A few warm days of spring have made all of the difference. The cherry trees and the azaleas have all burst into bloom, which make the campuses and the hillsides around Seoul really beautiful. It should last a few to several more days and hopefully I'll get some pictures of it up here.

I was surprised to see today that even with temperatures in the mid 70s people still tend to walk around wearing coats and even hats. I was struck in the fall how quickly people bundled up before it really got cold, and then was even more interested to see that people seemed to underdress for the cold in the winter. Strange to see people wear the same thing despite 50 degrees of difference in the temperature.

But maybe all that heavy gear is smart. Sitting here at my desk at 2 a.m. I was amazed to see already the first mosquito of 2008. Make no mistake--the mosquitoes here don't mess around. They can apparently get through walls and there are a lot of them (and I live in a swamp in Virginia, so I know the routine with these bugs).

Looks like the lil Buddha is going back under the mosquito net...

the other sure sign of spring is the yowling cats in heat outside of the apartment building. Between the bugs and the cats and the (occasionally!) wakeful and screaming baby, it is quite lively around here.

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