KOREAN STREET STYLE #2

Koreans are fantastically photogenic. Whenever a camera is pointed in my direction I invariably look like a doofus, but Koreans seem to have a natural awareness of all their best angles. (One notable exception being the ajummahs, whose positions in the public baths are enough to give me nightmares.) Thus, when I asked some of Joe's students if I could take their photos, I didn't end up with a single bad portrait. Every one produced his or her own unique pose. A result of natural bodily grace or hours of practice in front of the mirror? I couldn't tell.

ON THE MOVE

The summer heat is starting to bear down on Busan, and I for one am ready to get out of Dodge. Luckily our summer plans will be taking us to more tropical climates, where warm temperatures and heavy rain are the ingredients for lush, green landscapes scattered with gold stupas. I'll be leaving for Thailand in mid-July to volunteer with Remember Nhu, an organization that aims to end child sex trafficking by caring for girls at risk of being sold into the sex trade.

A couple weeks later (after he gets done teaching Korean summer camp), Joe and I will meet up in Bangkok and (fingers crossed) get our visas for Myanmar. In case you haven't heard, Myanmar is on everyone's travel radar since democratic elections and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi took place this spring. We're hoping that by visiting for a few weeks during the off-season, we'll beat the hordes of backpackers bound to descend on the country this winter. Hands down, I'm most excited about seeing the monastery of the jumping cats. Yep, it's a real thing: Google it.

INTO THE WOODS

Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

-Wendell Berry, "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front"

We haven't found many quiet places in Korea. Granted, we're limited to the spots we can access by subway, bus, or walking (like Beomeo-sa, pictured above). There may very well be a temple in the woods that is just as quiet as it was a few hundred years ago, but the ones we've visited have all been crawling with snack vendors and fashionable hikers. Still, if you fight past the sightseers and step off the path, it's possible to take refuge in "the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years."