Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Typhoon

For my birthday last month I got a special present--a warning for Typhoon Bolaven.  A typhoon is technically the same as a hurricane, but on the western side of the Pacific.
  Nothing much materialized from the storm on this side of South Korea, besides some intense wind and a downpour or two, and to be honest we were a little let down.  Of course we were happy to be safe, but we were at least hoping some classes would be cancelled.  
Last Monday, we got our wish.

On Friday last week we got word that another storm, this time category one Typhoon "Sanba," was on its way.  We weren't in a rush to worry since Bolaven was so anticlimactic.  
However, on Monday morning we awoke to some fierce wind and sideways rain.  



Even though all of morning classes were cancelled, we still had to go into work only slightly later than usual.  Don't get me started....  

Once our administration realized this typhoon was for real, they sent us home, just one hour after we'd arrived.  
The walk home from school was an interesting one.  My umbrella had met its untimely death on the way into school, so Ryan and I were sharing his, each clinging to one side to prevent it from turning inside out or blowing away completely.  Signage from restaurants and buildings littered the streets and sidewalks.  Ryan and our co-workers did their best to securely bend a large metal sign around a tree to keep it in one place.
 Power was out and policeman frantically directed traffic.





This video gives you a little more insight.

The beach was hit even harder, as was the riverside in neighboring Gyeongju.

We were safe and sound and got to spend the evening packing and relaxing as the storm dissipated. 

 There won't be many more evenings in our Busan apartment.  Five days until departure!  Between now and then... hopefully there won't be any more typhoons.

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