Because God Forbid I Go a Month Without Posting Pictures of Snow

I walked out of my apartment yesterday morning to a couple inches of powdery snow. Before the Winter That Ate the East Coast, I might have actually been fazed, but as it was, all I thought was gonna want to be wearing different shoes today. I did have a brief pang of homesickness: back home, this much snow would mean no school for the rest of the week.


The view from my office improves significantly when it's covered in snow.


I saw lots of people out shoveling snow, but none of them were using shovels. This man is using a wooden advertising sign to clear the snow from in front of his shop. I also saw women clearing the snow with brooms. Korea, invest in shovels.


Students walking to school in the snow, protected by their Peanuts and Hello Kitty umbrellas.
I also went to the Seoul Immigration Office to apply for my ARC card (last step of the visa process) yesterday and let me tell you, that's six hours of my life I won't be getting back. First, I had to make it down the ice hill to the subway station. (To be fair, I would have had to do this anyways, since I live at the bottom of the ice hill, but the ice did add an extra ten minutes to the trip.) Then I had to stop by the hospital for the results of my medical test (needed for the ARC card). Of course, the immigration office is all the way across the city from me - an hour and a half away by train - and 4:00 is not the best time to show up: I had to wait over an hour for my five minute application process. I left my school at 1:30 and didn't make it back to my apartment until 7:30. BUT, it's done and in seven to ten business days, I'll be able to get a cell phone and a internet connection in my apartment, which will be awesome since I really want to see Jim and Pam's baby.