Extras
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Chicken Wings in Itaewon
Long overdue trip to Itaewon. My American taste buds have missed spicy wings that aren’t also secretly sweet. These chicken wings pass the 🇺🇸 taste test 👍 (My Korean friend: it’s my first time trying buffalo sauce. It’s… sour.)
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The “Bravery” of Moving Abroad
When you’re raised to be an independent thinker, is it really that shocking when you take an uncharted path?
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I passed TOPIK Level 2!
I am now officially and nationally recognized as a “high beginner”. Of course, it’s not until level 3 that I will be able to “carry out daily routine, with fair use of public facilities and able to socialize without significant difficulty.” Still some difficulties now but not forever.
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To Mary Oliver
My favorite poet passed on January 17. To honor her legacy, I’d like to share her most widely beloved poem “Wild Geese”: You do not have to be good.You do not have to walk on your kneesfor a hundred miles through the desert repenting.You only have to let the soft animal of your bodylove what it loves.Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.Meanwhile the world goes on.Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rainare moving across the landscapes,over the prairies and the deep trees,the mountains and the rivers.Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,are heading home again.Whoever you are, no matter…
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Jeju Island, Part 2
I visited the Jeju folk village which is a recreation of 1800s style Jeju living. As it’s not tourist season, there were few visitors and at times I was the only person around with only Joseon era mannequins to keep me company. Only mildly creepy. Later I found a petting zoo with an emu and goats and around the corner were real women shucking corn that were not a part of the exhibition. But we smiled and nodded at each other in a fitting end to a strange but informative experience.
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Jeju Island
I’m currently on an island for a mini break before teacher training begins. After eating with a new hostel friend we parted ways and I entered one of the many hipster cafes on this side of town. As I waited for my tiramisu cafe latte two older men, decked in the classic middle aged gear of a fishing vest and hiking shirt, waved hello at me. I waved back and said in Korean “aren’t I pretty?” with appropriate cutesy hands. They were momentarily shocked into silence and then conspired amongst themselves, countering in English with “American?”. I responded in Korean “Yes I’m American” because someone on this island is going…