Friday, May 23, 2008

Update from South Korea


I just haven't been blogging these days, I'm living in the fast-lanes of East Asia. In Korea people say, "Bali Bali!" This expression means, "Hurry Hurry!" Of course, this is how we live. There is no general description of South Korea that could accurately portray life here. It is an up at dawn, shower and shave and jump into the car to commute to work sort of environment. Well, that summation reflects about every developed country in the world, doesn't it. It's also industrialized and so is China to the West, Northwest, and Southwest. Therefore, we must consider the prevailing westerly winds that blow, and with that comes the Great Yellow Dust from Inner Mongolia (The Gobi Desert) mixed with the fine dust and particles of Chinese origin. This cloud of brown sand tints the entire sky and leaves a trail smooth surfaces (painted surfaces/cars) and it's distinguishable during the entire daylight hours. Could this be a serious environmental problem one should consider, I believe the answer lies in living through this season in South Korea. It's inevitable. It comes after every spring and resurrects it's pollutant-punch just after the Cherry Blossoms and Fresh Spring air come to the region. There is usually an intermittent rainfall, and then the dust settles in on warm, dry westerlies. It's a shame it doesn't rain everyday, hence, the air would be void of the silicants, toxins, and other biohazardous materials that can hitch in the dusty breeze. It isn't too bad this year, when compared with the spoofage that blew over the peninsula in the winter of 2001 when I first came to Korea. There were piles of brown dust along the streets, the sky glowed brown in the haze of the afternoon sun. If the apartment window was left slightly ajar, the dust would fill the window sill and eventually accumulate on the floors, tables and chairs. It was a visit to the Gobi Desert via 1000's of Kilometers of distance afar. It's the strong westerlies in the East that take the sand so far from it's point of origin. I will wear a mask and continue to enjoy the bike rides across Kyunggi Province, anything is feasible, you learn this by living in South Korea. Mi Sung and Min Jae and all her extended family are fine, we're all doing well and enjoying our freetimes together. Thank God for Life! ^^++ Blessings and thanks for visiting our blog from asia, not always up-to-date, but better than nothing at all...Peace, Warm Wishes ~^^~ Brian ^^++

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