Just two weeks ago, Americans celebrated Labor Day, which traditionally marks the end of summer. But the weather is still warm and summer is in full-swing here in San Diego! Because we are still enjoying the late summer sun and activities, we thought we would ask our students what they think of summer. The responses were beautiful! So many of our students had heart-warming stories about childhood summer memories or hilarious stories about vacations-gone-wrong. Choosing a winner was incredibly difficult, but we finally chose Sienna from Level 9. Sienna’s essay on summer is beautifully organized and uses great connectors (moreover, nevertheless, etc.) and has some very interesting facts about summer in Korea! We hope you enjoy her essay as much as we did. Thank you, Sienna, for such a great writing contest entry!
Summer
By Seo Yoon J from South Korea
Which season do you like most? For me, summer is the most fantastic season. Summer is San Diego and Korea are somewhat different and also have similar features. Therefore, I want to introduce the summer in Korea; the weather, the most popular activities, and foods.
The summer season in Korea starts in July, and the temperature is getting cooler after the last week of August. There is intense heat during these months. Generally, temperature goes up by 35 degrees in the afternoon. The oppressive afternoon heat tires me out every day. Moreover, because Korea is located on a peninsula, it is extraordinarily humid in summer. Also, you can easily hear weather forecasts about typhoons.
Even though the weather is a little bit irritable, there is a reason why I do like the summer most. It is the best season for a bunch of activities. Most of the people take a vacation during this season. While they do’t do to work, people go to beaches, valleys and waterparks. Also they enjoy summer sports such as rafting, windsurfing, and jet skiing. Especially, there is a famous beach called “Haewoon dae”. This beach has been designated by Guinness Book as the beach which has the most beach umbrellas. According to Guinness Book, there are 8,000 beach umbrellas.
Last but not least, we enjoy many kinds of tasty foods. In Korea, there is a phrase which says “fight fire with fire.” It means that we can endure the hot weather by eating hot and spicy food. Therefore, most Koreans eat many kinds of hot and spicy food in summer. Lastly, the same as San Diego, summer is the season of the best fruits in our country. Above all, I like a kind of punch which is called “Hwa chae”. We make this by ixing pieces of watermelon, cider, and juice.
As I pointed out on top, there are some differences between summer in Korea and San Diego. Nevertheless, there are also many similarities. I want to find and enjoy the special things which could be found only in San Diego in this last part of summer.