Looking back

There's been so much to occupy my time and thoughts since arriving in Colorado, but occasionally I have a moment to look back at photos of daily life in Seoul. This is the view from across the Han at night. I may have shot many dozens of similar photos but they never came out as good as this--likely owing to sweat smudges smeared across an iPhone lens as I huffed homeward.

I can't help missing it although it seems like a lifetime has passed. They say the passage of time heals, but my heart hungers for the frenetic pace and bustling traditional market where we used to get 떡볶이 and 순대 간. Life is good here--good but very, very different.

It came as a shock having landed how easily overheard and understood chatter of passersby floated into the background consciousness; the strain to grasp at a potential third of Korean speech directed at me just hours before still stands in stark contrast.

Seoul never really belonged to me nor I to Seoul, but it was home. On rare rainy days such as this, I remember.