~❅S❅N❅O❅W❅~

There are several drafts of posts begging to be finished or published, but today I’d much rather just obsess over all things snow.

Let’s catch up: Snow is an altogether new experience for me. I’ve seen it in pictures and on TV, yes. But I had no idea what it would feel like when it lands on your skin, or when you hold it in your bare hands, or when you fall into a bed of snow that you didn’t realise was quite so deep until half your leg disappeared in it. I didn’t think I’d ever be rolling snowballs and having snowball fights. I’d never considered the sound it might make when you walk on it, or how fresh snow would give way when you touch it.

The area behind my school.

On Friday, 30 November I was doing what I do on Fridays – deskwarm. I was happily chatting away with a Facebook contact, when suddenly the status updates came snowing in (geddit?!). First one, then another, then one more, and soon people as close as the next town over started posting about the light snowfall. I commented to my friend that I would “just die” (?) if it started to snow in Munsan, as I was told repeatedly that snow would only come in January (“Korea does not have white Christmas”) and it was still only November (even though it was the last day).  Mere minutes later, it happened: I looked out the window in disbelief. Snow! My first snow!

The soccer field at the front of the school.

Friday’s snow didn’t really stick, though it was a lot of fun getting all excited and watching the snowfall with the students. They were all padded up and walking around outside; I enjoyed the shelter more.

The following Wednesday, however, was an entirely different story. In the late morning, it started to snow. And snow and snow and snow. It didn’t stop for hours. And then all of the land was white… and it was the most magical thing I’d ever seen.

In the afternoon,  I donned my umbrella for the walk over to Kindergarten (wonderful day to be hoodie-less), and it struck me – I was walking in snow! After Kindie, I walked over to the now solid white soccer field. A few students were arbing around, and they were all too happy for company. One explained the process of rolling a snowball, and I braved the cold to roll my own. So this is how snow feels… 🙂

In the late afternoon, I joined in a snowball fight with a few of the 6th graders. At first they were a little blind-sided by the fact that a teacher was playing with them (and shrieking louder than them most of the time), and I took advantage of the momentary upper hand. They soon warmed to the idea of payback, and I became their target.

Snowball fight!

All-in-all, this was one magical day. Walking home was an experience unlike any other. Everything was covered in a thick white blanket (I now understand that description). It felt like I was somewhere entirely different. Side walks and streets flowed into one. The roads were dead quiet. It was just… strange. I concentrated a lot harder on finding my way, despite following that route often enough. The world around me had transformed itself into a solid sheet of white.

Snow angels!

🙂

I settled into my apartment for the evening, happy that I had had the coolest day ever. At around 21:30 a friend messaged me to invite me out to play in the snow. At first I made excuses, but the seed had been planted, and by 22:00 we were all layered up and making our way to the park across the street from our apartment block. I was in heaven once again! For the next hour, we made snow angels (my first and second ones!), chased each other with handfuls of snow and posed on an icy cold bench. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my existence, even more so because the three people I was with allowed me to be as excited as a kid who saw snow for the first time (oh, wait…), and they got just as excited as me despite being used to it by now.

It’s snowing again today, and every time I peek at the snowflakes falling past my window, I’m drawn back into the magical world of snow. I’m sure that the novelty will wear off pretty soon (this process actually started last night when I kept slipping on old, dirty snow), and getting out of bed in the cold darkness will become old quickly, but for now, I am in a magic world where everything is pretty and white and joyful.

Maybe a wintery Christmas is not the worst thing, after all…

Ami and Cindy huddling with me on a snow-covered bench.