So I learned a new word this week: 단수하다, which means "to cut off the water supply." Since Sunday night, the water supply in my town of Gumi has been completely shut off (save for a few hours yesterday morning, when they drained our building of its remaining emergency supply). Apparently the dam that holds the town's water supply was damaged during construction work. However this construction work was related to the Four Rivers Project, something which has caused a lot of controversy in Korea (as both a waste of money and a potential environmental issue). Regardless of this problem's origins, it has been a big pain in the butt!
Luckily today, the town has been delivering water via fire truck. (see above) As you can see, people from my apartment complex emerged from their dry homes, only to wait in the rain (oh the irony) to fill their kimchi containers and any random buckets lying around with water. I waited with my host family for about an hour, we filled 3 kimchi containers, one plastic jug, and 2 food trash buckets. Under all the umbrellas were a bunch of un-showered frustrated Koreans. And frustrated they should be! In my town and in two surrounding towns as well, half a million people have been waiting for water, with no clear timeline being delineated. That means half a million people who can't flush their toilets, take a shower, clean their dishes, etc etc.
It looks like our neighborhood's water supply should be fixed by tomorrow afternoon, but that could change. Right now I'm waiting for my host sister to finish her cold bath. By the yelps that she's emitting, I'm not really looking forward to mine. Luckily the little host sister is returning from China tomorrow, so she doesn't have to deal with any of this. I was actually hiking in the mountains with friends Sunday into Monday (pics soon to follow), so I've only had to deal with this since yesterday afternoon. However, I still haven't taken a shower since Sunday night... ok, sponge bath time!! >_<
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