

My daughters need to visit South Korea – their grandparents’ homeland. I think they’d love it.

“Did you know that King Sejong invented the Korean alphabet?” My father asked.
“Yes, and he wanted to make it accessible to the poor, uneducated people,” I added.
“Oh! You knew that!”

Growing up as a Korean-American girl in Davenport, IA, I never dreamed that Korean food or culture would ever be popular…

I logged into a computer “bahng” in Seoul many years ago. I felt free and walking around the country of my ancestors was thrilling.

This is not sushi. It’s kimbap.

He grew up in South Korea during the Korean War. I was hoping to hear his entire story. But I am left with bits and pieces.

“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”
From Kahlil Gibran’s “On Death”

“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.”
Zenrin Kushû