"​
​ One seed (one seed), two hands (two hands)
Dig a hole (dig a hole), start to plant (start to plant)
Watch it grow (watch it grow)
Pass it down (pass it down)
One Earth (one Earth) spins around (spins around)
Watch it grow, pass it down, one Earth spins around
One Earth spins around  "

(part of the song)
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​Under the hot sunshine, tomatoes grew well, just like our hopes. So I made spaghetti all summer last year, made and drank tomato juice, and cut it into salads. The tomatoes have grown so big that they are as tall as my daughter's. Corona has ruined the world, but this tiny seed has given us great joy and comfort. Through this, we directly experienced the precious happiness of small things. 

  Yesterday I took my daughter to the Dollar Tree store for a while. Dollar Tree, formerly known as Only $1.00, is an American chain of discount variety stores that sells items for $1 or less. In Europe, One euro shop seems to play the same role. Dollar Tree is a store that my daughter loves because she can put her favorite toys in a shopping cart without some restrictions from her mother.

  Someday, I've seen a friendly grandmother and grandson in a store before. First, the grandson asked his grandmother, "Can I put everything into the cart when I want?" Then she answered, " By all means! my sweety". After that, the little boy smiled with a lovely expression as if he had the power of the world. So the scenery in my memories remains until now, like a scene from a movie about humanism.

​ Whenever children visit the dentist in Germany, the dentist shows them a giant size toy box after treatment. Inside a square-shaped toy box with wheels, there are many various toys for around a dollar. And the doctor speaks to the children in a kind voice. "Pick just one toy you want to have. I'll give it to you as a gift toy". Choosing a toy in the box makes it a joyful journey to go to the dentist, to children that always afraid of dental treatment.

  It's a pity that I don't have the opportunity to experience that kind of thing anymore in the United States.  I have seen an interview that a foreigner living in Korea is returning to his country, Norway. The biggest reason is that there are few candy stores in Korea where he can choose and eat as much as he likes in his country as a child. And he said that one day, it suddenly came to him like homesickness and made up his mind to homecoming.

  Freedom and afford to buy whatever you want to choose from everything. When a child grows up and becomes an adult, at some point, he realizes that this is something no one can do. And, like nostalgia, you miss the days when you could do what you wanted in our parents' love. And sometimes, you can recall the painful memories of not buying the toys from your mother. But, perhaps after becoming an adult, you may find out why she had to do that, and you may be in a situation where you can't argue anymore.
​
  Art is like a toy box where anyone can take out what they want. Because of the freedom of expression, when we pursue art, we feel like going back to childhood in a time machine.

Through the eyes of children, 2013, Myungja Anna Koh

 One of my routines is to bring my child to the playground as soon as school is over. Thankfully, it brings me little jewel-like joy when I asked and had small talk with parents who watch their children playing. 

 In Korea, someone asks something to others without reason, and they are treated as strange people.  That's why Korean usually reluctant to talk to street persons who they don't know before. To do that, they have some purpose of selling things or mission work to say "Trust in Jesus." 

 But, in America, small talk is familiar scenery anywhere, that I think it's an excellent way to expand our range of interests, activities, and knowledge. 
 Every so often, I meet a person who has the same situation as an immigrant. And then I am pleased to ask what is the impression of America. To that question, many people give different answers depending on their own unique experiences, backgrounds, opinions, and cultures. 

 In my case, I moved to Germany in 2016. My husband needed to get more challenges to achieve his studies. At that time, I was working as a researcher in the medical informatics field. Almost I exhausted with overloading as multiplayer. 

 The first view I saw from the window of an airplane getting off at Frankfurt Airport in Germany was a variety of green, rectangular-shaped lawns. It was winter, and it was amazing to see the green scene. Of course, Korean grass turns yellow in winter. But, as I later found out, the German turf was green all year round. And I could see people walking and often stopping to see trees or flowers. Unfortunately, when I was in Korea, I couldn't afford to stop seeing flowers. The green feeling and the appearance of people who enjoy nature remain sincerely as images of Germany.

 After living in Germany for 8 years, I moved to the United States. When I arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport, I was rather impressed by the paintings inside the airport. It consists of 28 panels, 8 x 350 ft, installed above the waiting line for screening for entry into New York. It was made by an artist, Debora Masters, and she expressed relief through her artworks, like a folding screen with a series of pictures. The pictures describe our ordinary living such as dinner, vacation, sport, and family time. In addition, the friendly paintings where the various races gather and enjoy daily life helped to relieve vague anxiety about unfamiliar places. 

My image of America goes back to my childhood and connected to the movie " Back to the future," an American science fiction. The impressive part of the movie was Marty's (Michael J. Fox) house, where the home passed the front yard with the post box, opened the fence, and entered the backyard. There are not many detached houses with yards in Korea, and also, it is a rare sight to see the places with front yards and backyards, so such a scene was interesting. 
Now I live in suburban New York, and I feel some liberty and impression whenever I look around the street's post boxes. The post boxes are different, like colors, shapes, and designs, and it has only kept their rules about the height by post offices' regulations. When I was in Korea, I was well educated that I should always be in the same style as my group. That's why I felt freedom when I saw various colorful mailboxes on the streets. This diversity in life gives me joyful freedom and broadens my view of the world. I wonder if this is the role art is pursuing.

Walking New York, by Debora Masters, John F. Kennedy airport

Today, my husband called me to show me something in our backyard. He pointed out to a place on the grass and told me, "Anna, here's the place where the rabbits are used to sit. It has a different grass pattern and some exposed soil on it." In our region, rabbits run across homes and yards. Occasionally they make their burrows under the ground, secretly. There is one spot where two rabbits habitually sat down until they deformed the grass under them. As I watched these two rabbits, I recognized that their routine warped the grass and paved it with ample space to sit. 
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 Which tracing can be the result of my daily practice? 

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, Mason Currey