coming months.

xo, jill

Have you heard?

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus has reached South Korea. The country has the highest rate of cases outside of Saudi Arabia where the virus originated. The latest tally is something like 120 people infected, a few thousand in isolation, and 10 deaths.* The anxiety level is pretty high.

People are wearing masks, washing their hands compulsively, and avoiding large groups of people (movies, sporting events, crowded transportation). Mike and I have been advised to stay indoors as much as possible, always wear a mask, and to brush our teeth extra carefully. (I’m not sure if that last one is an official recommendation, or just our boss’s suggestion.)

Wearing masks on the train.

Midweek last week, many of the elementary schools shut down. Our school (a private language school, aka hagwon) closed for Thursday and Friday as well. This week, not only were the elementary schools shut down, the middle and high school students were kept home as well. We’ve been attending work and focusing on non-teaching projects while we wait for the kids to return. The plan, as of now, is for school to resume on Monday but the official decision won’t be made until Sunday night.

I think the precautions Koreans are taking can sometime seem overzealous or even silly to outsiders. However, it’s important to remember that Korea’s population is huge and the country is compact. People here come into much closer contact with each other on a daily basis than most do in the West. Sometimes on the subway I feel like I really understand the phrase, “breathing the same air.” When I think about it in those terms, it’s easier to understand the extreme anxiety.

It is definitely interesting to observe how another country handles a health crisis. So far my coworkers have been unimpressed and a bit distrustful of the government’s response. It’s also interesting to compare the English and Korean news stories. The Korean articles are much more up to date and detailed. Everything in the English press seems to lag pretty far behind.

Hopefully, the new cases and fatalities will stop increasing and life can go back to normal soon.

xo, jill

*The numbers are slightly different in pretty much every article I read.