Daily life
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My speaking engagement at the Korean National Assembly
When I’m not busy going all out on Korean fashion shopping in Edae, makeup browsing in Myeongdong, listening to Kpop music (I’m turning into a diehard BTS ARMY girl!), binge-watching Korean dramas, and swooning over anything cutesy Korean, I’m actually a Ph.D. in economics, and I’m currently teaching undergraduate micro and macroeconomics at Sogang University here…
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Earthquake
Korea was hit by a pretty strong earthquake yesterday. The second strongest ever measured in history. It happened in Pohang, which is around 300 km south of Seoul, but the tremors were felt all over the country. I felt it in my office and immediately thought to myself “huh, wonder if that was an earthquake?”…
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Cultural fatigue?
I just ordered a pizza online. No biggie, I do that at least once a month. Only this time, I wanted to try out a new place and ended up being super annoyed when I finally placed the order. First of all, I had to scroll really far down the menu to find anything that…
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Random things I’ve noticed while living in Korea, part 2
A year ago, I wrote my first random things post, and since I notice small Korean quirks every week, I figured it was time for the second installment. The big cosmetic chains’ ‘once in a lifetime sales’ actually happen twice per month. No need to hurry. Double-sided tape to be placed onto eyelids in an…
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A Korean promise
As I continue to learn about this incredible and often completely impossible country, one thing seems to always hold. It’s so hard to make a Korean stick to a promise. Like I’ve mentioned before, good intentions are everything in Korean culture. Saying you’ll do something, meet someone, help someone, invite someone – all of these…
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My perfect weekend in Seoul
With my husband away on a trip to Japan, and my best Korean friends busy with midterms, entry exams and dating (they each know who they are), I had the whole weekend to myself and decided to make the most of it. It was time for me to spend some quality time with myself, in…
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My least eventful week in Korea ever
I realize that I wrote in my previous post that it was important to slow down. Little did I realize that a week later I would be forced to slow wayyyy down. With my husband away on travel in China and a friend visiting from Denmark plus a dozen other engagements, I thought I was…
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Taking on a new Korean challenge
I had originally planned on enrolling in Sogang Korean level 7, but unfortunately, there was only one sign-up aside from myself, so they had to cancel level 7 this fall semester. Well, each cloud has a silver lining and in this case, it means almost unlimited time for self-studying Korean. And in all modesty, I…
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Work hard!
I just went to the faculty lounge to get a cup of coffee, when I ran into the cleaning lady who was sweeping the floor. While waiting for my coffee to finish, I was chit chatting with her about the cold weather this morning. When I left, she smiling told me to “work hard”. To most…
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Open your books
I once had a brilliant lecturer who told us that “you don’t get smart from just leaving the books on your shelf – you have to actually read them”. Wise words indeed. Way too often I find myself buying books with the intention to read them, and then just letting them collect dust in my…
Sofie to Korea 