As a native Floridian, I've missed out on an essential part of life, seeing snow. I've never had the chance to make a snowman, ski at a resort, or have a White Christmas. It's been one of the things I've longed for since I saw Home Alone.
When we decided to move to Korea, we chose the only city that it never snows. Busan is like the Florida of Korea. So, I was resigned to never seeing snow unless I searched it out. This year it finally snowed for three hours. It didn't last and melted about two hours later, but it was a dream come true. Well, the heavens were looking down on me because the day we left for Cambodia there was a Winter Wonderland.
From inside my house, I was ecstatic and overjoyed. I couldn't believe that everything was covered in snow. I couldn't wait to go outside. What happened next traumatized me a little bit. Busan is not a city that is prepared for snow. The minute the white fluffy stuff covered the streets, the city shut down. The buses stopped running and there were very few taxis on the street. Apparently, the streets and sidewalks should be shoveled and covered with salt to make it easier to travel. Busan did not do any of this.
Markus and I live high up on a hill and there aren't any subways nearby. We would have to walk down the hill about a mile or so to get to a subway station. Since the buses, weren't running there was a mad panic and hordes of people started trekking down towards the subway. Markus and I had no other choice and followed. The sidewalks were really icy and slippery and we saw many people slip and fall.
Now, you have to understand, this was my first time being in this kind of situation. The last time I saw snow it stuck for two hours and disappeared. This time there was a substantial amount, at least two inches. Markus grew up in Chicago so he stomped through the streets like a pro. I, on the other hand, gingerly tiptoed around. I was freaked out. I didn't know how to walk on snow and was afraid I was going to fall and crack my head open. The sidewalks were dangerous and weren't safe to walk on. The snow had transformed to sleet and ice. I saw so many ahjummas, old ladies, clearing the sidewalks with dustpans. It was a nightmare. Something that should have taken only 20 minutes, took an hour.
I'll admit, I wasn't pleased when I finally made it to work. I was a bit horrified and didn't want to go back outside. Still, I was very happy to finally experience living in snow. Hopefully, my future experiences with snow are much better.
