This morning I brought a can of Trader Joe's chai tea latte mix into school to try and finish off with my colleagues. It's Lucy's last day at Namcheon and I wanted to share it with her particularly. The last time I brought something in, it was the candied ginger my mom sent for Christmas. It… Continue reading Dangerous Chai
During my seventh day of winter camp Mr. Jo came in and invited me to have lunch with the rest of the staff keeping the school running during the winter vacation. "You know yukgaejang?" he asks. "Gamjatang?" I ask quizzically. This is like me saying to a Swede "have you had American beef stew?" and… Continue reading Yuk Gae Jang 육개장
For the past two weeks I've been popping by my my main school to teach English to a handful of third and fourth graders for a couple of hours during winter vacation. On Mondays, I sit there with Eun Soo and Yeon Hwa, two 11 year olds who couldn't be more different, and strain to… Continue reading Winter English Camp
IT'S UNDENIABLY fall now. The afternoons have that sideways light that extends twilight by giving us a premature dusk. This is my favorite time of year at home. I like the cooler breeze and to dress in layers. With all of the change that autumn brings, layers help me feel prepared. Yesterday I was at the park… Continue reading Autumn
TWICE A WEEK I TAKE an infrequent bus to the outskirts of Jecheon to a little neighborhood called Geum Seong. Sometimes I leave early enough to buy fruit or yogurt for breakfast from my corner grocery where the bus scoops me up in a cloud of diesel fumes. Today, the grocer scans my water bottle with his… Continue reading Morning Commute to Geum Seong
I WISHED WE HAD a guide for this trip because Guinsa was mysterious and we couldn't read any of the Chinese inscriptions beneath gargoyles or in front of important entrances or at the burial mound of the temple's founder. Neither MJ nor myself read anything on Guinsa before we took the bumpy bus ride out of town toward the… Continue reading Guinsa – 구인사
ON THE DAY I schedule kite making for my summer camp kids it’s pouring. During a break in the showers we hurry outside to see if we can catch a breeze. The last time I flew a kite I was maybe a little older than some of my students. I was at the… Continue reading Let’s Go Fly a Kite
GOSU CAVE IN DANYANG, Cheongchungbuk-do is one of the largest cave networks in South Korea. Several of the rock formations inside look like animals and there is a statue-like resemblance to the Virgin Mary veiled in mist from a small waterfall nearby. Along the metal hand railings water drips from the walls still forming the… Continue reading Gosu
Last Friday while walking home from work, the first significant pang of homesickness hits me square. Maybe it was the nagging fact that I couldn't get a breath of fresh air, unscented by the incessant yellow dust that lingers throughout the day. Or maybe it was the signs I couldn't read. Or the racing cars… Continue reading Beer, Chicken & Bed
