Daily life
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Christmas in Korea
Although this year is the third year in a row that I spend the holidays in Seoul, I’m still amazed at how different Christmas is here. I’m used to this season being all about family, getting together, getting cozy, relaxing, talking, eating, celebrating, all for days on end. In Korea, on the other hand, things…
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Back to school
I’ve just finished my first week at Sogang University’s Korean level 5 program, and I thought I’d share my experiences with you. To summarize my first week in one word: WOW! Seriously, just wow! I’m amazed at how intense and effective the classes are. I heard so many good things about the Sogang language school…
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Korea the impossible country
Prepare yourselves for a real Korea rant. I’ve now been living in Korea the impossible country for four months (seriously, where did the time go?!), and the more I feel that I’m getting under the skin of the Koreans and their culture, the more I often feel completely frustrated, confused, and quite often disappointed. I’ve previously…
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Entering Sogang Korean
As many of you know, Sogang University is famous for their excellent Korean language program. Their textbooks are sold worldwide, and I’ve heard several Korean learners praise the super-intense language program for the specific focus on building speaking confidence. Since I’m already working at Sogang, I thought it would be a pity to miss out…
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Winter has come to Korea
With just one month till Christmas it seems that in literally a matter of 24 hours, winter came to Korea. Last weekend it was so warm that I could walk around outside in just a sweater and a pair of jeans. Then as of Tuesday it has been freezing. Maybe it doesn’t look quite like…
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What makes you happy?
This may seem like a mundane question, but how often do you really think deeply about this? As we go about our lives, it happens much too often that we fail to pause and really think about what truly makes us happy. In the end, finding out which things make you happy and putting in…
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Shopping in Edae
I remember once reading in a teen magazine “one of the greatest things about being a girl is that you rarely get so depressed that new clothes, new shoes, or new makeup can’t cheer you up”. Since you all know from my twitter feed that I was less than happy about the events that unfolded…
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Random things I’ve noticed while living in Korea
As I go about my daily routine in Seoul, I don’t always pay attention to these small things, but nonetheless I thought it was worth doing a post on utterly random things I’ve come to notice or realize while I’ve been living in Korea. Staircases wind counter-clockwise The number 4 is usually substituted with an…
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Taxi drivers in Seoul
While I usually rely on the subway for transportation around Seoul, I probably still get in a cab around once a week. If I’m alone, I usually use this as an opportunity to chat with the taxi driver, who in 99 out of 100 cases are men over 50. In most cases they also have…
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A trip to Suwon
Having been busy with work in Seoul over the past couple of months, I rarely had the chance to get out of the city. This changed last week, when I went to Suwon for the very first time. Part of my husband’s job while we’re here in Korea is to develop exchange programs between his…
Sofie to Korea 