sonagi

Happy July! In Korea, July and August are the worst months for summer heat, with the monsoon generally happening in July and the first half of August, so as you might imagine, I'll mostly be staying indoors, and any walking I do will be at night. It's very doubtful that, even at night, I'll be doing any long or longish walks: ambitious walking—such as I'm capable of in my deteriorating state—will resume in late September.

I just took a look at the National Weather Service site to see the forecast for the first eleven days of July, and it's looking as though today is the only rainy day, with a sonagi (rainstorm, rain shower) happening this afternoon, starting around 4 p.m. I'm wondering whether I should step outside for that, but frankly, I'm not hopeful.

For Americans, July means the Fourth for Independence Day, and the 20th for Moon Landing Day. Personally, I find this and August to be the two worst months of the year—terrible months to be out on vacation unless, like my buddy Charles, you're vacationing in a cooler place like Scotland, where it's currently around 50ºF (10ºC). Otherwise, if you're not in the Aviemore area, wouldn't you rather have your long vacation during a season with lower, more pleasant temperatures? In Korea, that would mean having a long fall break during the October-November period, and spring vacation during the March-April period (despite the April showers). In a just world, that's when we'd have our vacations.

I was lucky to work at a company with a flexible boss who allowed me to do my long walks during generally pleasant weather, normally the September-October time frame. Last year was a bit of an exception, what with my injury having changed my walk calendar somewhat (it got very, very cold toward the end: the walk started in October, then I took November off to heal, and the trek ended in December). In South Korea, at least, it's best to be out and about in the fall or spring. Winter is cold and sometimes dreary—not to mention very snowy in the northeast—and summer is like spending four months inside Kim Kardashian's hot, sweaty, suffocating ass crack: the absolute worst time of year to be traveling. Not that there's ever a good time to find yourself lost inside Kim Kardashian's ass.