the coats are out in force

As if on cue, Koreans switched over, en masse, to wearing winter coats several days ago. I'm still in short sleeves during the daytime; I wear a light windbreaker at night when I'm leaving the office. Generally speaking, and I'm pretty sure I've written something like this before, Koreans follow a calendar when deciding how to dress for the weather; they don't follow the weather itself. One sees this a lot in the spring: people insist on wearing their winter coats long past the time they should be stashing their heavy vestments in the closet and enjoying the spring air. The Korean folkloric calendar marks "official" moments throughout the year for things like the hottest day of summer, etc.; I think this—and not common sense—is the calendar that determines people's dress.