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The Year of the Tiger

Thanks for your comments and interest in the blog so far. I had a few questions and so will begin to answer them here. One question (very British), was about the weather.

Traditional Korean underfloor heating called ondol

Simon's story: Heart and seoul for Lowick man

Thanks for your comments and interest in the blog so far. I had a few questions and so will begin to answer them here. One question (very British), was about the weather.

Well, being in the northern hemisphere, we are still in winter here – much the same as back at home. However, there are some notable differences; it can be quite mild here on some days, followed by being bitterly cold on others, with the wind coming overland from Siberia! It is the very cold indeed with the wind chill – it even makes the Lakes feel warm! The weather will start to warm up soon, with beautiful spring blossoms appearing, and the summer will follow with its incredible heat and humidity.

Currently, with the cold weather, the heating inside my flat is great. Here, they generally have under floor heating (ondol), which was traditionally found in the old-style Korean houses (hanok). You can see an example of this in the attached image. These traditional houses were made entirely from wood and had paper windows. The under floor heating was created by fires and allowed hot air to circulate beneath the houses. This is one of the reasons why life took place on the floor in Korea inside the homes. Even today, you remove your shoes before entering a home. The beds still consist of mattresses on the floor and you also sit on the floor. This is great when you discover that you bed is toasty warm after coming in from the bitter cold outside!

As I mentioned in my first posting, it has just been New Year here. Yes, that’s right, in Korea you get to celebrate two new years – the solar (which we celebrate in the West) and the lunar, which is more traditionally celebrated in Asia. A bit like the Queen having two birthdays. The city of Seoul emptied out (although there were still plenty of people here!), as families gathered at their ancestral homes to celebrate the incoming year – the year of the Tiger. You have to eat a traditional rice soup here on New Year’s Day in order to become a year older, and I was kindly presented with a bowl when I went to a local café for a drink.

That leads me nicely to why you are 2 years older in Korea. Well, they start counting your age from conception and they therefore say that you are already 1 year old as soon as you are born. So that accounts for one year. Then, if that wasn’t enough, they also add another year when you celebrate your first lunar new year – presuming that you have eaten your soup, of course! So, there you have it: Two years older after being here for just three weeks in Korea!

By James Hemsworth
Published: March 1, 2010