-
What I look forward to about leaving Korea
A week ago I booked my flight home, so now it’s official. I’m leaving Korea at the end of next month just 5 days shy of my second anniversary of living in Korea. Living in Korea for two years has been a crazy rollercoaster ride and so are my feelings about leaving. While I still…
-
How to text in Korean like a pro
Texting, preferably done through the chatting app, KakaoTalk, is a crucial part of living in Korea. Even though you may be used to sending and receiving text messages in English or any other language, Koreans have a very special style when it comes to texting, which can be very confusing and sometimes impossible to understand.…
-
What does it mean to be fluent?
Are you fluent in Korean? This is a question that I hear quite often and my usual answer is yes. But to be honest, the correct answer is maybe. Because, really, the answer depends on the definition of fluency. Being able to speak a language, being fluent in that language, and mastering the language at…
-
What I’ll miss when I leave Korea
I’m moving back to Denmark at the end of July and while I’m mentally starting to get ready to leave Korea, I’m becoming increasingly aware of all the things that I’m sure I’ll miss the moment I’m no longer on Korean soil. You may wonder why I’ll write a “things I’ll miss” list when there…
-
Comedy in Korea
It’s nothing new that humor, comedy and what is generally considered funny is quite different from one culture to the next. Naturally, you’d then expect the Korean sense of humor to be quite different from Western humor, but honestly, I’ve come to realize that it’s a lot closer to what I consider Western humor than…
-
Can we trust the (North) Koreans?
The whole world tuned in last Friday when the two Koreas held the first summit in over a decade. The South Korean president Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un of North Korea met at Panmunjeom, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Plans for denuclearization have been made, and North Korea seemed more eager…
-
Korean buzzwords: Gapjil
Korean media have been reporting heavily on gapjil (갑질) over the past few weeks. The word is a fairly newly coined term consisting of the word 갑 (甲) literally meaning the “first party in a contract” and 질 which refers to demonstrating a certain behavior. Put together as a colloquial expression it means the arrogant or…
-
Well-intentioned(?) Korean racism
Disclaimer: This blog post is not intended as a criticism of Korean society, nor am I in any way implying that Koreans are racist in general. It’s merely a compilation of racially biased experiences that I have had while living in Korea. Having gone from being an ethnic majority in Denmark to definitely being a…
-
Writing emails in Korean – A quick guide
Several of you have requested that I do a blog post on writing emails in Korean. So, naturally, I’m happy to accommodate your kind request. I write emails in Korean almost every day, and while that alone does not make me an expert, I do have a few tips and points that I find shareworthy.…
-
Advanced Korean writing patterns
I’m currently auditing a class at Sogang called 읽기와 쓰기 or, in plain English, Reading and Writing. More than trying to pass for an undercover student (even though I own and proudly wear a Sogang 과잠 university jacket) I’m exposing myself to this ordeal because I desperately want to improve my Korean writing. When I…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Sofie to Korea 