Monsoon-in'

We have officially entered monsoon season here in Korea. It's funny because they deemed it that time of year about 2 weeks ago, and yet we have had very little rain. Well, I think God heard everyone's comments and decided to make it official because today the rains came.


When I first got to Korea, last September, the country was smack in the middle of the heavy rains. My flight actually got delayed 2 days because of a terrible typhoon that was hitting Seoul. I literally got here, got drenched, and began to wonder why I left such nice NC weather for the mess I had fallen into. The rain just kept coming, every other day at the least, and I remember thinking it was going to be a long year. My feet were never dry, my hair was always curly, and I continuously had an umbrella attached to my arm. But I didn't realize that this season basically had put the amount of rain a typical country would get in 6 months and packed it into 3 months instead. When you do the math, it really equals out, because throughout winter and spring it barely rained, but then come summer it absolutely pours. Maybe I would grab my umbrella once every two weeks, but rain was not a frequent occurrence for the past 8 months. Korea's funny like that, the seasons are totally focused on one type of weather; they either want all sunshine or all rain.

So instead of getting the tail end of monsoon season like when I arrived in September and having it be a fleeting memory, I now will be getting in my seat and buckling up for the ride. I will have 3 months of wet memories and I have decided to make the most out of them. I may have more going on in my life now than I have all year, and may feel like I am being spread pretty thin, but stressing about a little rain doesn't do anybody any good. I'm sure I will wish I had rain boots up to my knees when the flooding starts, but I will just make-do with what I've got. I will submit to my curly hair genes and give up on the flat iron. I will become accustomed to wet shoes, minimal make-up days (since it's not waterproof), and my hair always ending up in a messy curly bun on my head. The rain won't slow me down, it won't hinder my massively productive summer, and it won't put a dark cloud over my travels.

I walked home with a friend of mine tonight and we were chatting as the rain came down lightly from the clouds. All of a sudden it started coming down so fast and hard, total torrential rain, and we could no longer hear what the other one was saying. Instead small screams and laughter replaced our  conversation and I just began to smile. I thought, 'here we go monsoon season' and decided to totally go with the flow. Literally...... by following the streams running through my street so I could get home! Who cares about rain anyway?  Whether it's a lot or a little, I am going to channel my inner child and start jumping through puddles and playing in the rain! It can make for a pretty fun time! Let the rain come, I'm not ready for it, but I'm willing to embrace it.