Korean culture
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Going all Korean in Hongdae
This Friday I did something I haven’t done in a loooong time. I went to an international language exchange meet-and-greet party in Hongdae. Alone! With my husband out with some friends, and my Korean best friend abroad on vacation, I was without my usual companions for a Friday night on the town. Since it had been…
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Class is in session
This morning I taught my very first class at Sogang University. I’ve been looking forward to this day for quite some time, and I’ve been preparing for ages. Usually, when I’m teaching a new class I’m always a bit nervous, but somehow today was different. I felt oddly at home in the tiny Korean classroom, and all…
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The Korean concept of “han”
“Korea has a lot of han.” This is usually the explanation, when foreigners wonder why Koreans seem to have a particular preference for movies and dramas with tragic endings over the Hollywood sugar-coated happy ending. This is probably also the reason why the classic movie “Love Story” from 1970 was such a big hit in Korea.…
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Cheer up, baby
This is the title of a K-pop song which, apart from the soundtrack to “Descendants of the sun”, is playing EVERYWHERE in Seoul this summer. It’s annoyingly catchy, although it can be debated if the girl group TWICE is really pronouncing the three-word English chorus correctly. This video is the epitome of Korean girly cuteness, a…
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Taking the good with the bad
My move to Korea continues to prove a quite challenging task indeed. Yesterday, I spent several hours at the, among foreigners much dreaded, Korean Office of Immigration. This is a necessary evil in order to receive my “alien registration card” (aww, doesn’t that word just make you feel welcome?) which is mandatory for all foreigners…
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My Korean skin care routine
Most of my readers will know that apart from anything Korean, I’m a huge fan of anything beauty-related. Well then, welcome to the one country in the world most focused on beauty. In the course of the almost three weeks that I’ve been here in Korea, people have commented on my appearance probably more times…
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Sofie in Korea
This ought to be the title of my blog the next year, because this is exactly where I’ll be! I’ve finally moved to Seoul, and I’ve spent the past few days getting settled and adjusting to the time difference. We’ve moved into a great apartment (quite large for Korean standards) right on campus of my…
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My favorite Korean word
Granted, there are many beautiful Korean words and finding one favorite is not easy. Nonetheless, sitting on the train on my way to the airport (yes, I’m flying to Seoul tomorrow – squeeee!) I started pondering on what was my favorite Korean word. I’ve been learning Korean for exactly two years now, and one word…
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Finding my Korean cool
“If you want to be popular with your students in Korea you must become a more trendy professor!” These words were uttered by my ever brutally honest Korean language partner, when I told him that I was rewatching old Korean dramas for language learning purposes. I was so taken aback by this statement that I…
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When “yes” means “no” in Korean
If you like watching Korean tv shows, and if you prefer to do so with subtitles, you’ll often find that the Korean word 네 (yes) is written as “no” in the subtitles. What the h… is going on!? Also, when speaking Korean, you may encounter conversations like this from time to time: A: 그럼 어제…
Sofie to Korea 