20 More Things I'm Thankful For . . .

I cannot believe that it is that time of year again—Thanksgiving. I still remember the list of 51 things I'm thankful for that I made in 2009. In fact, I can actually still remember the bakery where I sat and composed that original list. If I were to make such a list again, I doubt it would differ much from the previous one, since I'm still thankful for practically all of those things. So instead of starting from scratch and repeating things I've said before, I'll just add to it.

52. I love poetry. I love to write it and I love to read it.
53. Nut milk. I used to drink soy milk all the time but then someone told me that too much soy products is not good for you because of the high levels of natural oestrogen in soybeans. This led me to search for other milk alternatives, so I began making my own nut milks. It's wonderful.
54. Basil. I love it fresh or as pesto.

A Samsung Galaxy Tab
smartphone, like the one I have.

55. Communication programs and apps such as Skype and Whatsapp and KakaoTalk and all the other things I use to communicate with the people I love. I'm excited about the use of Twitter in the Arab Spring revolutions.
56. Smartphones are changing everything. The ability to just quickly look up anything—that constant connection to the Information Highway is terribly satisfying.
57. I've had some great martial arts instructors and martial art friends through the years. I've had some bad ones too, but I'm thankful for the great ones.
58. Ondol, Korea's underfloor heating, is just plain wonderful. Korea is freakin' cold in the winter, but if you have functioning ondol one's apartment is always warm and cozy.

Kurt Vonnegut,
Sci-Fi Author and Thinker

59. Kurt Vonnegut.
60. Torrents and Miro.
61. While I'm looking forward to teleportation one day, in the mean time I'm really thankful for airplanes.
62. Nice plants in my apartment.
63. Providence.
64. I'm really thankful for Pastor Dan Smith's grace centred sermons.
65. Lemons.
66. Long holidays. Although my annual vacation time is fixed, it is nonetheless wonderful having such long vacations—about three months of paid vacation per year! You can't beat that.
67. I'm constantly reminded what a great privilege it is to be bilingual. It makes life richer. It expands your horizons.
68. Blogging and bloggers.
69. Mandu, or Korean dumplings, is one of my favourite Korean foods. You can buy them frozen and then just steam them. I don't eat mandu that often, but today, when I had nothing to eat, I quickly took some frozen mandu from my fridge, steamed it and it was ready within five minutes.
70. I live in an apartment on campus, where I work. It takes just five minutes from my house to my office.
71. From my apartment to the closest bus stop takes 15 minutes by foot and then another 15-20 minutes by bus to the closest subway station. I'm exceedingly thankful for the campus bus that runs from campus to the subway station. It is during the vacation times or on weekends when the campus buses do not run that I realise how much I appreciate them.
72. That ice drifts, rather than sink, is something I'm thankful for.
73. I don't use it every day, but I'm really happy that I have an oven.

Antjie Krog, South African
Poet and Author

74. Antjie Krog.
75. My first, and so far only, schrink—Okkert Kotze, I think that's his name, it's been a while—(and probably his supervisor under whom he practised) helped a lot!
76. My X for reminding me that I'm a man.
77. Ludolf Bezuidenhout, a childhood friend, who befriended me when I had no friends, and later saved my life. I'm sorry I couldn't save his.
78. Those ladies with their sexy voices that I love so much: Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Ella Fitzgerald, Penny Sue, Sarah Vaughan, Tori Amos, Mahalia Jackson, Reana Nel, Fiona Apple, Edith Piaf, Dido, Amy Winehouse, Alison Krauss, Diana Krall, Amanda Strydom, and the list goes on.
79. Having a friendly dojang (martial art gym) here in Korea where I can train and teach, with a very accepting and caring kwanjangnim (gym owner) that values me.
80. Clean drinking water.