[FRIENDS OF KOREA] Korea found me

I got the call in the summer of 1977, after applying to the U.S. Peace Corps to serve overseas as a volunteer. The application form allowed us to cite three countries in which we thought we might like to serve. I listed Nepal, Kenya and (a throwaway choice for fun in the sun) the Caribbean. Peace Corps headquarters told me that no openings were available in those places; would Afghanistan do instead? I hit my mental pause button, went camping for a weekend and checked back in with Peace Corps HQ. Afghanistan was no longer available; how about Korea? Thinking it was now or never, I took the plunge. Apart from the TV series “M*A*S*H” and the thought that my favorite baseball player, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, had flown several combat missions during the 1950-53 Korean War, I knew virtually nothing about Korea. The only image of the country I could recall was the elation of the Korean women’s volleyball team after they defeated the Japanese women in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. And so it was that I packed a backpack and a duffel bag, and hopped on a flight to San Francisc