Hi, I’m Koseli. This is a weekly note about my life in Seoul, motherhood, creativity, books, and products I love. Let’s bond over the little things.
Feel free to unsubscribe if this isn’t your jam, or subscribe if you’re feeling it.
Hello friends,
We’re stuck inside because the AQI (Air Quality Index) is 306. This happens. It always sucks.
I baked banana muffins, cleaned up Legos, and mapped out my week. My two youngest cuddled me, then sang BTS in “opera style”, and wrestled like “puppies on a play date”. I cried during the 100th episode of The Office Ladies podcast and replayed a pointless conversation from yesterday over and over. Now I’m under a mega-sized plaid flannel duvet writing to you all. How was your week? What’s new with you?
I’m deep in NaNoWrimo emo country. It’s a mix of bliss/fog/torture/flow. You’d think I was 17 again based on all my moodiness. My plan is to record a podcast episode about the experience at the end of the month more for my own personal history and to mark the moment than for it to be helpful to anyone else. TBH I’ve SUPER enjoyed the experience. I love the struggle and it’s brought me back to life to work hard and push myself creatively.
Last Wednesday I bought Thanksgiving Day groceries; a 15 lb turkey is thawing in our fridge right now. We ate pumpkin pie all week. Cranberry sauce, pork sausage, and sage seasoning are on their way. Since none of us have work or school off Thursday, we’ll celebrate with a small dinner this weekend. I’ll make my Dad’s cornbread stuffing on Friday to kick off Turkey Day. If the air is clear next Saturday, I’ll do my own 5k Turkey Trot.
We’ve decided to stay here for the holidays which means I’ve been scheming family fun time plans. If you know of fantastic family-friendly winter destinations anywhere in Korea, hit me up!
News from America this week was tough. The Kyle Rittenhouse trial has me feeling so bummed out. To friends and readers of color: I’m so sorry. We have to do better. And then more shootings? I just can’t.
Someone posted something on Instagram recently that made me laugh and then want to cry. It was just a repost of a comment saying not to turn xy account into something political. It fascinates me how bullishly empowered we—as casual, often careless consumers, of online content—feel to share our opinion on what others create or share; without any personal connection to the actual person sharing. I do it, too. I often don’t type out comments in response but I think it in my head. The whole mess makes me tired.
Covid case counts are at their highest ever in Seoul (3k/day—very high for Korea). There was a rumor quarantine could go away in this next “New Normal” phase but I think there’s no way that’s happening with these numbers.
Oh, I received a few messages based on some pictures of us in masks. YES, face masks are mandatory in public even for folks fully vaccinated. It’s been that way for 2 years in Korea. Some people refer to it as a law but I believe it’s more of a guideline with a potential fine for breaking it. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) I’ve seen very few people without masks and I’ve never heard of anyone receiving a fine for not wearing a mask. People just wear them. <insert shrugging emoji>
Tomorrow our kids’ school will be 100% in-person for the first time in 21 months. My kids don’t know yet, but the administrators’ bought a red carpet and balloons and they’re serving ice cream at lunch. We don’t deserve any of this but we’ll enjoy every minute to honor the suckiness for so many the last couple of years.
Hope you have the best week. See you back here next Sunday.
Koseli
P.S. Little Things podcast is on a one-month hiatus for my NaNoWrimo novel project but will return by December 1. Thanks for your patience! You can follow along @podlittlethings.
P.S.S. Thanksgiving Day marks one year in South Korea. Can’t believe it. Prob have soup dumplings, kimchi, and pickled onion to celebrate.
If you liked this note from me, you might like my podcast Little Things. You can also follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Medium, and buy me a ginger tea while I write by clicking Support on Anchor. Or, chat with the Little Things community on Facebook.