Among my middle-aged peers, I stand out as somewhat unique: I stay closely attuned to youth culture, from music and fashion to their evolving slang. Perhaps this comes naturally because I teach and counsel young people, and I also try…
한국어 My Koreaphile friends, Lee Jae-myung (이재명) from the liberal Democratic Party won the presidential election here in Korea! It is a win for progressives around the world. Let me introduce you a little about Lee Jae-myung. He is someone…
Two bards have crossed paths to share their sorrow, lamenting a world that relentlessly pours down rain upon them, even as they leap skyward, to rise higher than anyone else. Rain, a recurring motif in their past songs, has often…
On April 4th, Yoon Suk-yeol, the former president who bewildered and angered Korean citizens on the night of December 3rd by declaring illegal martial law and sending storm troopers to the National Assembly (Korea’s version of Congress) to arrest Democratic…
One More Night, a soft city pop glow, is the most addictive listen on the Arirang album. At its core, it means exactly what the title suggests, just one more night. But it reaches beyond that. It isn’t only about…
I clearly remember the air in Seoul that day, what it felt like, what I was doing, when I first learned about the Sewol Ferry Disaster on April 16, 2014, and watched the live broadcast online. Maybe I remember it…
When the sunlight spills into the classroom after lunch and my students begin to drift, their eyes caught somewhere between sleep and attention, I don’t wait. I shift the air right away. I tell them to take out their phones…
Yesterday, after work, I met my closest ARMY friend Mai, who had come all the way from Switzerland. She is a polyglot, fluent in nearly ten languages, and one of the most genuine ARMYs I know. We first connected in…
As a lover of words, I’ve always admired RM’s writing. His ability to turn emotion into image comes through most clearly in Verse 3 of “Into the Sun,” which, to me, feels like the most poetic and poignant moment in…
