::A Geek in Korea::

One of my students told me that she went out to eat with her parents, and when they returned to their car to go home, it was covered in snow. Her father forbid her to touch the snow, because it was dirty snow! At first I thought this was over bearing Korean parenting based on the occasionally odd cleanliness habits some Koreans display. I asked her about why the snow was dirty, and she reminded me of the spring time yellow sands.

Spring in Korea brings the threat of yellow dust blowing in from China. Due to deforestation, industrialization, and the growth of the Gobe desert, these storms blow toxic sand into Korea every year. The worst I can rememeber was in 2002, where I was told to stay home from school and not to breathe too much on the way home.

This year was a special new treat however, we have terrible windstorms that coated the cars, streets, and everything else outside with toxic dust. We also had a rare snow storm during the yellow dust event. As a result, we had a yellow snow fall. It’s like snow someone’s already pissed on falling from the sky. Thanks China! You’ve made my "Don’t eat the yellow snow" joke entirely redundant!