Korean culture
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The Korean gender war
While the eyes of the world may be on Korea for an entirely different war, the current internal situation on the peninsula is boiling. It’s the guys against the girls and the girls against the guys, the gloves are off, and the F-word in this heated debate is… Feminism. While mainly used as an empowering…
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Korean soldiers
When you live in South Korea you can sometimes feel like you live on an army base. There are soldiers everywhere and although I never felt unsafe living on the Korean peninsula, the soldiers are a constant reminder that South Korea’s military remains among the toughest in the world. A necessity given our northern neighbor,…
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Teaching ethics in Korea
This week I attended several workshops on teaching methods and teaching ethics here at Sogang University. We’re still in the middle of the winter break, which is always unusually long in Korea. For about 10 weeks between Christmas and early March, there are no regular classes. Only the super-intense winter season, which I taught in…
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Saju – Korean fortune telling
Yesterday I tried visiting a saju cafe for the first time in my life. Before I delve into my experience, let me just briefly explain what saju means. Saju, in Korean 사주 and in Chinese characters 四柱, literally means ‘four pillars’. In this case, these four pillars are determined by your four birth numbers: the year, the…
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The Korean national anthem
Wow, it apparently took me almost two weeks of 2018 before I finally got around to updating my blog. Happy (very belated) new year. I also just realized that I can celebrate my 3-year anniversary with my blog this January. I feel like so much has happened in that time. So, with the arrival of…
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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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Gender roles, sexism, and feminism in Korea
Yesterday, I went to the teacher’s lounge for a cup of coffee, when I met one of my older male colleagues. He asked me how I had spent my Chuseok holiday, and I replied that I had mostly spent it in my office, as I had no Korean family to spend Chuseok with. And growing…
Sofie to Korea 