Fall back!

Britney does her part to get the word out.

Still busy. And unlike most of the rest of the United States, we in the Aloha State did not get an extra hour to sleep in, do our work, or otherwise procrastinate by watching the Hulu.

When I was living in Seoul nearly full time, daylight saving(s) time, mostly meant one thing: Every fall my mother would go from calling me at three o'clock in the morning to calling me at four o'clock in the morning, and every spring she would switch back to three o'clock.

Hillary Clinton once wondered how then-Senator Barack Obama would handle the 3 a.m. phone call. Kushibo handled it by groggily telling his mum to please learn the difference between a.m. and p.m. The "seventeen hours' difference" thing threw her off; I told her to just guess what time it was seven/eight hours ago and then add a day, and that's where I am.

Anyway, with the rest of the nation switching back to standard time, it will make it a little easier to call the East Coast of the US: They're now five hours ahead instead of six, and that means there's a larger window of time to do business with them after I get up in the morning.

It is sort of weird that out here in Hawaii, we're closer in time to Korea and Japan (essentially five hours' difference) than New York City, Washington DC, and the rest of the I-95 corridor for over half the year.

Anyway, fall back, as of 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 6 (the first Sunday in November). You won't need to spring forward (and give that hour back) until 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, March 11, 2012 (the second Sunday in March).

By the way, as I've reported before (here, here, and here), there has been some consideration given to Korea going on DST for half the year, but it is very unlikely to happen unless Japan agrees to do so as well. Unless the three parts of the United States closest to Korea and Japan and where Koreans and Japanese are likely to travel — Guam, Saipan, and Hawaii — also go on daylight saving time, it seems less likely it will happen.

Hawaii, incidentally, has given mulling over going on Daylight Losing Time.

above: Adjusting for Daylight Saving Time in England.
(recycled not-all-that-funny-the-first-time gag from here)

...

Spring forward, fall back asleep

above: This chart explains why people are
forced to drive to work in the dark every March.

In one minute, daylight saving time (DST) will have hit the Pacific Time Zone. PST (Pacific Standard Time) will make way for PDT (Pacific Daylight Time).

Unlike most of the rest of the United States, Hawaii does not observe DST, so the West Coast will be three hours ahead instead of just two. That means instead of waking me up at 6 a.m., my mother will be accidentally calling me at 5 a.m.

It also means that instead of flashing 12:00, my parents' VCR will flash 1:00.

above: Adjusting for Daylight Saving Time in England.

And now the East Coast will be six hours ahead instead of five, which narrows that window of opportunity during which you have to call New York or Washington numbers during their business hours while it's still yours.

The time difference between Seoul and Honolulu will remain five hours, minus one day.

South Korea and it neighbor in the same time zone, Japan, do not observe DST. The Blue House in South Korea has recently pushed to again adopt DST, but is not likely to do so if Japan does not.

In fact, most of East Asia does not observe DST.

[left: Among daylight saving, kite-flying, $100 bills, almanacks, and whoring with French girls, the almanack was the only thing Ben Franklin promoted that never really caught on.]

Korea to enact "summertime" if Japan does

That would be "daylight saving time" to those of us in los Estados Unidos. From the Korea Herald:

Korea still hopes that Japan will join its push to introduce daylight saving time (DST) this summer in a move aimed at saving energy, an official at the presidential office said Wednesday, according to Yonhap News.

"It is true that Japan's stance is one of various factors in deciding whether Korea will adopt the system," the official at Cheong Wa Dae said on the condition of anonymity.

Korea, which is actively staging a green growth campaign, is contemplating whether to set the country's clocks forward an hour in summer, probably from April till September, according to the official.

As far as I'm aware, Seoul and Tokyo made an agreement some time ago that they would go on DST only if the other did. Since, population-wise, it is mainly only Korea (North and South) and Japan that are in this time zone, and since the two have a high level of traffic going back and forth, as well as day-to-day business dealings, it would make things sorta messy if South Korea were to end up an hour ahead of Japan for half the year. The time difference between North Korea and the South or Japan, on the other hand, not that big a deal right now.