A Man named Su

Have you guys heard of an artist named Umi? Well some of you have been asking about Big World 21, my current address, and so I thought I would share with you some of Umi's finest work, which adorns nearly every available cm of my building. On the first two floors Umi sticks to social themes like "War" or simple interactions like a man with his meal or a woman and a deer. But if you creep up to the 3rd floor, Umi's more radical and spiritual themes are allowed to emerge, culminating in a vision of primitive & compassionate freedom and fully formed fertility. Also on the 3rd floor is Su, a student from S. Korea who has a guitar (oh it is so sweet to play again) and next year will be lockstep in South Korea's 2 year mandatory military service for males. "Terrible!" he tells me. He's enjoying Japan while he can, studying Japanese this year, and after military service he will try to get into a music program here. He also told me that N. Korea has mandatory 8 years military service. These Koreans need Umi more than we comfortable ones can imagine.