A Room with a View

Our apartment doesn't have double-glazing, but instead a double window, one layer of which is frosted glass - allowing for some privacy. It's been sufficiently cold during the winter months that the windows have only been opened a fraction, but it became quite warm over the weekend, and for the first time since October we opened the window fully to let in some slightly cooler air.

I know it's far from the greatest view in Busan, but one of the first things I appreciated when I came here was being able to gaze out of the window towards the nearby mountain, aerial cabling not withstanding. But when I looked out yesterday, I realised that in the time since we last had the window open, a new high-rise building has started making its way upwards, bringing with it the prospect that in another few weeks what little of the skyline is still visible will disappear. It's disappointing, but that's the pace of progress in Busan, where every other street in our area seems to have some major construction work going on.

Another long forgotten feature of having our window open was the noise outside on the street below. After a relatively quiet winter I think I have a summer of listening to drunk Koreans singing while fumbling their way home - apparently from about 5pm every evening.