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An Ear for Accents
ㄲ is my only love.
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March 28, Blooming
I have been writing and rewriting the same post all this week but have officially swept it away due to increased rambling spurred by lack of human contact. For all our sakes, it has been deleted. I woke up this week in the middle of the night with a strange allergic reaction. Still on cold medication and not wanting to spend days with a burning eye, I returned to the nice clinic. The doctor was wearing a mask but looked deep into my eyes (to inspect them) but it still felt profoundly intimate. (Later on a walk a woman would turn to stare at me and I would feel seen,…
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Just Half – Translation Fun
Another soul destroying ballad? Yes, please.
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March 18, Magpie Interlude
One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy
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March 17, Madness
Why didn't I see this coming?
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March 16, Last Day of “Telecommuting”
I know you hear me wax poetic about Chungju, the city where I did my orientation but I want you to understand why. And I’m grateful for the city, and was truthfully worried about being placed elsewhere. Now I’ve had my fill of convenience and want to hear birds, breathe cleaner air, even if that means what to some are unimaginable sacrifices. Maybe city living is for the young: they say I was born old. My apartment is nestled between other industrial grays and grim 80s brick; there’s only one blip of day that sunlight shines unobstructed between the buildings and into my room. The only signs of wildlife are…
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March 15
I’ve been riding what feels like the edge of a cold for a week now: fatigue, sore throat, gritty eyes. Obsessively I take my temperature but with no fever and no cough, there is no indication I have the virus. I suspect it’s another cold or sinus infection that is taking its sweet time to develop. Just come at me already! I’m not sure where I could even get sick: I’ve left my house four times in the last week and only two of those involved meeting someone else. Part of me suspects that my apartment is making me sick— Korean flats are known for mold and terrible plumbing. Coupled…
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March 13
A song for your Friday.
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March 12, Introspection II
En route to the gym, I ran into two of my grade four boys, Lotteria soda cups in hand. They recognized me even with a face mask and said “oh! Hello”. “뭐야? 복싱 해요? 지금?” What’s that? You’re boxing? Now? “네 네” Yes. “보고 싶다.” I miss you, I told them, much to their confusion. I’ve been alone too long! “열심히 복싱 해요!” Have a good boxing workout! I said, and I think with weird word order but eh, gets the point across. “운동 열심히 하세요.” Have a good workout, they replied. I heard them exclaiming about our chance meeting as they headed upstairs to boxing and I down to…
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March 10, Introspection
There are moments I've had the honor to observe at the intersection of my foreignness and my assimilation.