Yesterday (20th) was this year’s summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The length of the daytime was almost over 14 hours.
Since the day became longer and we start the day one hour earlier because of summer time, California’s evening is very bright these days. Today’s sunrise time was at 5:43AM, and sunset will be at 8:07PM. Since the sunset starts as late as 8PM, it will actually get dark starting at 9PM.
As the day is longer now, the everyday life of California residents is also changing. According to the Los Angeles Times, the length of the day is highly correlated with daily life, income, health, and sex life. The later the sunset is at, the later time people sleep at and the lower amount of income they get.
One of the pros of the summer solstice is that we can enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking and surfing even on weekdays after work. Office worker Daniel Kim (35) said, “It is still as bright as the morning at 6PM these days, so I even concern whether I can get out of work this early. I am enjoying a lot of relax time by sometimes going to Santa Monica after work and watch the sunset”. Ms. Choi Hwa-ja, who walks her dog every evening said, “I usually walk my dog in a rush when it is still bright, and then prepare dinner, but since the day is longer these days, I can take it easy and walk my dog without worries”.
On the other hand, there are also cons of the summer solstice. Some people have trouble as the biorhythm and one day cycle are different. Jamie Kim, who has two young sons said, “My kids usually go to bed at around 9PM, but they wouldn’t go to sleep these days because it is still so bright at 9PM. Before summer break started, they went to bed after 10PM and often overslept, so we had a war almost every morning”.
Julie Baek, office worker, also said that “After the June Gloom, I wake up earlier than before because the sunlight comes in to my room as early as 6AM. On weekdays, it is convenient because I can wake up early and get more time to prepare for work, but on weekends I can’t oversleep when I need to, so I recently changed my curtain to a dark color one to block out sunlight. They say after summer solstice, the day will become shorter, but still it will take one to two weeks for our bodies to follow that change”.
Rachel Jeong said that usually it is dark outside when she gets out of work, so she thinks she deserves to go home and relax. But since it is still too bright these days, she somehow feels the needs to at least do something and not go home and lay down, because she will feel like a “loser”.
In the meantime, the lethal heat will continue. On the 20th , Palm Springs’ highest temperature reached as high as 121 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the previous high of 118 degrees in 1929. Burbank also broke 2008’s record of 106 degrees with 111 degrees yesterday. In addition, Downtown’s 98 degrees and Fullerton’s 106 degrees also broke the record. Today (21th), the heat will drop to 80 to 90 degrees, but this temperature will continue until next week.
Original document available at http://www.koreadaily.com/news/read.asp?art_id=4369340
Translated by Audrey Joung
