About Us

Welcome, we are David and Katie – founders of Morning Calm Productions! Take a peek into our lives, travels, and ongoing obsession with food.

Most of this blog was written in 2010s when blogging was cool!

In 2011, we started a blog to keep in touch with all our family and friends after we moved to Deokcheon in Busan, South Korea in 2011 as public school English teachers with EPIK.

It then became our travel diary as we explored Asia amusing and informing along the way! We then posted about our adventures from our home in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil throughout 2015.

We now find ourselves inbetween Valencia and London after a few years in Maidenhead, Troon, and Brighton. David quit as a chemical (comical) engineer for a multi-farcical corporation while Katie quit communicating for a waste management company (think Sopranos but with more glamour and violence)


D.J. Sobell
I am a writer, grafter, and oxford comma using (grammar) deviant. I write too much to be sociable including several TV shows, a Sci-Fi post-apocalyptic thriller book series, and films. I’m learning the craft by butchering the sailors trying my hands at all things authorship.

When I’m not beating my keyboard, I’m watching UFC beatings while pretending my own martial art skills could save me. I listen to too many podcasts and read enough but forget too much! The other main love of mine is one I've had since I was a child - science. I love reading, learning, teaching and discussing all things scientific... Yes, I'm a nerdy obsessive. Oh and VR is my new hobby that is making me reassess everything!

Katie (I write in italics)
You will know something in the blog is written by me because of one of the following: It is written in italics, it is very wordy, and it is probably about food. I love cooking and plan to spend a lot of time this year perfecting my knife skills and learning to cook Brazilian food. I think trying new foods is the best part of being abroad. If my mouth isn't busy chewing then I'm usually talking - English mainly although on occasion, with the right amount of alcohol, I have been known to speak German and even some Spanish. I am also working on my Portuguese at the moment so I can communicate with the wonderful people of Rio. I am not particularly photogenic but unfortunately I'm not great at being behind the lens either, which means David snaps more pictures of me than I would like. I intend to develop some mad PhotoShop skills this year but I promise all the pictures you see will be legit


FAQs

Does this blog cover everywhere you have ever been?
No. But one day it will...

Are you on Couchsurfing?
Yes. Our shared profile is here.

What camera do you use?
We have been using a Panasonic Lumix TZ60 since autumn 2014. Before this we used the Panasonic Lumix FS35, which we have had since July 2011. We have used several other cameras before this one and will still occasionally take snaps with a mobile or older camera.

Why is the blog called "Blog of the Morning Calm?"
Good question. It's quite simple really. One of the Korean names for itself loosely translates as "Land of the Morning Calm", which I think is a lovely name for a country. For me it conjures up an image of the sun, rising over a beautiful, green park, with people doing their daily T'ai Chi routine and greeting the new day with a moment of peaceful contemplation. While our blog posts, and indeed lives, might be a bit manic at times, one of our goals is to document our thoughts while experiencing the weird and wonderful cultures of the world, and the name acts as a reminder for us to take a step back and look at the bigger picture from time to time.