2004-07-31 - 12:11 a.m.

Saturday (Toe-yo-il, earth-day) July 24, 2004

I'm better healthwise, though my sinuses are still talking to me. (Part of that is due to the poor air quality in Seoul right now.)

The rainy season is over. Now it is very hot: 35-40 degrees C / 95-104 F. A great many people go on vacation during this time (between now and August 9, which is called Heat's End). The charity place is closing down next week, July 26-30, so the employees can get out of town.

The subway workers went out on strike last week. They don't show any signs of coming back soon, either. The train drivers are taking turns working, so there are about half the usual number of trains running. (I timed how long I had to wait for trains this last week, and it's just about double the normal time.) Rush hour is packed very tightly, but it seems as if people are more considerate of each other. I've been given people's seats every day. That was very welcome, especially on Thursday when I was carrying my big backpack full of books.

The ticket sellers appear to be replaced by administrative staff; they have to consult with each other before doing anything. The platform workers are being supplemented with young men from the Army (unarmed) wearing white satin sashes. These broad ribbons are the same style as the ones worn by Corean Christians when they pass out leaflets on the street. So they make a peculiar contrast, draped over the forest-camoflage-clad troops.

Before the soldiers came in, on Day One of the strike, police officers were on the platforms. Their mix was one senior officer to every 3 or 4 patrolmen. I particularly noticed one in his fifties, a very distinguished-looking gentleman. I guessed he was a precinct captain by the number of "pips" on his shoulder strap (pips are embroidered silver diamonds).

This morning I got a call to my cellphone from the service representative of Korea Telecom, my phone company. He asked about my land-line phone. It had been malfunctioning during the monsoon. Apparently the rain had gotten into the lines. The phone was shorting out, either no dial tone (dead) or static. Sometimes the static even sounded like it was burbling underwater. It's okay now. The lines have dried out in the heat we got the last few days.

-----

Took a break there. Twenty minutes of housework and 20 minutes in the shower. Well, I washed the walls and doorframe as well as myself. My bathroom is typical of Corean ones: tile walls and floor, a drain in the middle,- basically it's a big shower stall with a toilet by the back wall. The door is pebbled glass, a double slider 2 meters long on a sill about 8 centimeters / 3 inches tall. It's ever so easy to keep clean. Just wipe with a soapy cloth and hose it down with the hand-held shower-head.

--On the subway, 4:45 p.m.

I'm on my way to Carol's house. We're having a celebration in honour of Syll: her tenth anniversary. She's an amazing woman. She's had success and tragedy. She started out pretty much a street urchin, but she's earned Bachelor and Master degrees. Sad to say, she lost her spouse to leukemia last year. As you can imagine, that was a long, hard passage. I went down a similar road with my late husband.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday (Il-yo-il, Sun-day) July 25

Odd weather,- I woke to a thunderstorm. About 2p.m. it cleared up and I did a laundry. By 6 p.m. the clouds rolled back over us. I've pulled my drying rack back under the porch roof.

Carol's celebration yesterday involved deep-dish apple pie with a butter sauce instead of a top crust, and vanilla ice cream. We walked down to the USO, about a kilometer, where Syll got her ten-year medallion. Then went up to the traditional restaurant near Sook Dae. It was a very pleasant party. There were about twelve of us, Coreans and Expats, with bilingual conversations.

Happy Trails!

~ Sil in Corea

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