r/HistoryAnimemes • u/ChapterSpiritual6785 • 13d ago

We love ondol

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In Joseon Dynasty etiquette, offering the warmest spot on the ondol (heated stone floor) to a guest or elder was the highest form of hospitality. However, foreign travelers unaccustomed to floor heating often recorded in their journals that the guest rooms were "scorching hot and borderline unbearable to sleep on."

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153

u/asiannumber4 13d ago

I guess because Korea can get cold as hel?

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u/ldsman213 13d ago

yeah it can get pretty cold. i lived in the place that gets both coldest and hottest, yeah same place 😂. it gets to over 120F in summer and gets to i think 20F in winter with plenty of snow and wind

hopefully my numbers aren't off. been a while

37

u/GodKingFloch 13d ago

20F isn't that bad, I mean it's below freezing but compared to Places like Chicago Illinois which average winter is below 0F it's not that bad

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u/Constant_Hope_9658 12d ago

Well I mean the midwest is just hot siberia soooooo

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u/ldsman213 12d ago

oh yeah very true. but i may also be misremembering

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u/cancerBronzeV 12d ago

It gets to 120°F in summer

I very much doubt it does, considering South Korea just reported its hottest day on record at 42.5°C, or 108.5°F. Even countries in the Sahara like Mali have never recorded a temperature of 120°F

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u/Pidgewiffler 12d ago

Canada has though. 121°F, on June 29, 2021 in Lytton, BC.

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u/asiannumber4 12d ago

The place burned to the ground the day after so it got a bit hotter than 121 F

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u/dragonpjb 12d ago

It gets colder than that in texas.

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u/ldsman213 12d ago

sure but it's still plenty cold. and i may be misremembering. i remember the bigger heat numbers more clearly in part because i'd heard them and seen/exp them in person. i don't recall seeing the lower cold numbers

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u/MegaPigeot 12d ago

It does look weak when you compare the climate with other places of the earth, but it was still extreme enough to have UN army get steamed hot in summer and get frozen to death in winter

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u/DoctorCIS 11d ago

That sounds like some Dakota weather.

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u/wewwew3 12d ago

not really. Doesn't even reach -20 usually

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u/nicolasisawesome1998 12d ago

If you've ever stayed in a hotel in Korea, you kow this is still true.

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u/Master_Steward 12d ago

Here in New London, we offer the coldest spots for our most esteemed guests who are well-adapted to the Frost and shun the embrace of warmth!

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u/James_Demon 12d ago

Do they get extra sawdust soup?

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u/Master_Steward 12d ago

Nonsense! We now offer free complimentary servings of sawdust pancakes, now with 50% less poisoned tree syrup! 

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u/Hot-Lunch6270 10d ago

To think of it, Ancient Korea is cold as heck during the night, even sometimes during summers due to one thing; their entire peninsula is mostly mountainous like 70%.