Rainy Days and the comfort of Tea.
Summer thus far in Korea means grey days and rain, rain, rain.
Tonight it is raining steadily and I’m staying in, drinking my second cup of thick, green Kohyang mugwort tea. Something about it reminds me of Malt O’ Meal, hearty and thick. Comforting. Listen to the rain and the roar of cars as the tires scream through the puddles, flying past my apartment. My eyes are tired. Soft lamp and the darkness of night.
It is so nice to be relaxed with this job. Easy conversation with students, asking questions, forming sentences, jotting down correct phrases and words on scraps of paper. The teachers at school let me borrow the video camera for the next week and I walked around with it today. Students either strike an immediate pose or, in quick desperation, hide behind their hair, their flailing arms, their friends.
In extra class the students prepared messages for me and I filmed them.
“Teacher, I very very missing you. Teacher, don’t leave Korea. If you leave Korea, I am so sad. Oh, no! So very, very sad. Teacher, when you come back Korea? When you come back, call me. Teacher, I really very miss you.”
After the table of three second graders, we were all on the edge of tears. “Teacher, eyes, red! Teacher, no, don’t cry.” Wearing my emotions on the short, feminine sleeves of my blouse.
Finished developing another roll of film on Tuesday night. High temperatures in the makeshift bathroom studio, experimentation with exposure times, low quality film. Grainy and nostalgic.
Group of sophomore students at sports day. 여주여자고등학교, South Korea.
Buddha's Birthday in the rain, looking at the river. Yeoju, South Korea.
Buddha's Birthday, lanterns at Silleuksa Temple, Yeoju, South Korea.
Spring into Summer. Yeoju, South Korea.
Short walk to school, along the 남한강 river. Yeoju, South Korea.