Korean culture
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My last Korean reading project of 2020
With only one day left of 2020, my last Korean reading project of this year has come to an end. In total, I’ve managed to read 12 Korean novels this year. This averages one per month, and I guess that’s not all bad considering the amount of Korean text and grammar books that I’ve also…
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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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Dokdo is our land
Dokdo island (internationally known as the Liancourt rocks) is a small island group situated in the East Sea between Korea and Japan. Ask any Korean, who Dokdo island belongs to and they will tell you that it’s their land or in Korean, “독도는 우리땅”, (Dokdo-neun uri-ddang). If you ask a Japanese about Dokdo, you’ll likely…
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And the Oscar goes to…
Korean cinema just wrote history when the 92nd Academy Awards saw the first ever non-English speaking film win best picture and three other awards. Parasite (기생충 in Korean) has swept all the major awards this past season and critics and theater goers all love this multi-genre story of a clash between the dirt poor and…
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Happy New Year!
A little late, you think? Not really. Because in Korea, the lunar new year holiday called Seollal (설날) starts tomorrow and lasts through Monday, giving the hard-working Koreans four whole days off. While this sounds lovely, the truth is that this season brings as much stress to Koreans as Christmas can bring in the cultures,…
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Meet Pengsoo
A lot can happen in Korea in a short time. Koreans are quick to adopt new trends and fashions, and it seems that Korea now has a new idol. This time, I’m not talking about an actor or a K-pop singer, I’m talking about the giant man-sized penguin, Pengsoo. Pengsoo is a mascot from the…
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A night out in Seoul
When being in a city like Seoul one must take advantage of some of the cultural offers that a big city has to offer. There are always a ton of plays, concerts, and musicals and it can be hard to pick which one to go to. Last Friday I went with my friend Nicky to…
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Kim Jiyoung, born 1982
This book title, in Korean 82년생 김지영, by Cho Namjoo has been a hot potato since it was published in Korea a few years ago. I read it for the first time exactly two years ago, and wrote about it here. After reading it for the first time, there were so many things about Korean…
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My Chuseok family trip
This past Chuseok was something else. Chuseok isn’t a holiday that I usually spend much time or energy on. Usually, it’s just a season for some rest and quiet time in a busy city that momentarily slows down. This year was different. To be honest, all holidays have felt odd since my best friend died.…
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Touring Korea
I’m so lucky to have great friends. I’m even luckier that some of them want to visit me in Korea. The reason that you haven’t heard from me in a while is that I’ve been busy touring Seoul and traveling all over the (southern) Korean peninsula. One of my best friends from home came and…
Sofie to Korea 