So I recently bought some
whitening cream for the spots on my skin. I had always imagined myself buying
that sort of cream while I was in my forties frantically trying to maintain my trophy
wife appearance. But instead I’m trying to erase the damage done by pollution
(and less than healthy eating) in Seoul. It's become apparent that growing up as a Canadian (and surrounded by pristine lakes and fluffy wildlife) that I have had no idea what true pollution does to a person.
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| Figure A: She may look happy, but I'm sure not |
My most recent reaction to Seoul pollution started with little
sun spots on my face. Initially I thought they were freckles brought on by the
sun, but they never seemed to fade during cooler weather. So now my face looks somewhere between my grandmother's hands and this nicely photoshopped lady (Figure A).
Living in Seoul has been rough on my body. It seems
like every season has a new problem waiting for me. During my first summer, I ran into
acne for the first time in my life (middle school was kind to me). This summer
I had my first large case of some sort of dermatitis on my hands. Of course I somehow managed to get my hands into contact with some potent
glue and caused some damage to my fingers (which will eventually go away?).
Sadly, most of the damage has been dealt to my lungs. I now have experienced breathing problems
that have ranged from pain in my lungs to an assortment of throat and nasal issues. At times
I have been barely able to sleep due to coughing fits caused by a season change. During
the winter and spring, I constantly have the symptoms of a cold (congestion
& sore throat), but never an actual full blown cold. And the most frustrating part? These issues all seem to have a month-long life. Acne? Let's enjoy that for a month! Coughing so badly that you can't sleep? A month full of fun!
But what really frightens me the most about the pollution is
not the permanent haze around Seoul,
but the ‘Yellow Dust’. Yellow Dust is a natural phenomenon during spring,
when the spring winds pick up the sand from the Gobi desert (west of China), then
blows the sand across China, through Korea, and past Japan. Because of the massive
amount of pollution over China, the Yellow Dust picks up particles of toxic
chemicals and toxins which not only hurt people, but damages buildings as
well. There is nothing quite like seeing yellow clouds and seeing them so low that they block
out half of the buildings. A literal yellow fog of poison.
It’s frightening, and I can't imagine seeing my country dealing with the same things. Canadians may learn about pollution through government commercials (House Hippos!) and science, but we’re lucky enough to be ignorant to the subtle damage from pollution. Needless to say, when I get home I’ll be sure
to get my porcelain skin back, but I sure as hell will try my best to take care of my country.
