The Weather

Hello and welcome to Part 1 of the series of South Korea-related posts from my recent trip to the country. As I joined a tour group, so the places I went to were generic tourist spots but still, they were pretty and interesting in their own way.

Let’s get started shall we? =]

South Korea is currently experiencing winter, with freezing temperatures that can drop to -19°C. The temperature at Incheon International Airport was at about -4°C when I landed on the 10^th of February, 7am+ KST (Korean Std Time). We were told by the Korean tour guide (who from now on will be referred to as Guide unnie if she ever comes up again) that it had snowed a couple of hours before we landed so the snow is still fresh and we can go play in it if we wanted to and also spring normally starts in April for them.

freshly fallen snow, view from the airport

Snow, this would be my first time experiencing the winter climate and thus my first hand look at what is snow. Snow is, surprisingly, powdery to the touch. Soft, cold and brittle unless compacted into a ball, one must be careful not to hold on to the white form for too long because it will numb your hand to the point where it will hurt as the cold pierce into your flesh and stings your palm.

As though the cold isn’t enough, the wind made it a gazillion times worse. Coming from a tropical country, it’s pretty hard for any of us who have not experienced winter to imagine the sort of chill it sends to the human body. The wind is just as piercing as the cold of the snow. One doesn’t really feel the cold, unless the wind is blowing. The wind was strong and sent all of us zipping up our jackets, wrapping our necks with scarves, putting on our beanies and stuffing our hands into the closest pockets. Taking photos soon became a chore as it was really hard trying to take good pictures with gloved hands, especially when the gloves made it hard to push any buttons on the camera. The harsh, cold wind will not hesitate and trust me; the skin of 

your hands will crack, starting from your knuckles. Yes it is that unforgiving.

The wind was even stronger in Jeju than it was on the mainland. According to Guide unnie, Jeju should be warmer than Seoul in the sense that the temperature will not drop below zero. It was actually +6°C when we were there but the wind was so freaking strong it didn’t felt like +6 at all. My ears hurt and my nose felt like it would just drop off because I didn’t had my cap and scarf with me when I was climbing the volcano.

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Next time: The Sights