When the shops in Korea have more interesting books than food (they do have good food, but you can’t heat or toast a bagel at this place? kkk!) Then you don’t have bagels, “Bagelist”! LOL
New Friends are so easy to make in Korea.
At first, returning to Korea (to abide by Japan tourist visa regulations for Americans –only 90 days allowance and no working holiday visas– and to enable a future return to Japan, for the possible acquisition of a new one, and to visit a friend in Seoul and get a break from the stress of things—felt great.
On the flight, my new friends from Germany, Alexis and Sophia, who are doing internships in Japan, were great to talk to: travel, countries, Korea, Japan, black companies, my being framed at English Village, being an expat, the friendliness and sentimental nature of people outside the US and Germany, AI, physics, spaceflight, language, and more….
And then, on the gleaming transport train from Incheon to Shinyongsan was impressive, and wonderful, because I made more new friends–an older gentleman (who betrays his age, of course, by a decade, and his wife—who does the same—who offered me a seat… was a welcome return to a people I know, from 15 years’ living in Korea, years before. Being able to speak Korean, to a better smattering than min Japanese, allowed for a lively and heart-warming conversation with them and then with another couple of people, including a health spa owner and a mother and child…. to be continued (with more ideas, narrative and even video)…
Thank you for reading. I hope this finds you exceedingly well.
I was born in Brooklyn, in the middle of the NASA Gemini space Program era--which was on course for the Apollo program, aiming to land men on the moon. I watched Neil Armstrong make humanity's first step on the lunar surface. The space program left a lasting effect on me and inspired life-long interest and passion in me.
I was born a little more than 2 years after President John Kennedy was assassinated and a few years before Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was a time of tumult, but better manners, a gentler approach to one another (despite the prejudice being worked on by progressives-) little political correctness, no cancel culture and thicker skin & more opportunity for laughs, a time of fantastic television, austere and fact-based news delivered with brevity and sobriety and much superlatively stylish design. It was the beginning of Star Trek, Star Wars, and a few years on, personal computers, digital watches, hand-held electronic games and movies were still in theaters--not on our TVs--unless they were a little old. People paid more attention to books, from where trust is built with credibility we intrinsically see, competency earned and reflected and facts & expertise. One reason I am not apt to dabble in irrational conspiracy theories is I made many a trek to the local library, to read about stars, planets and astronauts, and to the local bookstore--no longer there--to find my favorite science fiction novels--to either read, or simply marvel at their covers, by Boris Valejo and Frank Frazetta--inspirations that would fuel my later entry into the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
I grew up in Long Island, worked and was educated there until I discovered New York City, then it was on to Boulder Colorado, The Mojave Desert, South Korea and now Japan. I have visited Mongolia, the Philippines, and England and hope to see the rest of the world--and maybe even beyond it.
I teach English as a Second Language, practice secular Buddhism and pay attention to philosophy, astronomy, spaceflight, aviation and human & species rights. I make art, poems and photography--and real friends, wherever I go--when I can.
Maybe our paths will cross; until then, enjoy my writing and pictures, and send me a note. Maybe we can have a cup of coffee someday, somewhere.
Thank you for reading.
I wish you love, peace, joy and enlightenment--sincerely--because you are sentient, and you suffer, too.
Carl Atteniese
Tokyo
View all posts by Carl Atteniese / 亜天二恵世万慈道
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