Alright, the adjustment tantrum is over. For now. I’m in the official apartment now- positioned right in the heart of the Siji neighborhood of Daegu. It’s fantastic. Just the feeling of having my own space again, the feeling of being grounded in one location, is a huge relief. Now that it’s all materializing I can’t … Continue reading »

I am a crusty ol’ hag who doesn’t want to change. I want to collect my entire life in trinkets, build a house from them, and stay in it forever drinking absinthe and talking to fairies. As Megan would say, I’ve been in a pattern of holding on. These are my own words, in her … Continue reading »

The Seomun Market is supposed to be the largest traditional market in S. Korea and I’m inclined to believe that since the place is practically it’s own world. On Saturday afternoons, this place was buzzing with fried food stands, soup stands, dumpling stands, bedding stores, clothing stores, jewelry stores, kitchen ware stores, etc, etc. The … Continue reading »

In Korea, people recycle. But it’s not like how we recycle back home in the U.S. where we have one bin for plastic bottles and another for general trash. Koreans separate everything and they do it meticulously. Plastic wrappers have one trash bin, plastic bottles have another, glass is usually washed and re-used, and paper … Continue reading »

I’ve been lucky so far. The most dangerous pit fall I have become victim to has been the rubber-band effect of retail therapy in a foreign country. My first few days in Seoul and Daegu, I hardly spent a penny. Even when visiting the famed Insadong shopping district of Seoul, I kept my wallet comfortably … Continue reading »

Korean hospitals are commendable. I have never had such an efficient and professional experience in a hospital before. The administrators are so well manicured in high heels and ties and shiny belt buckles. The doctors are ready and efficient and capable of either English or effective charades. I followed obediently behind Wonjangnim, sitting in one … Continue reading »

It is my fourth day in Korea and already I am feeling like my seams will come undone. I am sitting in the quiet yoga studio amid neutral colors and small ceramic cups of tea. I sit at the table, alone, sipping tea. There is nobody here and I am desperate for my cell phone, … Continue reading »

There’s a bullet train that goes some ridiculous kind of speed and there’s bibimbap and another goodbye and then I’m in Daegu and Megan is at the terminal with two men who will be my colleagues, or maybe my bosses, or actually she is not sure. One of them does turn out to be my … Continue reading »

The Goodbye: The goodbye just happened. At 5 in the morning, there’s only so much you can process beyond getting your life organized enough to fit on a plane. So I check to make sure my passport is in my bag. It is, but I check again five minutes later. And then five minutes after … Continue reading »