이 (Lee/Ee/I/Yi/Ri/Rhee/Rhie/Reeh)
There are other variants, but that’s plenty for now.
이 is the second most common Korean surname, surpassed only by Kim 김 (Kim/Gim).
이 means “plum.”
Lanning Plum.
If I’d been a professor I might have killed someone in the conservatory with a wrench.
At age 66 I know next to nothing about Korean language.
This activity, looking up something even as basic as my last name,
is not so much embarrassing – although it is –
as it is disheartening.
In my family, English was always stressed.
It’s the language you need to make it in this world.
So now that I’ve made it in the world –
I guess maybe I must have by now, whatever that means –
I know little about what’s me.
Korean is me.
I’m also a large part Norwegian.
I know next to nothing of that language either.
You know how “It’s never too late” gets tossed around?
I’ve much ground to cover before I prove that’s the case.
Lanning Lee 