소희
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What am I doing
“So, what are you doing these days?” is a question I hear a lot whenever I meet people alongside “How are you holding up?”. While the questions are simple the answers are less so. Since there’s no real update on the latter, let’s examine the first question. What am I indeed doing these days? The…
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The meaning of life
This is probably something we all reflect on from time to time. Big questions like why we are here, for how long we are here, and what we are supposed to do while we are here. When your life is turned upside down by the loss of a loved one, these questions become even more…
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Healing?
Many of my readers have been asking me how I’m doing lately. My answer depends on the day and sometimes even on the hour of that day. Sometimes I feel fine, other times completely miserable, and then other times I feel indifferent. However, there’s no doubt that being in Korea has been helpful in my…
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A Korean favorite: Leesle modern Hanbok
One thing that continues to fascinate me about Korea is the omnipresent mix of old and new wherever you turn your eyes. Whether it’s the busy streets of Seoul where modern skyscrapers mix with ancient palaces and temples, or the food scene where Western burger restaurants and traditional kimchi jjiggae places may be cramped closely…
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A meaningful day
오늘도 알찬 하루 돼~ oneuldo alchan haru dwae – Have a meaningful day today. This was the content of one of the final texts my best friend sent me only a couple of days before the accident happened. He was also the one who first taught me the meaning of the word 알차다 alchada (meaningful) or 알찬 alchan when…
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All the things we can’t explain
With a background in social science, I’ve spent most of my adult life focusing on the things that can be measured and scientifically proven. I’ve left very little room in my mind for the unexplainable. I was never so arrogant as to say that if you can’t prove something scientifically then it can’t be true. I…
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49 days
Yesterday marked the 49th day following the passing of my best friend. In Korea, this day is usually marked by a memorial service, which has its roots in Buddhist tradition and is widely practiced across religions all over the country. I attended this memorial for my friend at his resting place yesterday together with his…
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A power bigger than yourself
If you’re becoming depressed from reading my updates about grief, I don’t blame you. Feel free to unsubscribe at any time. For me, however, writing is cathartic. It helps me express my innermost emotions, and it’s entirely up to you if you feel like reading it or not. If I subscribed to my own blog…
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Soulmates
When I lost my best friend a few weeks ago, I lost my soulmate. And when you lose your soulmate, a part of yourself dies with them as well. I don’t subscribe to the idea that your soulmate must necessarily be your life partner or significant other. I believe that your soulmate (and you may…
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Grieving
For the past several years I’ve been using Korean in happy situations, boring situations, professional situations, mundane everyday situations, medical or academic situations. But never for anything as tragic as grief… Until now. Except “I feel a bit down today”, my active Korean ‘sad emotional vocabulary’ was limited to what I knew from dramas and…
Sofie to Korea 