As my year with EPIK comes to a close, I find myself thinking a lot about the experience. Below are 10 haikus that reflect what I’ve learned while living, teaching and traveling in South Korea (though really they’re applicable to anyone teaching or living abroad anywhere!).
"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen. "
"Ah, " said Arthur, "this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'safe' that I wasn't previously aware of. "
"He expanded his chest to make it totally clear that here was the sort of man you only dared to cross if you had a team of Sherpas with you. "
"He dropped his voice still lower. In the stillness, a fly would not have dared clear its throat. "
"The suit into which the man's body had been stuffed looked as if it's only purpose in life was to demonstrate how difficult it was to get this sort of body into a suit. "
"Chess should not become an obsession. Otherwise there’s a danger that you will slide off into a parallel world, that you lose your sense of reality, get lost in the infinite cosmos of the game. You become crazy. I make sure that I have enough time between tournaments to go home in order to do other things. I like hiking and skiing, and I play football in a club."
- Magnus Carlson (youngest world chess champion in history, at 17 years of age)
"Blender: Do you ever pick a subject at random [out of the encyclopedia] and learn all about it?
Lil Wayne: No. I’m a millionaire.
Blender: What’s that mean? Millionaires still have things they can learn!
Lil Wayne: Are you a millionaire? No. So don’t tell me what millionaires do. "
