Sorry, for the absence. The weekend found me slightly ill and this will be a short entry but more soon. Internet access soon, tomorrow or Friday I promise!!
It snowed today. Caught us all by surprise, I walked out of one of the windowless classes, kids were twisting and flying every which direction at twice the normal speed. I was only slightly confused when my director informed me of the surprise in the weather. Snow here is about as common as it is in the southern part of Texas, every few years at best. Since the oldest we have is 14 and the average is about 11, this is the first snow that many of them have ever really seen. Many probably harbored the same fantasies we did coming from warmer climates. Images of snowmen, snowball fights and school cancellations. The reality in the south is that the snow is usually melted by noon and if you get out early enough you can scrape enough of the thin layer of snow from the roof of five cars to make one snowball. You exchange this with the one friend who lives on your street and desperately try to salvage a second round but rarely make it to a third before your supply is exhausted. A snowman for the Houston-born (and Busan-born) child will likely remain a fantasy of christmas specials and Dr. Seuess books.
Our northern-born parents will tell tales of being snowed in and how the frigid, bone-wearing weather is one of the reasons they flocked to the south to enjoy six month summers filled with as many mosquitoes, hurricanes and humid, sweat & fever inducing nights that a rational person could ever dream of. But then again, I was wearing shorts in January before I left. As for me, it's cold out, I'm warming up with my wine since I'm out of whiskey. Back to class, it was exciting. Dreamy eyes were always drifting to whitewashed windows longing for an escape from the school sentence. One of the millions of advantages of good public transportation is not its ability to withstand inclimate weather, school will go on tomorrow. The subways will run and even if there is a bad freeze, things will be slowed but never come to a stop and these kids will only have to face their normal 12 hour school days under the burden of heavier coats, gloves and a hat. Their eyes long for the window not only in hopes of play but also for a break. We offer none.
It's late at night as I write this. I look out my window onto a busy thoroughfare usually populated with the green topped lights of hundreds of taxis. Only four are within eyeshot. The mountains surrounding Busan I like to imagine are briefly white beneath a dark sky and fuzzy pollution. The streets gently carry a semi-gloss. I wonder how I'll wake up other than being terribly cold.
Music: ...Trail of Dead (Mark David Chapman)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment