Yes, it’s that time of year again–the advent of Chinese Yellow Dust season, when dust blowing from the Gobi desert sweeps across not only China, but South Korea and Japan as well. The Korean Meteorological Administration issued a dust warning for the country, and I, not thinking about the dust until afterward, jogged outside today for about 30 minutes between classes. I probably inhaled 20 pounds of the stuff. You could hardly see the nearby mountains because of the haze; it’s as bad as a Montana forest fire. A former Chinese Prime Minister predicts that the capital city of Beijing will have to be abandoned in a few decades due to the advance of the Gobi desert.
Not much else happening here. The cherry blossoms are very near to blooming, so I’ll post some photos of their beauty as soon as they open up. Baseball’s Opening Day saw the mighty Yanks knock off Boston. Unfortunately, Rivera blew a couple of saves–that’s rather worrisome. Should be a fun season, though. Since I signed up for the MLB.com game feeds, I’ll be able to see most of the games. My brother Randy, with nothing better to do, keeps sending me taunting emails about the Yanks, which I refuse to respond to. I don’t think he has a favorite team–the former Yankee fan, now a screeching turncoat, only seems to root against the Yankees, but not FOR anyone else. He joins the ranks of untold thousands in that futile endeavor.
The big earthquake in Indonesian waters a little bit back brought this email from my friend Palm on Ko Sukorn in Thailand (I edited out some of his fractured English grammar and spelling for clarity):
How are you, Ron? Hope you are good. For me now, I am sick.
Do you know about earthquake. I am afraid very much. And every body
gone to the mountain again. Now, I sleep with my mother every night.
Because, I am afraid tsunami, Ron. And I am thinking tsunami is not come.
And what about you? You saw earthquake or not? In sukorn no have tourists and it’s raining every day.
Geez, I really feel for those people. If you’re going to take a vacation in Thailand this year, go to Ko Sukorn. You’ll love it for its beauty (though there are more beautiful beaches in Thailand), but you’ll want to stay because of its people. More later.