At last something approaching my idea of summer is here. Almost every day since I arrived has been characterized by thick cloud cover, high temperatures and ridiculous humidity; the dullness broken only by occasional torrents of rain. July and early August is the height of the monsoon season in Korea. Whilst when you’re up a mountain this can have a marvellously dreamy, mysterious effect, for day to day urban life it can get pretty tiresome. So I was more and more pleased as over the past couple of weeks the clouds have gradually broken up to reveal blue skies and bright sunshine. There’s more of a breeze, the light is amazing, the stark modernism of Anyang suddenly looks great, and you can see the moon at night. Even the humidity has dipped, although the temperature in the sun has soared into the 30s…
Here are some sun-soaked pictures, from more hiking around Gwanaksan and a trip into Seoul (to pick up my Alien Registration Card – yes I’m now legit).
I don’t know what kind of bird that is. There were a pair of them. They sounded like crows, moved like magpies, but had tawny plumage, turning to a rust colour on the almost fur-like feathers of the head.
One thing that’s great about Koreans is that they know what to do to both enjoy and mitigate the effects of the weather. For instance, they will pitch a tent anywhere.
Korea Change 