​​​​​​​Life is full of twists, turns, and traps. Navigating existence can be a frustrating endeavor. However, there is one way to ensure a smoother journey—it’s all about being specific! And here’s three scenarios where specificity can be your greatest ally.1. Get that JobYou’re interviewing for a r

​​​​​​​We are suffering from a pandemic crisis. Like the name of the disease suggests, COVID-19 started last year. It will soon be a year since its outbreak. Every day, there are many new confirmed cases and the total number of reported infections rises continually all around the world. Unfortunatel

​​​​​​​The first time I met my wife, I had just arrived as an exchange student from Germany at her university, UC San Diego. She asked what I studied, and when I replied her face took a slightly repulsed expression. As a physics major I had seen that look before and many times since. This response t

Before I came to Seoul, my hometown was New York City, and I still pay attention to news from New York. These days the news makes me sad—not only is there the COVID-19 problem, but, also, New York seems to be experiencing an outbreak of gun murders and crime.This surprises me. Though New York, as Am

When I was trained as a psychoanalyst in the United States, a young man who was Korean American contacted me to see if he could receive analysis. I made an appointment with him over the phone and I gave him the address of my counseling office. I had never met him before. He appeared at the appointed

I have lived in South Korea for a total of nearly 20 years. In that span of time I have seen many changes occur here; both physically and culturally. I have experienced the best of Korea’s long and rich culture and occasionally the dark side of a supposedly homogeneous society; one that at times shu

I am staying in Sydney on my half-year study leave, which used to be called “sabbatical”. The notion of staying idle on sabbatical is from a bygone era. Relieved of teaching this semester, I have been doing research and recharging myself for the coming semesters. When people ask me what I am doing h

Five years ago, when I first came to work at Ewha, most of what I knew about Korea was from books. I was born in the United States to Korean immigrant parents and had never lived in Korea before long-term. When I told my grandfather that I had been hired to teach courses on Korean society, he found

No matter with whom we talk these days, we are bound to talk about COVID-19, aka the coronavirus. It’s on the news, it’s in our conversation, it’s constantly on our minds. Although the situation is starting to get better in South Korea, the crisis is still very serious in many Western countries. The

What do you see on the road when you drive from Gyeonggi-do to Seoul? A sign that says “Welcome to Seoul,” of course. What do you see when you walk onto the Ewha campus? A sign that says, “Please refrain from unauthorized entry,” plus a bunch of icons with big red lines drawn over them.I don’t know

What is the status of U.S. diplomacy toward North Korea? The problem with the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore was that it did not achieve sufficient denuclearization commitments to empower working-level implementation. The problem with the Hanoi summit was that it failed to realize sanctions relief an

One day, my fourteen-year-old daughter, who grew up mostly in the US tells me my name Heidi is one of the whitest name there is. I laughed.In fact, I had a visceral encounter with this “whiteness” at an international conference. Casually striking a conversation with a German scholar, I told my name

One early morning, I saw a person putting on makeup standing in a very crowded subway. I often saw people putting on makeup while seated on public transportation, but it was the first time to see someone doing so on feet. My first response in thought was admiration of the skill. My second thought ra

I sometimes wonder if people still believe in free speech. It is often attacked these days as an unnecessary concession to political adversaries when one has power over them. Or such freedom is cynically defended when one is out of power. On the positive importance of free speech, I can do no better

Is there a guitar club looking for help? I play acoustic, electric, and bass. Does anyone want to start a cribbage league? I’ll bring my board. Is there a campus baseball team that needs a batting coach? After a couple of trips to the cage, I’ll be ready to roll. These may sound like the words of a

In a reading I have enjoyed teaching to my students, the writer states that each person has to know themselves and how their mind works to tap into our creativity systematically. I often like to share the method that works for me which is to contrast two things together. When I was writing my Ph.D t

I have to say that out of all the film watchers in the world I am most impressed with the horror junkies. Those unique individuals who can watch any skin crawling flick and never lose a wink of sleep. Lately, I’ve been trying to be more like them, and I think you should join me on my quest. Here are

One of the rewards of being a teacher is watching students have a “eureka moment” as they process and understand information, and reading their writing is especially satisfying. When students write about what they know, their understanding, character, humor, and even their wisdom shines through. For

When I walk into classrooms these days, it is common to find students reading from electronic devices either tablets or smartphones. Yes, we have got to go paperless, we all want to save the planet. Then, I started to wonder, why aren’t we trying to save our ability to think critically? Don’t get me

Watch out! A seductive little thief, often dressed in black and carrying a miniature camera, is trying to steal our education right out from under our noses. This ambitious little thief also wants to