Welcome to Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary


Roland Axam is lost. Out of his element. And in a new world.

Recovering from a devastating, life-altering tragedy, Roland leaves his home and government career in Ottawa, Canada, to teach English in Chŏnju, South Korea. Roland abandons all that is familiar for the unknown, submerging himself in an alien culture, in which communication is difficult and a need to belong brings its challenges. New setting, new job, new faces.

But Roland believes that this is what he needs in order to shake off the demons that haunt him. As he puts it, Roland must escape his past and get lost in his present so that he can find his future.

Set in 1997, Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary shows South Korea as it enters the uncertainty of an economic downturn and a historic, national election.


About Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary

Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary is a work of fiction. The contents of this novel belong to me with the exception of news clips from ABC, BBC, CNN, and Sky News, which were obtained from YouTube, and the news clips from the Associated Press and the International Herald Tribune, which were obtained online.

The first chapter of the story is available to read online; to start the chapter, click here or click Chapter 1 in the left-hand margin.

If you like what you read, please buy the book. Songsaengnim is now available in paperback, hardcover, and e-reader formats at the following online book stores:
Thank you for your support!


About the Author

Ross Brown was born in Montreal in 1965 and moved to Ottawa with his family in 1968, where he lived for most of his life and still lives there now with his wife and two daughters. In 1997, Ross moved to South Korea where he taught English for two years. Returning to Canada in 1999, Ross began working as a technical writer and started writing this book in his spare time.

Ross also writes the blog, The Brown Knowser.