Rainy season, also called tsahng-ma or jangma (장마 ), started last week. Wow - I haven't seen lots of rain like this ever except for when it flooded in Alexandria, VA! But it's not raining now thank goodness.
Apparently I need to learn how to store food in such weather. I also discovered yesterday morning, Friday school day morning, that I was NOT well-equipped to walk in the river of a street to school. I had on my outdoor shoes and cutsey socks (which are plentiful here) and of course got soaking wet feet because there wasn't any way to avoid it.
I laughed at myself as I watched the two jnr or high school kids ahead of me, in uniform, carrying their outdoor tennis shoes in their hands, and wearing rubber sandals on their feet. Ah - so that's how some do it here! As I passed the corner barbershop, the man there looked at my feet and looked up with a slight smile/laugh on his face. I don't blame him for laughing! I say 'slight' because Koreans don't show lots of expression on their faces. (Maybe this is partly why they don't get as many laughter and wrinkle lines on their faces?)
So I stopped at the cornerstore on my way to school and bought some rubber sandals for $2 (that say "made in Korea") on them, and asked for a plastic bag in which I carefully placed my soaking wet outdoor shoes and drenched socks. The owner chuckled with me about my situation. He of course was already wearing his rubber sandals. He'd been putting out the recycling when I arrived.
As for my outdoor shoes, they are still wet.
I bought the pink "hippo" boxes. (They have hippos on them. Picture soon.) They're used to cut down on humidity inside. I'll use them when I go on vacation (in two weeks!) so that my apartment doesn't get crazy moldy while I'm gone...