Daily life
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Visiting home
I’m sure that all my readers know that I absolutely love living in Seoul. However, for all expatriates, no matter how intoxicatingly sweet you may find the drink, there will always be an ever so slightly bitter taste mixing with the exotic swirls of sweetness. Because no matter how wonderful the chosen home country may…
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The power of repetition
Do you ever feel guilty about watching reruns of an old show, knowing that you really ought to spend your time better doing something more productive? I certainly do, but I’ve recently found the perfect excuse for rewatching my favorite old Korean tv series. Learning! While in Denmark, I’ve been (re-)binging on “My love from…
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Why all Korean learners should learn (a few) Chinese characters
In my interactions with other Korean learners, I’ve frequently heard complaints that Chinese characters (which for the record do not appear often in written Korean) are hard. Using this as an excuse, many people avoid familiarizing themselves with these characters. In my opinion this is probably one of the biggest mistakes you can make as…
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Korea: A year in the life
“525,600 minutes, 525,600 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes – how do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes – how do you measure a year in the life?” Well, the cast from the musical “Rent” didn’t…
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To Japan and back
Last week, my husband and I went on a semi-impromptu trip to Kyoto in Japan. It was the first time for both of us and definitely a memorable experience. To the ignorant Westerner, Japan and Korea may sound almost synonymous but the reality is very very different. Japan is really NOTHING like Korea. It’s so…
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Small daily joys in Korea
With only three weeks left before I’ll leave Korea for over a month, I’ve started to reflect on the things that I’ll possibly miss and definitely look forward to coming back to in early August for my second year here in Seoul. I guess you never really know what you have until you realize that…
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Making travel plans
Summer has finally rolled around here in Korea, and in less than a month I’ll be jetting off to Denmark for a full five weeks of vacation before going back to Seoul for another year. I can’t wait to go home for a while and see my family and friends again. I also won’t be…
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Exams are (almost) over and I luv’ it
This week has been tense and filled with preparations for my final exams at Sogang. I just have one speaking test left on Monday, and then I’m graduating on Tuesday. YAY! It’s been so much fun to learn Korean in a formal setting and I don’t hesitate to recommend the Sogang program to anyone who…
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A day in my Korean campus life
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” is an important line that we’ve all been taught by John Lennon. My recent blog posts were all about the more extraordinary events in my life here in Korea, but let’s not forget that in the end, our lives consist mostly of the small everyday things…
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My Gyeongju getaway and semester start at Sogang
Since last weekend was the last weekend before the new semester, I spontaneously suggested to my husband that we go to Gyeongju in the south-eastern part of the country for a weekend getaway. Well, if you can really call finally getting your lazy butt out of the greater Seoul area after 7 months of living…
Sofie to Korea 