Daily life
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Cheer up, baby
This is the title of a K-pop song which, apart from the soundtrack to “Descendants of the sun”, is playing EVERYWHERE in Seoul this summer. It’s annoyingly catchy, although it can be debated if the girl group TWICE is really pronouncing the three-word English chorus correctly. This video is the epitome of Korean girly cuteness, a…
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Taking the good with the bad
My move to Korea continues to prove a quite challenging task indeed. Yesterday, I spent several hours at the, among foreigners much dreaded, Korean Office of Immigration. This is a necessary evil in order to receive my “alien registration card” (aww, doesn’t that word just make you feel welcome?) which is mandatory for all foreigners…
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Perks of living in Korea: Korean books
Korea is a nation of bookworms (fun fact, bookworm in Korean is 책벌레 – I guess some things are just universal). There are bookstores everywhere, and books are usually reasonably priced too. I’ve already purchased quite a few books here – hard not to when there’s a bookstore right in front of my building (yes,…
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Week two: Slapped by Seoul, hugged by Ilsan
My second week in Korea has been quite a bumpy ride and definitely anything but boring. I started my week by attending the conference of the Korean Economic Association and saw this as a great opportunity to be introduced to my new colleagues. I did get to bow and shake hands with many people including…
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Sofie in Korea
This ought to be the title of my blog the next year, because this is exactly where I’ll be! I’ve finally moved to Seoul, and I’ve spent the past few days getting settled and adjusting to the time difference. We’ve moved into a great apartment (quite large for Korean standards) right on campus of my…
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My inbox suddenly turned Korean
As we get closer to the day where I move to Korea, the planning intensifies. I’m in almost constant contact with my new Korean colleagues, the administrative staff at my Korean University, my Korean friends, and anyone else who’s kindly offering their help. When I checked my work email this morning I had six unread…
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Silence.
I much too often underestimate the power of silence. We live in a world where we’re under constant attack from breaking news, social network notifications, text messages, and emails. In fact, we can be alone all day without realizing that no one has called us or knocked at our door, as long as we can communicate…
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Korea preparations
As of today there are only six weeks left before I board my Seoul-bound flight. In many ways this is the worst amount of time to have to wait for something. It’s so close that everybody around me keeps talking about it and asking me about my preparations; yet still so far away that I…
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Girls’ talk and wine
Yesterday I met with my best friend for a long overdue catching up session over good food and wine. We stayed up until late talking (and sipping wine), which at some point even led to singing(!), and I must admit that I’m definitely paying the bill today. My entire body is aching and I haven’t…
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My name is Sohee
Whenever I tell Korean people that my name is Sohee (소희), most of them tell me that they find my name pretty or cute, and in any case very suitable. I’m happy that this is the case but I must be completely honest and say that I didn’t choose it myself. My former language parter…
Sofie to Korea 