Summer in Korea

Well, summer is officially in full swing in Korea. Again, with the 'joke' about Korea's four seasons, we were not let down. The cherry blossoms died off pretty quickly and then came the rain and humidity.

At the height of monsoon season, July sees the most rain although it actually hasn't been as bad as I anticipated. If you'll believe it, Korea also has it's own brand of rain. It's true. It doesn't fall from the sky; it somehow manages to sneak its way around my umbrella and rainboots and I still manage to get soaked before making it to work.  Last week there was a typhoon that passed over Korea which wasn't as scary as it sounds. Anyway, when the rain isn't destroying you, the humidity is. The temperature hovers around 30 degrees, and the humidity around 100%.

팥빙수 (patbingsu) is a magical thing that shows up in the summer. Shaved ice, condensed milk, ice cream, red bean, fruits, rice cake. To die for.

Yeonggwang
For Canada Day, some of us Canadians and a few non-Canadians joined together for a weekend in Yeonggwang. We had delicious chili, biscuits, and cupcakes. Great times with great people.

On Sunday we headed to Baeksu, a coastal road, to enjoy the views.

Mudfest
We all know that Korea is about the festivals, but since coming here I've heard mudfest was the best. I wasn't sure exactly why or how a day of mud could be so exciting, but it lived up to the hype.

On Saturday morning I took an early trip to Gwangju to meet the girls and a load more foreigners who were also taking the trip to Boryeong. In about 3 hours we made it to Boryeong, and quickly headed to the mud. It is exactly how it sounds: Cover yourself in mud.

Mud buckets and paint brushes (Photo creds: E. Stieler)

Before

Annnnnnnnd after 

Time to wash off at the beach... 

Side note: Beach wear in Korea is pretty conservative. Tshirts all around

***

For the rest of the summer I've got plans to head to Busan for a weekend, Jeju for 5 days, then it's pretty much time to start packing up. It's really, really bittersweet. Saying goodbye to my students has been absolute torture over these past few weeks.

A picture frame/letter from one of the sweetest second grade

girls (Canada's grade 11), 은아, and a note from 효정 and 지영.

Starry notes from grade 1 (Canada's 10), class 2.

This week marks the beginning of a 9-day vacation class session and vacation time for the rest!