Flashback

I know that items exist as memory markers for all of us; there are select sensory triggers that put us squarely back to some point in our life history. It's universal, and I recognize that. Somehow, however, they seem stronger to me here. Perhaps it is the simple fact that so much is foreign, or at least it was, that it is the unusual experience to encounter something that sucks me back more than seven months. The bread is sweet, the pizza has corn and sweet potatoes, and the coffee is instant with sugar and cream pre-mixed. There isn't much like that that reminds me of home.

The Daejeon Costco just began carrying Honey Nut Cheerios, or, at least, I just noticed they carry them. I have found that it is impossible to eat them without being in the house at 24 Aberdeen Road at 7:30 in the morning begging, from the bottom of the stairs, for my parents to get out of bed and entertain me because Katy is watching TV so hard she hasn't blinked in twenty minutes. It's funny where things take us.