A Summer Post

Even though it is summer, it still rains. I think this might be the best part of summer.

Summer vacation is here.

It's been here for a little while now, I'm only just now getting around to writing about it. The school I work at gives us two weeks of vacation in the summer, and another two weeks in the winter.

I'll sprinkle some photos here which may or may not be post related.

Food enjoyed with friends.

Summer here... is short. The kids from our school get two weeks off as well. That's their entire summer break. Most of them will be going to camps, reading books and studying, trying to get ready for the next semester. That compares a bit dramatically to the summer vacations I got when I was in high school. We had two and a half months of vacation.. vacation where we generally slept, went snorkeling, read books for fun, and generally spent our days in a state of ease. Generally. We also had chores and stuff. Sleep was the primary activity, though.

So what is summer like here? The cicadas are in full force. I love it. The heat is also pretty stifling.. it isn't so much the heat as the combined heat and humidity. We've been at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and close to 70% humidity. The air doesn't move much either, so any time a breeze does blow it feels like a intentional blessing. I'm trying to help my body acclimate to the heat and humidity, so last night was the first night sleeping without the air conditioner on. It.. wasn't so great. I think I'm rambling.

Sunday evening some friends and I went to take photos.
Here's some people fishing on the Han river which runs through Seoul.

Koreans have some interesting ideas about cooling. Many of you have probably heard about "fan death"... death caused by sleeping with a fan on in an enclosed space. There are different ideas as to why it happens. One idea is that fan blades chop up the air.. and the chopped air isn't healthy to be exposed to over a long period of time. Another idea is that it makes ozone or something like that.. maybe the motor? So most fans here shut off after a certain amount of time. The air conditioners cycle on and off, so I guess I'm safe.

Rice and barley.
We mixed in a bunch of other things to make a smaller version of Bibimbap.

My plans for the summer break so far have been going without a hitch. They are 1) meet with people now and then when they're available and 2) relax. I've had a good time hanging out with church folk on Sundays, and on Monday I got to meet up with some people from the ship who I haven't seen in over five years! Sweet reunion, so great to just reconnect and have deep conversations.

Four ex-Douloids. Sangjin, Myung-jeen, Yuk-wah and Gloria.