Take a rest

I've been falling asleep no later than 10:30 p.m. for the past few weeks. Ever since I got back from Thailand and dove head first into the new school semester, I've simply been exhausted. I remember nights when I'd make myself stay up, despite being tired, for no real reason. But these days, I look forward to bedtime.

Part of this exhaustion stems from the weather. It's been an absolutely brutal and long winter, here, in Seoul. Apparently this isn't normal for the city, which usually experiences 'flash snowstorms' - they come and go, and usually there's no traces left of it ever happening.

This year, however, it seems never-ending. We get a couple of days, graced with sunshine, and then, it's back to a bitter cold that sinks right to the bone. And it's the 30th of March!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we've also been getting yellow dust from Northern China and Mongolia. This has caused my classes to sound like a symphony of coughs and sneezes... only about 25 per cent of it coming from me.

I've had students dropping like flies in classes. One minute they're up and about, and the next thing I know, they're out cold on the table. I worried at first, thinking it had something to do with my 'boring' lessons... (trust me, these are tough kids to break!). But as my co-teacher so eloquently put it, "The dust... it gets to them this time. Let them take a rest."

Fine by me. I too was asked to 'take a rest' for a couple of days last week. And that I did. Didn't help with the desire for prolonged sleep, however.

But, short of sounding like a 'Debbie Downer' I will say that the weather seems to warming up... slowly but surely. And it's making a world of difference. People seem to be more cheery (when they're not ill from the dust), and are starting to get into their spring wardrobe.

Tights, minis and heels 2010, anyone?

More sunshine, jusayeo!

xo
SC