강화도 setting sun ( Taken with Instagram ) 
 What must I do to tame you ? asked the little prince . 
 You must be very patient , replied the fox . First you will sit down at a distance from me - like that - in the grass . I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye , and you will say nothing . Words are the source of misunderstandings . But you will sit a little closer to me , every day … 
 A number of years ago ( I think back in 2007 ) , I was gifted a copy of The Little Prince by one of my dearest and closest friends . At the time , I felt I was too busy , or not interested enough in the small , unassuming text . It would not be until years later I would finally read such a book that would profoundly change my life and challenge some of my basic conceptions of human emotion . 
 To be honest , I don ’ t know if that last sentence made any sense . It just sounded good at the time . Aside from my failed attempt at being witty with words , I want to take a moment to just … write . My resolution of a few months ago to write more often has fallen by the wayside . Yet in its stead another kind of adventure has begun for me . 
 Over a year ago , I saw a flower . Out of the whole garden , this flower radiated a bit more brightly to me than any others . Thus was the beginning . Nearly a year and a half later , that flower has revealed itself to be a beautiful rose . The time spent waiting and being patient has only helped us and brought us to the present moment . A moment outside of time … Eternity . It ’ s the time you have wasted on your rose that makes your rose so important . Time well wasted . 
 ‘ You must be very patient , ’ replied the fox . ‘ First you will sit down at a little distance from me - like that - in the grass . I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye , and you will say nothing . Words are the source of misunderstandings . But you will sit a little closer to me , every day … Maybe it went something like that . Maybe it ’ s going just like that . 
 As the s e c o n d s m i nuteshoursdaysweeksmonths pass , we come to discover more about each other . We come to tame one another . As I look to the future , I come to hope . I come to hope that one day ( and all the rest to come ) I can say this : 
 I ’ ve read a few books by Paulo Coelho these recent years , and always found some gems of inspiration , wisdom , or encouragement . Sometimes even just the expression of a feeling in words I could never string together in quite the same way . Here ’ s a few from The Alchemist 
 … in the depths of his eyes , my own beauty reflected . 
 … whoever you are , or whatever it is that you do , when you really something , it ’ s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe . It ’ s your mission on earth . 
 You have told me about your dreams , about the old king and your treasure . And you ’ ve told me about omens . So now , I fear nothing , because it was those omens that brought you to me . And I am a part of your dream , a part of your Personal Legend , as you call it . 
 “ A miracle is when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts . A miracle is when one plus one equals a thousand . ” ~ Frederick Buechner 
 Playing violin with my best friendPlaying / listening to acoustic guitarListening to classical guitarLooking at starsEnjoying a quiet momentReading Writing whatever comes to mindWatching moviesWatching p e opleExperiencingExploring new placesRelaxingBeing lazyStaying up lateDrinking / making homemade chai tea lattesDrinking Dutch Bros Iced Kahlua KickersDrinking Starbucks Iced Caramel MacchiatosEatingEating moreDoing ministryBeing with friendsWalking 
 s p o n t a n e i t y s e r e n d i p i t y i m a g i n e c r e a t e e x p r e s s r a n d o m u n i q u e n o s t a l giamemoriesprivatecurious 
 White noise As I sit in Starbucks playing Bejeweled Blitz , I realize that I hardly notice any of the multitude of conversations going on around me . Perhaps because they are all taking place in Korean … 
 However one of my goals for year three is to be much more proactive about learning Korean . I ’ m going to start a new approach that piqués my interest a bit more than just book / grammar work , so we ’ ll see how that goes ! My teacher said they are going to be more strict on me , as well . Hee . 
 Also of random note is that there ’ s a couple songs I ’ d like to learn on guitar - one such being “ Anyone Else ” from the Juno soundtrack . 
 While I was home on vacation , I decided to take a little more time to write . Whether I accomplish this by using one of my many ( partially filled ) journals , or online is yet to be seen … 
 I ’ ve been back in Korea for a little over 24 hours now and find that — like at home — some things change and some remain the same . Seems to be a constant in life : “ The only thing you can count on is change . ” Speaking of which , I have ₩ 400 in my pocket from Starbucks in 영통 that I meant to leave at my apt . I guess today l ’ m carrying some change of my own around ! 
