WWWW...wow what wild weather!
Mostly my life has settled down to a routine of working and Aikido followed by a brief rest and then repeat. But I have to say something about the weather recently. I am sorry that my first post in forever is as mundane as weather but bear with me please.
I have never experienced monsoons before. For those of you who are also ignorant of this type of weather: it is like sleeping with a large wet dog in a small bed on an August night....hot, smelly, sticky, perpetually damp, and completely unavoidable.
Summer weather in CNY is usually warmer and warmer in a gradual way until we almost can't stand it and then a wicked cold front comes rushing through to end the summer heat (like the Labor Day Storm). It comes with very little warning and brings brief but wild weather...wind and lightning and torrential rain and then it is cooler and mild.
The Korean Monsoons are all day hard rains and strong winds. Umbrellas are virtually useless and often destroyed. Inside out umbrellas are abandoned everywhere. Last week we broke a 96 year rainfall record. That was the same day that I collected 2 litters of water inside my officetel over a 20 minute period. The next day mushrooms were growing from my wallpaper near the window. Yes, mushrooms.
I commuted with a friend of mine to Aikido on that wicked monsoon day and traffic was horrible. A trip that usually takes 35 minutes took 90 instead. To while away the time, we speculated on what could possibly make the traffic so bad. "Maybe there is a big accident or a huge event at the stadium that we don't know about..." What it turned out to be was a half a meter of water (about a foot and a half) raging across the rode. Firemen were setting up barriers to try to cut down the flow. It was also not a small section of the road. As we entered the torrent, the car headlights couldn't reach to the far side. Maybe it was half a city block that was deeper than a foot and then some shallows on both sides. It was moving fast too. The workers standing in the water were struggling to not fall over into the chocolate milk flood.
The most stunning and inscrutable thing is that this weather is brought by a warm front. It will rain and wind all day and still be 30 degrees Celsius (about 90 F). I rarely can judge if I am wet from sweat or the water in the air. A towel hung in the bathroom with the ventilation fan on will still be very wet 24 hours later. Even my eyelids feel sticky.
I know that its been cool and not very nice in CNY this summer, so I wanted you to have a glimpse of the far side.
I have never experienced monsoons before. For those of you who are also ignorant of this type of weather: it is like sleeping with a large wet dog in a small bed on an August night....hot, smelly, sticky, perpetually damp, and completely unavoidable.
Summer weather in CNY is usually warmer and warmer in a gradual way until we almost can't stand it and then a wicked cold front comes rushing through to end the summer heat (like the Labor Day Storm). It comes with very little warning and brings brief but wild weather...wind and lightning and torrential rain and then it is cooler and mild.
The Korean Monsoons are all day hard rains and strong winds. Umbrellas are virtually useless and often destroyed. Inside out umbrellas are abandoned everywhere. Last week we broke a 96 year rainfall record. That was the same day that I collected 2 litters of water inside my officetel over a 20 minute period. The next day mushrooms were growing from my wallpaper near the window. Yes, mushrooms.
I commuted with a friend of mine to Aikido on that wicked monsoon day and traffic was horrible. A trip that usually takes 35 minutes took 90 instead. To while away the time, we speculated on what could possibly make the traffic so bad. "Maybe there is a big accident or a huge event at the stadium that we don't know about..." What it turned out to be was a half a meter of water (about a foot and a half) raging across the rode. Firemen were setting up barriers to try to cut down the flow. It was also not a small section of the road. As we entered the torrent, the car headlights couldn't reach to the far side. Maybe it was half a city block that was deeper than a foot and then some shallows on both sides. It was moving fast too. The workers standing in the water were struggling to not fall over into the chocolate milk flood.
The most stunning and inscrutable thing is that this weather is brought by a warm front. It will rain and wind all day and still be 30 degrees Celsius (about 90 F). I rarely can judge if I am wet from sweat or the water in the air. A towel hung in the bathroom with the ventilation fan on will still be very wet 24 hours later. Even my eyelids feel sticky.
I know that its been cool and not very nice in CNY this summer, so I wanted you to have a glimpse of the far side.