Update, 12:30pm: everything appears to be normal, okay and fine. In Korean, they say 괜찮아요 (gwaenchanh-ayo).

Update, 12:55pm: the greatest dangers I faced this morning included drying my hair in a wet bathroom and avoiding the garbage truck as it backed up into the street along which I was walking. Because the garbage truck is still doing its job today.

Update, 12:58pm: children played in a playground near my house under the watchful eye of three grandmothers and an old man, who sat nearby on a bench.

Update, 1:01pm: I purchased two sandwiches and two Asian pears for lunch on my way to work. Three loaves of bread had just come out of the oven at the bakery. My produce guy said hello as he always does. I noticed bright yellow quince fruits on sale for the first time at the fruit store, where they are called mogwa (모과).

Update, 1:08pm: I watched as a mother and two small children exited a bike shop with their new purchase: a shiny new pink bike for the elder daughter, who skipped ahead in excitement.

Update, 1:05pm: a buxom Korean girl in a red letter jacket and her friend whistled at a soccer field full of boys at the local middle school, where they kicked around a ball in the dust in their uniforms and ties.

Update, 1:14pm: I ordered a large tea with honey at my local coffeeshop, as I do every morning. It was full of housewives, as it usually is, gossiping over cappe americano (black coffee).

Update, 1:56pm: the sounds of children playing are beginning to fill the hallways at school. We are getting ready for monthly test day. My guess is that for many of our students, their biggest source of anxiety today is getting a bad grade.

And me? I’m not sure how I feel. Right now, I feel pretty 괜찮아요.