For ever and for ever when I move

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.

Letting pictures speak louder than words: my weekend in review.

Hyang Temple at Sunrise on Turtle Island, Jeollanam-do, South Korea

Breakfast after the 6am hike: seafood fermented bean curd soup. My favorite. Amazing. Jeollanam-do, South Korea.

Boats at Yeosu Harbor, Jeollnam-do, South Korea.

Geomundo Island, a two hour boat ride from Yeosu: mid-morning hike to the lighthouse. Jeollnam-do, South Korea.

Fresh fish breakfast after our morning hike on Geomundo Island, Jeollanam-do, South Korea.

Nangan Folk Village- Traditional houses where we slept one night. Jeollanam-do, South Korea.

Boseong Tea Fields, Jeollanam-do, South Korea.

Boseong Tea Fields, Jeollanam-do, South Korea..

Green tea infused with particles of gold. Jeollnam-do, South Korea.

I spent the weekend with my Korean friend, Sojung, and she let me stay the weekend in her apartment. We started the evening on Friday by feasting freely at her mother’s ddukbokki stand, after which we biked around a quiet park. We parked the bikes and sat on a park bench to drink one beer while listening to the frogs’ voices echo loudly through a drainage pipe. After some great conversation with each other, we biked happily back to her apartment.

The next night, after a rather frantic night in which I missed my bus home, we took advantage of another evening together and ate green tea and choco ice cream, watched an old Marilyn Monroe movie, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, and happily accepted a plate of cold spicy noodles around 2 am when her mom came home and joined us.

After my weekend with Sojung, I went on Sunday to Insadong, the neighborhood of Seoul most famous for art and traditional teahouses. Tuesday, May 10th is Buddha’s Birthday, and Insadong is where the biggest celebrations take place.

What I found was an incredibly happy day, light, full of sunshine, beautifully diverse with people from all over Asia, including, off the top of my head, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Tibet, Nepal, Laos, and on and on. Everyone had a smile on their face, there were lotus lanterns all around, bubbles, incense, music and traditional costumes.

It was really something lovely to see, so many colors and smells.

Concrete Jungles of Korea, Dongbae, South Korea

Folding paper into lotus lanterns, Insadong, South Korea.

Korean Buddhist Monks in traditional clothes, Insadong, South Korea.

Bubbles and traditional Korean drummers, Insadong, South Korea.

Small Korean butterfly child, Insadong, South Korea.

Painting station, Insadong, South Korea.

Line of lanterns, Insadong, South Korea.