June 21st is the official beginning of summer in Korea. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be hot and nasty. Many of the locals refer to it as the “rainy season.” So, our rainy season began today, not with rain, but with sweltering humidity.  It was only in the mid-70’s today, but  you could almost swim from place to place rather than walk.  The humidity was 95%.  As the day worn on, however, the humidity finally solidified and turned into a wall of water. Right on time. The rainy season.

The last tour I had in Korea, it wasn’t terribly rainy but it was unbearably hot. I had no air conditioner and resorted to placing bottles of frozen water in front of a fan to stay cool at night. Everyone swore 2004 was the hottest summer they could remember. The foreigners kept telling me we’d never climb in the summer for the rain, but that didn’t hold true.

This year, we still haven’t had a really hot day this summer and I still haven’t turned on the air conditioner the owner has installed since I was here last. I guess we’ll see what kind of summer we get this year.  So far, the weather service is calling for rain for the next several days.