On 26 August, 2008, I left Canada and headed to South Korea. I originally intended this blog to be a catalogue of my transitions, adjustments and discoveries, but it only took a few posts before I was sick of re-inventing the wheel. There are plenty of “My Year In Korea” blogs and journals floating around. I have very little to add to that conversation.
On 27 March, 2009, I finally realized what this blog should be: evidence of my attempt to understand Korean literature, which I’ve been reading since I began to prepare for my relocation. The blog’s Korean title, 만해 (Manhae), “ten thousand seas,” is the pen name of Han Yong-un (1879-1944), a revered Korean poet, Buddhist monk and social activist. I found his work while kneeling in front of a library shelf in Halifax, hunting for Korean practice materials. I named this blog for him long before I realized its appropriate focus.
My Korean language skills remain pathetic: greetings, foods, simple questions. Korean grammar is mysterious, and I can’t glean the language’s depth from the language itself. Korean fiction and poetry– in translation, of course– gives me a taste of what I hope to one day understand.
9,999 Seas [to the] Left by Corinne Gilroy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
hi corinne,
i stumbled upon your blog site while looking for korean literature. it’s a great visit actually. a worthy read. keep writing about korea.
all the best.
Thanks for the encouragement! I don’t get many visitors, so I really appreciate it. I’m behind on my reading, so expect plenty of posts in the future….
Corinne