Mailbox of peace

Section 1. Memor ies of Korea Mai lbox of Peace 022 023 Korea Foundation & US Peace Corps KF COVID-19 Survival Box Gratitude Letter Col lection Perhaps I have been slow in sending this note of thanks for the unexpected , but truly appreciated " Survival Box ." Nevertheless , please know my deep appreciation for the many different gifts to be found in the box - the " Magic Box " as we call it now after the won- derful New York Times article about Sandy Nathan that has been making the rounds and shared with many . A little about myself , I too was a PCV (' 66 to ' 68 ) to Korea in K - 1 , the same group as Sandy ' s , but I was assigned to Kwangju Yogo in the city of Kwangju , a city rather far from Sandy ' s assignment . Still we would see each other in PC meetings that were sometimes called in Seoul . In my second year as a PCV I taught at Chonnam Taehakkyo . In the fall of ' 68 I returned to Hilo , Hawai ' i ( where K - 1 had trained ) and was a " returned volun- teer " TESOL instructor for K7 and K8 . Right after that experience , I was chosen for staff training in Washington , DC , to return to Korea as staff to work as a " Regional Representative ." I lived both in Seoul and in Taegu during that assignment . I returned to Hawai ' i in 1970 on an East - West Center Grant to do graduate work , which in the second year included a 6 - month stay in Seoul to study in the Linguistics Department of Seoul National University . Upon returning to Hawai ' i , I joined the faculty of Hawai ' i Pacific University in Honolulu and finished my dissertation in 1980 . Having received a Fulbright Professorship for Sogang University that same year , I taught in Seoul for three semesters and then returned to HPU as a teacher and administrator until I finally retired a little over three years ago . I ' m not sure what I was expecting when I filled out the form for this " gift " from Korea , but I surely thought I could probably hold it in one hand . How surprised I was when I opened the door and saw this large , wonderful box on my doorstep , filled with gloves and many masks ( friends ask where “Our second child (Patrick) was adopted in Korea in 1977” Edward F . Klein , K - 1 I got such good masks ), candy and coffee , silver chopsticks and spoon , facial pack and fan and thumb drive , and even a backpack to carry it all in . Thank you , thank you , and thank you again . And let me not forget to say some- thing about the box . My wife , Ginny , and I have 4 children and 8 grandchildren . ( A ninth one is on his way .) Al l my kids have graduated from four different US mainland colleges ; two of them have PhDs . Three of my kids are " biological "- they are my wife ' s and my naturally - born children . How- ever , our second child ( Patrick ) was adopted in Korea in 1977 . In those days , there were many " orphans " in the ROK and Ginny and I decid- ed that we could do some small thing about that . So , we did . Patrick arrived in Hawai ' i when he was 6 months old , and we raised him as our own . Years later , he and his wife Robynne , a local 4th generation Japanese , were married and now they have two young boys of their own . This is all to say that the picture below is of one of our grandchildren , Mat- thew , their second child , who loves to get in " The Box ." I cannot keep the younger kids out of the box . It is so strong and seems to beg kids to climb into it . Frankly , I have never seen such a strong , double - thick box in America . Maybe they exist , but I have not seen them . Sorry to have taken up so much of your time , but I wanted you to know how much we appreciate all the gifts and certainly didn ' t want to forget our thanks for " The Box ." I ' m sending this on the afternoon of New Years Day 2021 in Honolulu , so with that I wish you and your staff a very happy New Year and Sae Hae - ae Bok Manhi Padushipshio . Edward F. Klein Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics Hawai ` i Pacific University