"Dust In The Wind"

Korea had it's first Asian Dust storm this weekend. Asian Dust, or "Yellow Dust" is a springtime East Asian event that usually begins in the deserts of China or Mongolia. The easterly winds then bring all of that sand and dust towards Eastern China and Korea, prompting health alerts by the Korean Meteorological Association.


I have never witnessed this before since I arrived in the early summer last year. I was always intrigued when reading about this even as I expected that the dust would get all over you and feel like it is impossible to breathe.

To my surprise, I didn't really notice the effects. The sky became a dark yellowish brown, and people covered their mouths as they walked on the streets. I expected to have to do the same or wear masks like others did.

We had plans to play badminton in the park on Saturday, but due to the dust and the forecast for rain, we chose instead to stay indoors and go see a movie. We picked up some snacks, and enjoyed Alice in Wonderland in 3D.

The movie is pretty dark and a little disturbing (but that IS Tim Burton for you - not my favorite director...) The 3D effects were not that noticeable except for about 2 or 3 scenes. I wasn't impressed. The glasses also make the movie seem darker and the images seem less sharp than watching a normal film, especially when quick motions are added. I even took off my glasses in the beginning of the film and noticed that the 3D effect wasn't that prominent during that portion of the movie. It was also a lot brighter and I caught more details. I still think 3D needs to improve a lot for films like this.

Samsung is making 3D TV's now, and I wouldn't rush out to buy them - especially since you have to wear glasses to watch TV. What if you have company over and only a couple pairs of glasses? (which I hear will cost about $150 a pair!) I guess you can always turn the 3D effect off, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

I wouldn't recommend the movie for little kids due to some violence and scary scenes. But there is no obscene language in it, and it has some cute parts as well that make you laugh.

All in all, a relaxing weekend.

Tax season is upon me and I am getting a bit worked up about what I have to do differently this year. Since I am not using Turbo Tax for once, this will make things even more interesting I'm sure.

Korea's tax system seems to be easier - at least for teachers. The school does their taxes, and basically has to send in the information to the government. That's it. All teachers have to do it bring in some receipts if needed, and other paperwork, but the administrative office does everything else. Why can't the US be like that!?