Growing up, Karuna Shinsho on CNN was one of my idols, so I wanted to become either an anchorwoman or an international lawyer.

Not all the roles that I've gotten were stereotypical, but in Korea, especially for TV, it's a bit limited for women in their twenties and thirties. There aren't enough female roles.

Some people suggested that I should try something else. It was a lot of things, but nothing really stood out for me. Nothing felt right, and this job as an actor happened by coincidence.

Like the French, Koreans aim for a subtle and effortless look - while actually paying a lot of attention to the details.

I was ten years old in 1969, and while we lived in Arizona that year, I spent most of the summer staying with family friends in Portland, Oregon while my parents visited Spain. It was an adventure all around.

Even if you can't afford to travel the world, you can take your children to the museum, zoo or local park. And don't be afraid to take them to grown-up spots. Eating out in a restaurant teaches children how to be quiet and polite and gives them the pleasure of knowing you trust them to behave.

Mark Twain was a great traveler and he wrote three or four great travel books. I wouldn't say that I'm a travel novelist but rather a novelist who travels - and who uses travel as a background for finding stories of places.

Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, at a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.