"I'm Singing in the (Radioactive) Rain"

My co-teacher warned me on Wednesday that I really should bring an umbrella to school the next day because it was going to rain..... radioactive rain .....

In fact, many teachers were murmuring about how the rain was going to be dangerous because of radiation could carry-over radioactive particles from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

Too bad the radiation isn't any more harmful than the radiation you get by flying (if even that)

But that didn't stop the citizens of Korea blowing things out of proportion (as usual) when it comes to health issues (Do you recall the H1N1 freak-out?)

I don't get this society sometimes. H1N1 was a big deal, true. In 2009, my school was so scared to infect or spread H1N1 that they canceled our annual school celebration/talent show. Yet, the didn't cancel school...where those kids see each other every day.

Koreans are scared to die in their sleep from fan death, that they are mandated by the government to put timers and labels on electric fans, so you don't fall asleep while the blades "cut up all the oxygen molecules and suffocate you in your sleep".

Yet, it's perfectly normal to see health hazards on a daily basis that aren't dealt with. Motorcycles driving recklessly on sidewalks, people smoking indoors in restaurants, extreme alcoholism, buses and taxi's whizzing through red lights, guys hanging off a roof with rope to paint the side of a building, electric wires  wrapped around poles so low that a children can reach them.

I love this country, but sometimes I just scratch my head about all the conflicting ways of thinking.

The rumors were so bad about this radiation that more than 130 elementary schools shut down (the government had to come out and reassure the public that everything is fine).

Parents were not happy as they fear for the safety of their children:

As per this AFP article:

Complaints from parents mounted on the website of Seoul city's education office, which refused to cancel classes and called for a calm response to the fears.

"Please order class cancellation. I'm worried to death about my kid and can't sleep," said one posting.

 I'm sure they're scared for their kids safety. I just wonder where that concern is while they're walking down the street letting their kid stray off in all directions. Or where that concern is when they let their kindergartener walk to his academy alone through the busy shopping areas around me. (Little kids are always running around without their parents).

(don't get me wrong there are plenty great parents out there. I'm just commenting on this land of opposites that drives me crazy from time to time.)

 Korean Parenting Fail