OxyMoron
40 mg. Cherry blossoms in disarray. The world falling apart. Maybe it’s just us. “Korea has too many damn mountains,” FCNI (that’s pronounced “Fettuccini”) says, but he’s not out of breath. He moves his legs and floats like a leaf.…
Category Kimchi x Kafka
Chapter 2: Powder Blue
We’re 42,000 feet up in the sky, and I have to say, despite having OD’ed on heroin once, this is the highest I’ve ever been. My only memory of this flight, back when I was eight–during the 90’s–was a layover…
The Soju Diary: Goodbye, Garden State
Welcome to The Soju Diary. If you are considering moving from New Jersey to South Korea, this raw, personal essay captures the exact emotional and chaotic reality of leaving the Garden State behind for an unexpected family mission in Seoul.…
Nikki
Every college love story essay has a version of this scene — the “we should start over” conversation that both people already know isn’t going to go anywhere. The way she shunned me afterwards. Like shunned me shunned me. It…
UPS (United Pot Smokers)
Most post grad blues story openings talk about the feeling in the abstract. This one starts in the back of a UPS truck at 5 a.m., which is a lot more specific. The summer right before I came back to…
What Are You Going to Do?
Every Laos sleeper bus story eventually admits the same thing — nobody actually plans to end up folded against the wheel well, and yet here we all are. Funny I should meet them at the border. One would think I…
The Yoga Instructor – Korean Cultural Identity and the Search for Meaning Through Love:
Korean cultural identity is often discovered through ordinary moments, unexpected relationships, and the search for belonging. Meeting Hana Through Yoga is a personal essay exploring spirituality, love, and self-discovery in South Korea. Meeting Hana Through Yoga: Her name was Hana.…
OxyMoron : Addiction, Faith, and the Search for Meaning
Oxymoron : Addiction, Faith, and the Search for Meaning: “Stories about addiction and recovery often explore the difficult relationship between pain, faith, hope, and the search for meaning. This personal story reflects a journey through addiction, loss, and the struggle…
Kafkaesque
In the mirror, a grotesque image of humanity writhing in the chains of a technocratic holocaust is interrupted by the guard checking his rearview. The minds of the future are being force-fed sugar-coated K-Pop and the glitz of smart-tech adorned…
Killer Thighs
Detective Greenwood enters the scene of the crime, a classy penthouse in a high-end section of Super Bangkok. A sunset the color of electric grapefruit sizzles across the terrace’s window. The gumshoe’s footsteps enter the kitchen with the crackle of…