The Korean mindset and locus of control
I’ve often heard Koreans say some version of “되면 하는 거고 말면 말고”, which directly translated means “if things work out we do so and so, and if things don’t […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Well-intended(?) 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Back to school (…again)
This semester I thought I’d take advantage of having access to unlimited learning since I’m working at a university, so I decided to contact one of the teachers responsible for […]
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 […]
Learning Korean with FRIENDS
I’ve been an avid fan of this epic tv show for as long as it’s been around, and I still remember how I used to learn English watching and rewatching […]
Does being a native speaker make you unqualified to teach?
I’ve recently had several encounters where I’ve tried to teach some basic Danish to Koreans. (A fun video should be up on YouTube in a few weeks, and I’ll be […]