 I ’ m currently at Starbucks near 광화문 , waiting to meet up for dinner and some adventuring . Some things change , some things stay the same ! I wore white today , hoping to fend off the heat , but unfortunate the humidity seeps in anyway . Haha . 
 When I get back to my apartment , I plan on : 
 * uploading pictures from vacation 
 * putting away the rest of my stuff that I scattered around my apt 
 * doing a smidge of shopping so as to have some semblance of food at home 
 * putting together a new playlist for my iTunes Now , just how much of that will actually get accomplished is dicey . I have a tendency to get distracted … Stay tuned for more updates ! 
 Yesterday I made the trip down to Ashland . It was partly just for fun , and to enjoy a kind of “ last day ” of driving around in my car , Flip - Flap and all . Also to pick up some “ last - minute ” things I ’ d been thinking about for awhile , but hadn ’ t quite gotten yet . The weather was great , the roads not too busy , and I was pretty stoked about the whole thing . It doesn ’ t take much to make me happy : ) 
 The trip ended up taking quite a bit longer than I had originally planned , but mostly because I was just enjoying myself . I hit the freeway around 11 : 30 am , and arrived around 12 : 15 . As is my habit , my left arm was hanging out the window the whole way there , as I blasted out whatever random songs were in my “ driving ” playlist ( we ’ ll revisit the left arm later ) . For the first time ever , I had to park my car waaaaaay at the end of the parking lot at Lithia Park . At the time I got one of only four spaces left . Lucky me ? ? After wandering the park a bit , I made my way through about a dozen + shops - mostly antique / import places with some kinds of other vintage - y , peculiar , interesting , curious things thrown in as well . 
 At one particular shop called “ Horsefeathers ” , one of the workers gave me a demonstration of a Chinese - based instrument utilizing a metal basin and water . It was meant as an aid for meditation / relaxation techniques , but I just found it fascinating . You wet your hands , then rubbed the handles of the basin , and let the vibrations … vibrate the water , creating sound and energy waves . Simple , but a bit hypnotizing . I hadn ’ t intended to spend so much time in Ashland , but I kept finding little places that had wizard stuff in them , and I just kept looking ! Originally I thought I would get what I needed / wanted and then hightail it on back home so I could do some other things that afternoon . Instead , many shops later I had found something close to what I wanted . I guess I can ’ t win them all … 
 By the way , I figure it ’ s probably only in Ashland that I ’ ve experienced being hit in the head by a butterfly . I had just finished crossing a street , and caught a glimpse of a butterfly nearby . I thought it was neat , and continued walking … only to get smacked in the forehead by the same winged creature . Oh , Ashland … 
 Feeling the need for a little pick - me - up , I grabbed a coffee from a local roaster , then found my car ( still at the faaaar end of the lot ) . Did I just hop on the freeway , and head home ? No . Fond memories tugged at my heartstrings , directing me to the back - roads and highways I used to drive in high school . Unfortunately I missed driving down by the river ( I missed the turn - off ) , but did stop at the mart in Gold Hill for a raspberry ale . Arm hanging out the window again , I finally made it back to Grants Pass around 4 : 30 pm . It was a nice trip , and gave me a chance to mull some things over in my head . Hooroar ! 
 Remember that left arm I was talking about ? Yeah , it ’ s quite red now . Just because you don ’ tfeelthe sun burning into your skin doesn ’ t mean that it isn ’ t happening . This is evidenced by the nice watch tan - line on my left wrist . There ’ s a nice patch of white ( I have quite pale skin , for a Korean , apparently … ) surrounded by a lot of brown - red color which runs the length of my arm , stopping about 5 inches from my shoulder . It ’ s kind of intense . Other things happened after that , but perhaps that ’ s a story for another time . 
 Now I sit on my computer , at Gram ’ s - the last day before returning to Korea . In many ways , three weeks has been enough time at “ home ” for me to recharge , spend time with family and familiarities . On the other hand , it ’ s never quite long enough . However , I am anxious to go back . There is work to be done , people to see , adventures to be had , and words to be said . Not to mention a girlfriend to be reclaimed ! Posted 10 months ago 
 Musings of a person who happens to be male , and a Korean - American adoptee .