Koats

In Korea it's Winter here too. That means coats. Now it's not as cold as Canada, but it's cold enough to warrant outer wear. However, to Koreans that means once the coats are on, they never come off.

Ever.

Coats never leave the backs of Koreans. They are permanently hung on the shoulders of the natives here, no matter what age. At my school, the teachers never take off their coats. They teach in their parkas, overcoats or whatever. It limits their flexibility for moving the marker on the board, but they're sure to stay warm.

The kids too.

The students never take their coats off. The heater will be going in class and I'll always hear one child cry out in broken English "Teacher...hot". No, don't cue the Van Halen "Hot for Teacher" music. Rather, the student is trying to tell me that they're too hot. "Well take off your damn jacket!" I wanna say. I don't. I say a less cursive phrase. Yet after telling them to take off their jacket, they still won't.

"Teacher... air-con!"

This is another child's plea. It's Korean for "Please turn on the air conditioning teacher". I won't. It's WINTER!!! "Awww...." comes a collective groan from the students. Suck it up kids. It's Winter and the heater stays on.

It gets better.

When I leave the classroom, I'll come back to find a window open. "Who opened the window?!?" No answer. Those of you who have been following my blog will remember that I have this same problem in the Summer when I turn on the "Air-Con", leave the classroom, and come back to find the window opened by the Family Circus "Not Me" spectre. (See "Fan-Death" posting).

Then there's the movie theatre.

A friend and I went to the movies. Once inside, we removed our coats. We were the only ones. Every other patron kept theirs on while the heat was cranked up. My friend and I were boiling in our seats while everyone else, with coats on, seemed content. This goes for buses and the subway too. The heat is cranked up and I'm forced to strip off the Winter garb, while everyone else is less provocative, keeping their coats on.

Restaurants too.

The restaurants here are poorly equipped with heating so I understand the non-removal of coats. At every restaurant, there's countless portable heaters randomly placed about to heat the legs of the famished. Navigating the electrical cords strewn about in restaurants is something. There's so many that I can have a game of double-dutch with the cords in between courses.

Or start a limbo competition.

I'm beginning to wonder if the coats are worn to bed too. Probably. In any case, it looks like the coats are staying on everyone until Spring when the good weather emerges.

Fortunately, in Korea, that means the end of February.