My wife wrote another interesting blog entry for your reading enjoyment.  She’s right…things could always be worse!  They could always be better too.  Her thoughtful entry is a refreshing change from my meandering musings.

Have you noticed that weather really has an impact on our moods?  Every time I feel sorry for myself for enduring another cold winter day in Seoul, I check CNN for the temperature in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  In Ulaanbaatar, today’s high is 12F (-11C), and the low is -21F(-29C).  THAT is cold!  Some of our friends are currently serving in Ulaanbaatar for a two-year tour, and they are enduring true hardship.  The spouse is a very adaptable lady, but last time I heard, she is not having that great time there.  And that was during summertime!  My thoughts go out to her family as well as the can of Godiva Hot Cocoa that I am sending them for Christmas.

 

After Ulaanbataar, I like to check the weather in Shenyang, China.  Shenyang almost became our next post.  Had we bid it one spot higher on our list, we very well could be heading there soon.  So it’s a “could-have-been” place.  Aside from hardships such as pollution, Shenyang is also not a city best known for its weather.  Today Shenyang’s high is 25F(-4C) and low is 5F(-15C).   Still too cold to do anything outside.

 

Usually by now, my mood would improve and my complaints would subside.  In comparison, today’s high in Seoul is 38F(3C) and low 26F(-3C).  I am thankful for being in Seoul. 

 

This self-comforting technique seems to work well for me.  So next December when we are in Paraguay enduring the summer heat, I will be sure to check CNN often for Riyadh, Kuwait city, or Cairo, for their summer temperature, of source.  Any other suggestions?

Very true!  I rarely ponder the weather.  It doesn’t affect my mood much, although I don’t like the frigid cold or sweltering summer days.  Seoul isn’t known for good weather, but it’s not bad considering the weather in other Asian locales.  Of course, the weather in U.S. cities is generally better than it is in Asia, in my humble opinion.  South America is a different story.  I’m under the impression that South America generally offers wonderful weather.  Paraguay will be very hot in the summer (November – February) and warm in the winter (June – August) , and it doesn’t have four seasons that I enjoy.  That’s OK…we can always find comfort in our pool!  Yes, we will have a pool, one of the nice little perks of life overseas in an exotic locale.