Dew Drop In April 2024.2025 Poems

April 21—A country not your own First Visit to Korea

April 21—A Country Not Your Own: First Visit to Korea

In 1979
I first went to Korea
In the Peace Corps.

After a long plane ride
My first international flight
I ended up in South Korea.

At the old Gimpo airport
A chaotic, crazy drive
Through Seoul

To the town of Chuncheon
Where we did our training course
For four months.

First visit to another land
First foreign travel
To a strange land.

Exotic people
Strange sounds and sights
And the smells of incense
And the food ah, the food.

But over time
Became my second home
45 years later.

I returned to Korea
Ending up living
Next door to Gimpo airport
Where my journey began
45 years ago.