Last week we supposedly went through what was the worst yellow dust storm ever in Korea. For those who don't know, yellow dust storms usually occur in the spring. They are caused by strong winds picking up dust/sand in the Gobi desert in northern China. It has become worse lately because of deforestation around the desert. The dust storms apparently raise the death rates in an area by around 2%. So anyway, all this dust blows over from China and what do we do? Go hiking!
So yeah, it didn't seem so bad when we were at the top of the mountain but in hindsight it probably would have been a day to stay home. For comparison, here is a shot in our area of your average everyday pollution compared to the yellow dust.
Daejeon is supposedly one of the least polluted major cities in Korea. I have really come to realize how much we take clean air for granted in Saskatchewan. Some days when it gets really windy the sky clears right off and it looks quite nice, but the air still doesn't feel very fresh.
Today it really has started to hit us how tough it is going to be to leave. I had plans to tell some of my classes today about leaving (we aren't supposed to tell the kids until a few days before) but I just couldn't. The kids have really grown on me. It's even worse with our Taekkyon friends. Tara said it best when she said how humbled we have been by the generosity of our friends. And I think that's really what it's all about. It is not about climbing mountains, seeing temples or taking pictures of tombs or waterfalls... it's really the people you meet and experience their culture with. And that is really the best thing we are going to take away from Korea.
1 comment:
Aww you are leaving Korea soon...where did the time go? Although it feels like you guys have been gone FOREVER, it also feels like the year has gone by in a flash. Enjoy your time travelling!
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