Spring is here

THE Never-ending Winter is actually ending!
It was enough to send us whooping and shrieking through the streets of Yeonsu-Gu on Sunday, when we got the first real whiff of Spring.

Gardens and rice paddies on the ride to Shinsegae were a bit pongy with manure, punctuated every now and then with the scent of sweet fresh blooms.
Every tree and shrub in sight has blossomed in just the past two days, dotting the streets with buds. And the birds are cheeping! Actual birds! Actual cheeping!

The sky has been pure blue and the sun giving its first hint of heat. Sunday was 18 degrees - quelle horreur! - and 22 degrees is predicted for the weekend.

Take 1/Take 2/Take 3/Take 4

Now that I'm in a good weather mood, one small apology I must make to Korea.

I have long bemoaned its smog, particularly over this last weekend which was just woeful, but it turns out it wasn't pollution at all.

Apparently, during this time of year, yellow dust blows across the sea down from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. It thickly carpets the skyline, much like smog, and the following day you can actually see small piles of leftover dust sitting on roof tops. So there!

Sorry 'bout that misunderstanding, Hangook. No hard feelings, eh?