오렌지

Here's the thing: they totally have oranges here in Korea. Loads of them. And why did I not know this when I first arrived? Well, it was apparently not orange season yet. My first two months I never saw one. I was inundated with tangerines and desperately craved oranges. In December, my dad sent me a delightful food package that included oranges and it was heavenly! (Also quite heavy, and I thank him very much for sending it.) Slowly but surely, however, I started seeing a few oranges in the grocery stores and occasionally even in the corner market near our house.

Then, they began to appear at the true Korean place of fruit business, the sidewalk vendors. Both the lay-out-your-goods-in-bowls-on-the-ground variety and the park-your-screaming-fruit-truck-on-the-corner type. Tonight in the food/drink establishment near my house, along with the free peanuts, the server brought me a plate of fresh fruit (they do that sometimes, bring you random free food with your drink), and it included an orange.

They seem to like eating them in winter here. I have this on good authority. In our pre-school play "The Enormous Turnip," which has its world premiere this Saturday, seven of my students play fruits or vegetables, and they get to say a line before assisting Boy, Woman, and Man to pull the turnip from the garden. Jinny, who plays Orange, says the following: "I am orange. I am a pretty fruit. You can eat me in the winter." I want to protest! It's an outrage! When it gets warm -- and then oh-so-hot -- will I not be able to buy them anymore?? But it's so sad...

On the subject of packages though...Catherine was bummed I didn't blog about the Eclipse gum package she sent me. (You may have read this in the comments section of my post a week ago.) I kind of thought I had mentioned it before? Apparently not. Well, after I wished for Eclipse gum months ago, Catherine said she'd send me some, and she sure did, boy! I opened the box and there was just pack after pack of the stuff. It's lasted me a good long time, too. It's been wonderful! I'm only just now nearing the end of it. My mother was also kind enough to throw a couple of packs of Eclipse in her Faquil package. She sent me magazines, too, including The New Yorker! I swoon!

I've said it before and likely will say it again: getting mail is the best! And the thoughtful, creative, often delicious mail I have received has warmed the cockles of my heart.

Lest you think only packages do the cockle-warming, I'll spell it out for you: I love getting letters!

Plus it's cheap, so cheap, to send mail: a mere 84 cents for a first-class letter from the U.S. Even if you're not a letter-writer, you can, like, draw a picture or cut out little thoughts (thanks, Maija!) or send me my horoscope or something...and I totally reciprocate! I send mail to everyone who sends mail to me! And even to some people who don't!

Wow, am I begging for mail? I didn't mean to. Just - um, clarifying. Yeah, that's it. People who've sent me mail ROCK.

By the way, this post's title is "Orange." In Korean you say "o-ren-ji." Simple enough.