Hyejin Kim has sailed with whales in the Salish Sea, studied hieroglyphs along the Nile, made kimchi in Scandinavia, immersed herself in the underbelly of Northeast China, and run a school in the tropics. Born in South Korea, she teaches and does research at universities in Singapore and Sweden. Her previous books include Jia- A Novel of North Korea, a book on Chinese culinary culture, and monographs on business and education. She has best friends and muses in her son and husband.