How to beat the heat

By Park Moo-jong

The peninsula is boiling, if I may be allowed a little exaggeration. It's getting hotter day by day for sleepless nights. Some people draw it strong: "It's like sitting in a sauna."

Which expression would best describe the ongoing heat wave that "will continue" toward possibly the end of next month, according to the weathermen?

Scorching, sizzling, sultry, sweltering, smoldering, burning, flaming, igneous or torrid, etc ...? This is not a vocabulary test for Korean students.

The best Korean word to express a scorching heat may be "jjim-tong deowi" meaning, translated literally, "steamer's heat."

Immediately after the annual rainy spell ended last week a little early, the heat wave is scorching the entire nation, pushing the mercury up to 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F) in Daegu and 33 degrees C (93 degrees F) in Seoul, Tuesday.

Many Koreans got to think that they are living in a subtropical climate like that of Southeast Asia due to the global climate change.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has been already busy sending text messages to all the mobile phones to warn against the heat wave, asking the people to "mind your health," among others.

Media outlets are no exception. They are carrying diverse news stories about how to cope with the heat wave one after another, quoting doctors and experts. A click will find floods of information.

It has been an ordeal for many who have tossed and turned during "tropical nights" as the weather office defines them when the lowest temperature of the day goes no lower than 25 degrees C or higher.

There could be no way but to give up counting the number of sheep and instead go out in search of cooler places like well air-conditioned shopping malls or movie houses. It is not that simple to run an air-conditioner at home through the night due to the higher electricity charges.

A TV newscaster said at the start of her evening news show, "It's really a hot day. How did you pass your day today? There will be sleepless nights for many. Don't try to avoid the heat, but challenge and enjoy it." She was working in a well air-conditioned news room.

Doctors and experts, quoted by newspapers and TVs, recommend the following ways: Drink plenty of water, even though you are not thirsty; dress in lightweight, light-colored cotton clothing; avoid the midday heat; and do not engage in vigorous activity between noon and 5 p.m. They seem to be teaching your grandma to suck eggs or teaching fish how to swim.

To date, the heat wave this season is not that intense compared to the summer of 1994 when the metropolitan area baked under its highest temperature in 90 years ― 38.4 degrees C (100.8 degrees F) on July 24 ― and the mercury broke the 30-degree mark on 24 summer days.

At that time, the smoldering heat pushed the temperature to as high as 39.4 degrees C (102.8 degrees F) on July 13 in Gangneung City, Ganwon Province, eclipsing virtually all official records.

Yet, don't worry. Koreans have their own traditional wisdom to overcome the summer heat. It may sound strange to foreigners but Koreans like it hot in summer. Koreans love to eat hot food like "samgyetang," a traditional chicken soup with "insam" (ginseng), in a sweat during the dog days of summer and some enjoy "bosintang," dog (not pet) meat soup.

Spicy food comes side by side with hot dishes. It might be hard for foreigners to understand why Koreans enjoy hot and spicy food in hot weather. But old habits die hard.

Such a custom is the source of a famous traditional idiom, "iyeol-chiyeol" meaning "like cures like" or "set a thief to catch a thief," although if translated literally into English, it means "beat the heat with heat."

In fact, doctors agree that spicy food triggers the heat receptor in the mouth making the eater sweat, which cools him or her down from within. Koreans are raised to eat hot food in the summer and thus feel cool. This may be the proof of Koreans' unique physical constitution.

Then, do Koreans hate cold food in summer? Never. They also enjoy cold food, too, represented by "naengmyeon" or cold noodle, made of buckwheat and sweet potato starch. This food may cause a stomach disorder. But Koreans have been wise to put hot and spicy mustard and vinegar into it before eating to prevent the digestive organs from being over-cooled.

Therefore, on a sizzling summer afternoon, warm teas with less caffeine are recommended to help beat the heat rather than soft drinks such as cola, according to doctors, of course.

However, this hot and humid weather will continue, at the longest, for three to four weeks. As every flow has its ebb, the season will turn to fall as a matter of course. As time passes, fall will set in.

We know the burning summer sunshine promises a bumper harvest of grains and fruits and the cool breezes will soon refresh people exhausted by this summer heat.

It largely depends on us whether or not we feel the heat. Watching many people sweat while doing their jobs outdoors under the scorching heat may help us forget the heat for a moment, though.

Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.