room on the way


... yellow, pink & orange walls shelter us from the heat as the air conditioner clicks on & off ... a place of contrasts ... garish lights & humble artistic center stretch outside ... clean swept streets & unkempt staircases ... aggressive drivers & exceedingly polite greeters ... wide, fast flowing highways & narrow, empty passageways ... buddhist temples, shaman homes & churches ... the one constant in clothes soaked in sweat is exquisite food ... everywhere in open markets to single small eateries ...

... probably only slightly different than any city anywhere but it is the place I now inhabit to experience the familiar as surreal ... here I am the other ... the naive wave to me shouting out "hi" excited they can use an english greeting ... an elder reaches out smiles & strokes my arm ... school girls on their way home exclaim "foreigner" ... it all happens "on the way" ...

... many are anxious to demonstrate the goodness & generosity of their culture ... others are suspicious if not even a bit hostile ... despite everything it is myself that is opening the door to a dance of distinctions ... a murkiness, a discordant beat, an open wound & entangling mind shadows resolve into no craving, no loathing ... moment by moment enter the unfolding "on the way" ...

... the acupuncture & outpatient treatment of pills & medicine, mindfulness & rest ... the relatively young master ... kind face of childlike purity, a face of decades of patience & practice, a relaxed manner & bright voice ... what is it that decides our ancestral homeland "on the way" ...

... humidy ... scorching sun ... chirping cicadas ... wife's face blossoming with happiness ... "on the way" in Inhwa Iksan Jeonbuk ... "on the way" ...

::Note:: ... Second week begins ...

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