Korean dramas
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Two Koreas = two types of Korean
I’ve finished watching the Korean Netflix drama Crash Landing On You (사랑의 불시착), and I thought I’d share my thoughts with you here. There’s no doubt that this is a groundbreaking drama in the sense that it touches upon some sensitive topics such as Inter-Korean relations and love across the border on the 38th parallel.…
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Staying sane in times of crisis
While the world is self-isolating in the fight against the novel Coronavirus I find that people’s mental health is at risk of be ignored in this battle. You don’t have to suffer from generalized anxiety to start feeling slightly on edge in this dystopian reality we’re facing. All public institutions in Denmark are on lockdown,…
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Watching an old classic from a new perspective
I just finished watching the 2014 Korean tv series “My love from the star” (별에서 온 그대) for the umpteenth time. Although I know the story and many of the lines by heart, to say nothing of the soundtrack, this time I watched it with completely different eyes. I watched this show for the first…
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Experiencing reverse culture shock and… Now what?
I’ve been back in Denmark for almost two weeks now, and I’m slowly, very slowly, starting to settle down here. While I’ve landed physically, I’m mentally still in Korea (who knows if that will ever change?), and I’ve been struggling more than expected in coping with returning to Denmark after two years in Korea. My…
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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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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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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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Finding my Korean cool
“If you want to be popular with your students in Korea you must become a more trendy professor!” These words were uttered by my ever brutally honest Korean language partner, when I told him that I was rewatching old Korean dramas for language learning purposes. I was so taken aback by this statement that I…
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Same but different
When I was a child, I could easily spend 90 minutes watching a Disney movie just to rewind the tape and watch the same thing all over again. With a child’s enthusiasm I enjoyed the second viewing no less than the first. If anything, I may actually have enjoyed it more the second time because I…
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My very first Korean historical drama
I’ve just finished the last episode of The Princess’s Man (공주의 남자) and I’m so happy that I stuck to this one all through the end. I’ve never allowed myself to really give in to the temptation of Korean historical dramas until now, for fear of learning anything but contemporary Korean. However, with plenty of…
Sofie to Korea 