Umbrella Wars

In a very early post I wrote about how the rain here was like the Pacific Northeast of the U.S. Ha!

From an U.S. consulate email:

As you can tell from looking out the window the last few weeks, the rainy season has started in Korea!  You can also check current weather conditions, including rain level forecasts throughout the Peninsula, at this page.  The Korea Meteorological Association also maintains a site on typhoons.

Ha, ha! That's right. A double ha ha. Wait, typhoons?! I did not research the weather before I came. Fortunately, the consulate's suggestion of looking out the window has been extremely helpful.

We are now in the rainy season. That means rain and lots of it. For the past two weeks it has rained nearly every day. There was a three day window of nice weather which created a trap for us foreigners. "There is no need to bring an umbrella. It's beautiful out." Sadly, my man bag is broken, so I'm back to carrying an umbrella even when the sun is shining. A lesson I have learned the hard way a couple of times.

Fortunately, Koreans feel sympathy for foreigners caught in the rain. We know. The rain sucks. Take my umbrella. I have extras. I gave a talk at a nearby University; they gave me an umbrella. I opened a savings account; they gave me an umbrella. I got caught in the rain visiting my favorite bakery; they gave me an umbrella. A storm surprised us as we were eating dinner at a restaurant one night; they gave us an umbrella. I have at least 5 umbrellas now.

While Koreans are extremely kind and do many things well, they just don't get queuing. Getting on the subway or waiting in line at McDonalds... well, good luck to you. The grocery store is the worst. You get cut off constantly walking down the aisles. Lines are not their thing. Combine that with narrow sidewalks and lots of rain and you get what my friend calls 'The Umbrella Wars'. Up and down, left and right, trying to avoid other people's umbrellas is no easy task. "Serpentine! Serpentine!" I've nearly had my umbrella knocked out of my hands several times especially from behind. I've been told the rainy season will last for another week. Until then..., "Hey, dude, no crossing umbrellas!"