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Surviving Monsoon Season In Korea Posted by on Jun 28, 2016 in Culture, Uncategorized

Koreans will proudly tell you of their four seasons, no matter how much you plead with them that there is, say, the same thing in Michigan or most places in the Northern Hemisphere. But what is left out is one essential, annoying part of those four seasons: Monsoon season (장마).

If you’re heading to the beaches of Busan or Jeju Island in June and July, you might find yourself rained or typhoon-ed out.* So what do the locals do? In Korea, rain (비) is a call to drink makgeolli (막걸리). Sometimes these are hole-in-the-wall shops with plastic stools down quirky alleys. Sometimes there are caves that were once WWII bomb shelters. Either way, rain and makgeolli are synonymous in Korea.

However, makgeolli is famous for its legendary hangovers. But Korean marketing is on this issue, as you can see with K-Pop Star Hyeri’s (혜리) hangover cure commercial. Or go for this hangover ice cream.

There are a number of Korean advertisements that can keep you busy in your apartment, hotel or love motel in Korea, such as this rapping grandma for the Korean electronics store Hi-Mart, or this awkward and possibly offensive world beer commercial, which shows how Koreans have rapidly become open-minded to non-Korean brewed beer.

Since most drinking establishments don’t open until the evening, this leaves you with a full day or torrential downpour, flooded streets and watching umbrellas turn inside out. Essentially during monsoon season, or jang-ma, even the depressed salary man goes to work in flip-flops and shorts (before switching to his shiny grey suit).

Jang-ma doesn’t stop Korea’s high-speed KTX train, even if it is riddled with zombies, like in this highly anticipated Korean film, which premiered at Cannes last month to a 10-minute standing ovation, and will be released in July. (In Korean only.)

Or, feel free to ignore everything above, and just do nothing, which apparently is a thing in South Korea.

But perhaps the best way to enjoy the downpour is to join all the other Koreans–even the North Koreans–on their coffee shop obsession. And, if you are still in the planning stages, this K-Drama, Coffee Prince (커피 프린스), might get you excited for the jang-ma drama. (And enjoy the Big Bang parody below.)

*Although typhoons are, sadly, quite dangerous, in Busan it essentially creates a long weekend indoors, one away from glass and the seaside. Unfortunately, due to the geographical layout, Japan tends to take the blunt of the force, with a typhoon limping to Korea. Once it hits land, it dissipates like a hurricane, leaving Seoul relatively safe but entirely drenched. However, one should always take severe precaution and do as the locals do, since most information or warnings probably won’t be in English and you probably won’t be lucky enough to run into a good samaritan. If the streets and beaches are empty, get somewhere safe.

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About the Author: Tony Kitchen

Tony is a seasoned traveler who lived in Busan, South Korea from 2008-2012. While living in South Korea, he traveled extensively around Asia. After leaving, he spent 100 days traveling from Russia to Germany and many places in between. Currently, he lives and works in Budapest, Hungary, focusing on South Korean and East Asian business. Tony has an M.A. in International Relations with a specific focus on South Korean-U.S. relations and North Korea.