This past Thursday, Seoul and the rest of the nation participated in an emergency blackout drill. From 14:00 - 14:20, all citizens and businesses were asked to turn off all the electricity and prepare for what they would do if there was indeed a power outage.
At school, my two co-teachers and I sat in the dark eating ice cream. Twenty minutes later we went back to our desks and resumed our work on the computers.
I don't know how one can really prepare for a power outage, especially for large-sized farms and businesses, a loss will be had no matter what, but I think the government wants to put the idea in people's heads that it is a possibility. We've had hardly any rain this year and the heat has been high for the last few weeks, so people have been turning on the ACs non-stop and earlier this year. As a result the national energy level is dwindling dangerously low. My school in an effort to preserve energy has made a
rule that the AC can't be turned on unless it is over 27 degrees
(C) (80.6 F) and between the hours of 11am and 2pm.
As a way to combat the heat, officials in Seoul have suggested a change to the office dress code. Check out the mayor of Seoul below, sporting his colorful, casual summer office wear. (Such a cute smile!) For the first time, according to BBC News, government workers have been given permission to come to work in shorts and sandals.
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| Seoul's mayor Park Won-Soon has promoted casual business for the summer, while Lee, Myung-Bak, the South Korean President, sweats it out in a black and formal suit below--typical business attire in SK. |
