A4 Acid Rain

Koreans are quick to pull out their umbrellas at the slightest hint of rain. I thought carrying an umbrella was more work than it was worth for this morning's semi-drizzle. When I arrived at work (wetter than expected), a coworker explained it to me. Seoul rain is acid rain. Particularly on a day like today, when the rain is just beginning, the drops are loaded with nasties that no smart Korean wants on their skin, hair, or clothes. 


When I first moved here, one of my students asked me for an A4 paper. I had no idea what he was talking about. When I realized he just wanted a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper, I felt a little stupid. It occurred to me the other day that "8 1/2 x 11" now sounds like a really long and dumb name for a thin, little piece of paper. It's the little things....


My apartment building charges an elevator fee, and so I feel obligated to use it as often as possible. I'm not paying a stair fee. 

Comments

  1. Mark ZMay 19, 2010 at 5:32 AM

    I had exactly the same experience with Seoul rain and not carrying an umbrella. I still never really did though, cause I just figured they were being super paranoid about it, like with masks and swine flu.

    Also, A4 is not actually 8.5x11, it's way cooler and geekier than that! It's a big longer than 11 in, so that the ratio of the short side to the long side is 1:the square root of 2. That way, when you cut it in half, the ratio of the new short side to the new long side is still exactly 1:the square root of 2. So you can scale pages up and down the A series of papers--A3 is exactly the size of two A4 pages set next to each other along the long side, and A2 is the size of two A3 pages, etc. Isn't that awesome? :D It's like the metric system--way cooler, and everyone uses it except us.

    --Mark teacher

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