Life in Korea
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August 15th, Korean liberation day
Today is the Korean liberation day, a national holiday in Korea. I’m still so super excited about my new office that even though it’s raining cats and dogs, and I technically could stay home, I still went to work anyway. What can I say, my new office is just that nice! But back to the…
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A gendered language: boy Korean or girl Korean?
Even though I’m currently in Denmark on a long vacation, I’ve brought quite a few Korean books with me. I make sure to dedicate at least an hour per day to studying Korean, and this does not include watching dramas, texting, speaking on the phone, browsing news sites and other activities that I will naturally…
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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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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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A trip to my beloved Busan
Even though I live in Seoul, the southern city of Busan will always have a very special place in my heart. There’s just something about the atmosphere in that city. The skyscrapers by the shore, the beautifully lit-up bridges at night, the enchanting Busan dialect – it really has that je ne sais qois. Busan…
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Korea’s sampo generation
When living in Korea, you often hear particularly younger people talk about Korea as Hell Joseon, (Joseon being the old name for Korea). Hell Joseon symbolizes the inhumane competition and pressure that many young people are facing during their school years and when searching for a job. Aside from describing the difficulties in getting employment…
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My Korean class photo ordeal or a childhood trauma relived
Do you remember when you were in middle school and it was class picture day? For many students, and certainly also in my case, picture day was an annual event that should be dreaded a least a week in advance. What to wear, how to look, how to make sure that one’s eyes stayed open during the…
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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 biggest Korean challenge yet
This week I embarked on my biggest Korean challenge yet. A few months ago, the Danish embassy reached out to me with a request. They told me that a delegation of Danish politicians from the employment committee together with the minister of employment would visit South Korea for one week in early March, and that…
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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 