Snow!!!

Due, I suppose, to Pohang's odd geographical positioning along the coast and behind a mountain range, it rarely is in sync with the rest of Korea in terms of weather.  So when there's a blizzard in Seoul, there will often be blue skies and sunshine in Pohang.  Also, there's almost no precipitation in Pohang in the winter, so there's almost never snow or rain or ice.  Which is good if you have a car or you don't like icy roads.  If you like snow, it sucks.   Two years ago Pohang had a huge blizzard, one bigger than anything they'ed seen in 10 years.  But then last year, no snow.  A few powdery flakes that melted before they hit the ground maybe, but nothing you could call snow.  So when we woke up this morning and saw snow falling outside the window, we were shocked and happy and ran out to play in it, like any kid in this country would, in the parking lot of our apartment building.  It snowed off and on all day, though very little ended up sticking.  I stuffed my camera in a ziploc bag and snapped a few pictures on my way to work.  As always, here's 10 pictures and some foolish comments.

Smile

The theme of this photo set is happiness.  Look at how happy the girl from Arizona is to be in the snow.

Marshmallow Man

Look at that coat, I will never be cold again.

Snack Time

Two girls ducking into a food stall for some fish on a stick.  It's like a sausage but instead of pork it's ground fish, which is then pressed into strips and pushed onto a stick to form kind of wavy "S" shape.  When you eat one for the first time and don't know it's fish, that's a moment when you realize you're in a new place.

Keeping Dry

These ladies were coming from the salon and were not about to have their hair messed up.  Also, precipitation in this county does not touch people's heads.  Or rarely.  It's rumored to cause hair loss, which is just what I need.

Snowball

This kid wanted to throw that snowball at me.  I could see it in his eyes, he figured he'd score one for every poor kid who's forced to spend five hours a week with an English teacher.  He maintained control and saved the snowball for someone else.

Photo Op

These people were standing around taking pictures, laughing and having a good time.  It was the happiest scene I've come across on this street in a year and a half.

To Work

Sara braving the cold.

Baby Snow Man

This woman was building a tiny snowman and she even posed for a picture.  The snow was making people wild.

The White Stuff

The walk to work had a little bit of magic today.

A Rose