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I received the following email:
Mum heard that a typhoon struck Korea. She worried about you. Please can you contact to let us know that you are OK.
Going back about two days, here's what happened:
Brett and Rachel, two teachers of high repute, were leaving, so the plan had existed for about a month to go out for a final bash, them being the party animals they are. On the Friday, we were informed by many reliable sources that a typhoon was heading our way. The afternoon of the Saturday, walking to work, it was extremely windy and slightly rainy. By the time we finished, the rain was pouring down blasted nearly horizontally by the wind (or so it seemed at the time), so Marc and I took a taxi home.
Leaving about half an hour later, having changed into Typhoon clothes (as little as possible, so it would dry fast. In my case, sandals, shorts, underwear and a t-shirt. All this under a big green raincoat. If you've ever wondered what someone looks like after standing in a typhoon for ten minutes looking for a taxi, today is your lucky day! Here's Brett, Rachel and Carl looked like:
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On to eat Korean food, called Tak-Gal-Be, which was cooked on the table in front of us - low tables, no chairs. Chicken in a spicy sauce, with lettuce, rice noodles and what looked like nettles. The beer made a first appearance for most, and as obvious from above, a second for Carl.
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After food, on to dong-dong-ju. A potent Korean blend served in a tea-pot, and drunk from small brown bowls. I stuck with beer, having tried to go head to head with dong-dong-ju twice, and come away the loser on both occasions.
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After annoying many Korean people with our loud western way (or in some cases our even louder antipodean way), we moved on to Noribung. This involves choosing a song in the big yellow book, entering the number on the keyboard..........
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And singing, singing, singing!
 
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(Brett's t-shirt looks dry! How did that happen?)
On a statistical (and serious) note, the typhoon was the worst to hit Korea in 43 years, the east coast of the country receiving record amounts of rain (80 odd centimeters in an hour). First reports said 80 people were missing or dead, and the numbers were still climbing last time I looked. Daejon got off quite lightly, with the South and East of the country bearing the full brunt of Typhoon Rusa's wrath.