Stephanie in Suwon

Dee wants me to die in a fire every time I say this but I am so happy that it’s finally cooling down outside. Seriously, after 3 solid months of extreme heat and humidity I am ready to kiss summer goodbye, a sexy french kiss with lots of tongue that will leave him begging for more so as to ensure his return at the appropriate time next year though. Yes, him. I’ve always thought of summer and winter as male and spring and autumn as female, although I’m not sure what this says about my views on gender. Dee? Thoughts? Summer and winter both being seasons of extremes while spring and fall remain more temperate, a slow shifting from one extreme to the other, cushioning us and controlling the transfer of the seasons. Being a female, I know that’s how most people see me, a restrained and judicious force of nature, soothing and reassuring. No? Maybe ever-changing and transformative, always ushering in one extreme or the other with little to no regard as to what people are actually ready for? S...

Walking home tonight, I was waiting to cross the street when a stray breeze ruffled the branches of a nearby tree, showering me with a fine coating of dust and debris. I was in the middle of thanking Mother Nature in the four-letter kind of way when I brushed a yellow leaf out of my hair and watched it fall to the ground. I stopped dead and looked at it. It’s the first one I’ve seen so far, and I know there will be more soon. Many more. Very soon. The seasons are changing once again here in Korea. From summer to fall. I’m watching the seasons change here again and I know that means I have been here, in Korea, for one full year. Now before you say anything, I’m not an idiot. (Shut up Angelo….) I realized and recognized this fact late last month and thought back with a reflected smile to my first week here, my first month here. How so many of the things I take for granted, that are common place to me now were shiny and new then, how so much seemed to shimmer with possibility and everythi...

Japan was nothing like I expected, but more than what I hoped for. It was expensive, tiring, and confusing at times. It was enlightening, humbling and thrilling as well. I was disappointed by the things I thought I would appreciate the most, and taken aback by things I expected to smile politely at. Tokyo was jarring. We arrived at night, well after dark, exhausted from a day of delayed flights, bad airline food, and a humidity that rivaled my first few days in Korea. The air was soupy, thick and wet. Yuck. Word to the wise, if at all possible, when traveling; try to NOT arrive at your destination after dark. It does nothing but confuse you of your surroundings and increases your sense of disorientation. We were up at dawn the following day, regardless, strolling through temples by 10am, breathing in the heady incense that permeated that air. We made our way to Shibuya crossing, and joined the oceans of people that swarm the street the second the lights allow. The fashion in Tokyo is a...