Korean culture
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Exams are (almost) over and I luv’ it
This week has been tense and filled with preparations for my final exams at Sogang. I just have one speaking test left on Monday, and then I’m graduating on Tuesday. YAY! It’s been so much fun to learn Korean in a formal setting and I don’t hesitate to recommend the Sogang program to anyone who…
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Introducing the Koreans: Korean ajusshis
I’m now through my midterms at Sogang, and it’s time for the fourth and final installment of my “introducing the Koreans” series. This time, I’ll be dealing with the Korean ajusshis and I’ve promised my friend Jonson from Spongemind to go easy on them, haha. I’m not sure Jonson quite fits into this category, though.…
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My first Korean wedding
Yesterday was my debut as a wedding guest here in Korea. Carefully avoiding the word “culture shock” I’ll just say that it was slightly different from the type of weddings that I’m used to. The happy couple was an American guy and a Korean girl that we’ve gotten to know while we’ve been living in…
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Introducing the Koreans: Korean girls
We’ve now become well acquainted with both Korean guys and Korean ajummas, and so it’s time to move on to another wonderful group of people in this country: Korean girls. When I first came to Korea for vacation over two years ago, the first thought that struck me was “Wow, the girls here are pretty!”.…
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Introducing the Koreans: Korean ajummas
I had actually intended for this second installment of my completely unbiased chronicles of the Koreans to be about Korean girls/women, but by popular demand I’m moving one age group up and thus, ladies and gentlemen, I’m honored to introduce you to the Korean ajumma. First I believe a definition is in order. Technically, the…
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Introducing the Koreans: Korean guys
I thought I’d take the time to introduce the people of this amazing country that I currently call home. Being unable to cover all the segments in one blog post, I’ve decided to make a series. I know that the conventional form is “ladies first”, but since I’m mostly surrounded by guys, I thought I’d…
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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…
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My Korean church experience
Many people are surprised when they learn that Korea has come to be a predominantly Christian country. Traditionally, Koreans were Buddhists but over the past decades, an increasing number of Koreans have converted to Christianity. This also means that in no other Asian country will you see as many churches as you do in Korea.…
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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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Big Bang is back!
This week, Korean boy band Big Bang released their new album, and two singles have already reached several million views on youtube. I’m a big fan of learning Korean through songs since there are often so many cool expressions to learn from pop songs. I love learning slang (신조어) and cool expressions, although I’m under strict…
Sofie to Korea 