I was working quite early January mornings, up in time to have a clear view of GwanAk San in the sparkling, frosty air. I don't remember the air being so clear last year, but maybe I just didn't know what I was looking for then.

It snowed nicely the last week in January around dusk. Used-car flags stream down across the parking lot advertising the Samsung electronics store that's on the first floor of the building where my school is. They were whipping in the wind while snow swirled in rapid strokes through the orange sodium streetlamps. Inside, we were warm and busy learning English words for the dinosaur-themed unit.

It rained yesterday, a cold slushy rain that got my feet stony-cold before I made it back to my apartment for a hot shower and some decompression after speaking short sentences slowly without a break for 7 hours. This morning it wasn't so cold, and it's just going to keep doing that until the ginko trees start budding and a mild breeze wafts cherry blossom pollen up my nose. And then I won't stop sneezing until late April.