Look on the yellow dust, ye mighty, and despair!

Yes, folks, the dreaded yellow dust has made its first appearance of 2008--several months too soon.

For those of you who haven't heard of yellow dust (aka, Asian dust), it is not, contrary to popular belief, the antidote to Korea's ubiquitous self-whitener, but rather a meteorological phenomenon (with a dash of ecological disaster) that hits East Asia every spring. The dust is a result of seasonal winds sweeping from the Gobi Desert (think Mongolia) over parts of China, Korea, and Japan. Back in the day, yellow dust wasn't such a huge problem: the Gobi Desert itself was much smaller, and China's eastern seaboard was not yet, though it may have aspired to be, a festering stinkpot of industrial pollutants. Thankfully, by the time the dust reaches Seoul, most of the worst pollutants have shaken out (take that, Beijing!). Still, a fine layer of grit has never been and will never be a welcome addition to my lungs.

The good news is that the dust isn't too bad yet: at its worst, I'm told, it's like a sandstorm, but lately we haven't seen anything more than fog tinged with mustardy gray.

On another note, the last 36 hours have been bone-chillingly cold and damp. On the bright side, though, our students have been coming to class on time, as nothing aids student punctuality better than clammy, unheated halls.

PS: I promise a photo of the dust if it gets really bad.