Summer in Korea

Summer in Korea is quite different than summer Victoria. First off, it gets hot here, much hotter than I'm used to and it's not one day of hot, it's all the days, all the time. Right now I think it's at least 25 degrees and it's after 12 am. The second strange thing about summer weather is the humidity, this is because Korea has a monsoon season in July. It feels pretty deceptive to me because it started to get warm (summer weather by my standards) and I was all like, yesss summer is finally here! Fun times! But then, it started to get cloudy and rainy and glum again, which wasn't very fun. My mood immediately shifted and my energy dropped. 

Next it gets hot, everyday, like about 30 and it still is a bit humid, with some random rain thrown in, although monsoon season is pretty much over for now. The other thing that happens are typhoons, although Korea doesn't seem to get hit that hard, at least it didn't this year. We really only got one, it was stormy and windy for the whole day, not just a few hours. It also rained a lot. I couldn't even get delivery because they wouldn't deliver in the poor weather conditions. 

Not it's just hot, and apparently could get a little hotter, although I don't think that much. My coworker has told me that at the end of August there will be a second storm season which will last into september. I can neither confirm, nor deny this since I don't know Korean weather patterns, but I really hope it just stays warm. It's like being in a sauna always. It's very tiring mixed with the humidity but I'm adjusting to it. The air conditioner helps

There are also special summer foods in Korea. The first and I think, most traditional, is samgyetang which is a whole cornish hen (or some other kind of small bird) and ginseng soup. You get served a ceramic bowl with a whole chicken in it. The chicken is stuffed with rice, ginseng, chestnut, jujube and other spices or nuts. The soup is serve pipping hot and bubbling. It also comes with a lot of side dishes. I love this dish, it reminds me of a chicken soup, but more chicken and more yummy. The chicken is so soft and tender you can break it apart with your spoon. 

Now, I know what you're thinking, it's a little strange that chicken soup is a summer food in Korea... that sounds more like something you'd eat in the winter.... what's going on here? Well, due to the very hot and humid summer you feel slow and tired so you definitely need a pick-me-up. Ginseng is considered very healthy in Korea so the soup is viewed as a health food rather than just a chicken and rice soup. 

For your health you're supposed to have the soup three times during sambok (삼복) the three hottest days of the summer. They have special names: chobok, jungbok and malbok (beginning, middle and end). The days vary every year because it's based on the lunar calendar, I'm not sure what days they were this year, but I think they've already passed. 

The other popular summer food is a special kind of noodle soup (so much soup). These noodles are called naengmyeon (냉면). The most popular varieties are mul naengmyeon (water) and bibim naengmyeon (mixed). This noodles are served cold and not just cold, but icy cold, literally, they put ice in the broth. They usually have a tangy, strong flavoured broth, lots of long noodles made out a variety of things, a hard boiled egg, cucumbers thinly sliced, sesame seeds, and some pickled radish and sometimes red chili paste. It really depends where you go though because everyone seems to have their own variety of this dish. There are two main types, the water cold noodles which comes with broth or the mixed cold noodles which just come with a spicy sauce and no broth. 

I honestly love this dish. It's so yummy, it sounds strange and I didn't think I'd be a huge fan of cold noodles (the idea seems a little strange still) but they taste so refreshing and good! The tangy, spicy, flavour, chewy noodles and noodle broth go so well together. I really don't think this dish would taste good warm. The other day my coworker took me to a special naengmyeong restaurant across from our school. It was super busy and we had to wait for a bit (which is unusual in korea) but it was worth it. The noodles were not the buckwheat ones which naengmyeong more commonly has, but a white variety, the broth was more delicious which a more complex flavour than I was used to. Also, this naengmyeong had meat on top (just a couple of slices) which I'd never seen before and the pickled radish was especially tasty and fresh. 

The soup is the perfect thing for cooling yourself down in the middle of a hot summer day. The other thing Koreans seem to do in the summer is a lot of beaching. I haven't gone yet, but from what I've heard the beaches in Busan get crazy busy, especially their most famous beach haeundae (just google it and you'll see what I mean). I haven't had a Korean beach day yet, but I'll go this weekend and report back to you'll! 

Anyway, Korea summer is very different from home and I can't say I'm in love with it. I kinda felt a bit like I was waiting, waiting, waiting for the good weather then it came then the rainy season started, then the hot weather arrived, which can I get something in the middle?! Well, in all honesty, despite the sweatiness and humidity the hot weather brings I still prefer it to the cold winters, still I do miss swimming in the ocean at home and beach days with my friends. Soon though, soon!