Those of us born before 1990 or so and who lived in the northeastern USA at the time will remember it.
The Blizzard of '96.
I was reminded of it in the first three days of December 2014, as snow gently fell on us in the Seoul region. I wrote the below in Korean on the third consecutive day of snow. I post here a revised version (after some corrections) and a translation to English.
The Blizzard of '96.
I was reminded of it in the first three days of December 2014, as snow gently fell on us in the Seoul region. I wrote the below in Korean on the third consecutive day of snow. I post here a revised version (after some corrections) and a translation to English.
| 겨울에 대한 추억: "2차겨울 방학" 어렸을 때 겨울에 대한 추억이 오늘 생겼다. 미국에서 태어나고 살았던 나는 1996년 2월에 초등학생이었습니다. 그때, 공부하고 있었던 우리에게 "2차 겨울방학"이 갑자기 생겼다. 어떻게 할 수 있었을까? 눈이 참 많이 내렸기 때문이다. 즉, 눈이 100cm이상 오던데 정말 많았지 않았니? 보통 우리는 크리스마스에 방학이 1-2주일 동안 있는데, 2월에 있으니까 이것은 "2차, 1995-6 겨을 방학"라고 할 수 있다. 우리 도시의 길들은 빠르게 눈이 쌓였다. 눈이 너무 많기 때문에 "학교버스"가 동네마다 들어갈 수 없었고. 그럼으로 학생들이 학교에 가지 말라고 했다. 뭐니뭐니해도, 학생의 안전이 제일 중요한다고 생각 한다. 그래서, 모든 학교들은 일주일 동안 수업을 취소하기로 했다. 눈이 너무 많이 왔기 때문이다. 그때는 우리가 얼마나 기뼜는지 모른다! "눈의 천국"이라는 말 밖에 놀랐었다. 눈사람 만들기 뿐만 아니라, 재미있는 썰매타기도 많이 할 수 있었다. 공부는...하지 않았다. 하지만 한국에 수업이 위에 설명했던 취소되는 일이 별로 없는 것 같다. "학교버스"가 없는 것이 그런 이유라고 할 수 있다. 또한, 한국에 눈이 심한 것이 아니다. 한국은 수도권에 2014년12월1~3일에 눈이 왔지만 교통이나 대한 문제가 별로 없는 것 같았다! | Winter Recollection: "Winter Vacation, Round Two" Today I was reminded of a pleasant winter memory from my childhood. I was born in the USA and was in elementary school there in February 1996. At that time, we students suddenly got a "second winter vacation". How could it have happened? Because a whole lot of snow fell. Actually, more than three feet of snow fell, which we have to say is a lot. Normally, we got 1-2 weeks of vacation at Christmas time, but this was February, so we can call it "1995-6 Winter Vacation, Round Two". Snow quickly piled up on our city's streets. School buses could not go into any neighborhoods because of the snow. Therefore, students were told not to go to school. Students' safety is, after all, thought to be the most important thing. All the schools decided to cancel classes for a week because of the snow. What joyful news this was to us students! We played outside in the "winter wonderland". We not only made snowmen but also could enjoy a lot of sledding. As for studying...we didn't do any of that. In South Korea, though, it seems to me that there are almost no days on which school is cancelled like this. We might say that the reason for this is that Korea has no school buses. Additionally, in Korea snow is not a serious problem. In South Korea's capital area from December 1st to 3rd, 2014, snow fell but there seemed to be almost no disruptions at all to transportation or such things. |
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