Korean friends
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Korea diaries vol. 1
It’s been a while, but I’m finally back – this time with some much-needed Korea-related content. After more than two and a half years of not being able to go to Korea for reasons everyone probably is aware of I finally managed to book a trip to Seoul for this July. I was beyond excited…
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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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Watching an old classic from a new perspective
I just finished watching the 2014 Korean tv series “My love from the star” (별에서 온 그대) for the umpteenth time. Although I know the story and many of the lines by heart, to say nothing of the soundtrack, this time I watched it with completely different eyes. I watched this show for the first…
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How to deal with a grieving person – a universal guide
People who have lost a loved one generally report an improvement in their sense of grief after 6-12 months. Generally. Not everyone. Because everyone is different. The depth of their grief depends on who they have lost – a parent, grandparent, child, spouse, friend. On whether the death was expected or not, and on what…
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The power of memory and memories
I recently finished reading an interesting book about memory and memory techniques called “Moonwalking with Einstein”. It discusses how people can train to improve their memory, and how some people are gifted with an almost photographic memory while others have trouble remembering their own address. This naturally prompted me to think about my own memory.…
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How I became a Korean teacher (feat. an honorary guest post)
I wrote in my previous post that I’m currently teaching Korean to a Danish girl. I greatly enjoy this for several reasons; it provides some structure, it holds me accountable, it’s a challenge, and she speaks Japanese so I can teach her while drawing parallels between Korean and Japanese, which may be one of my…
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49 days
Yesterday marked the 49th day following the passing of my best friend. In Korea, this day is usually marked by a memorial service, which has its roots in Buddhist tradition and is widely practiced across religions all over the country. I attended this memorial for my friend at his resting place yesterday together with his…
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Soulmates
When I lost my best friend a few weeks ago, I lost my soulmate. And when you lose your soulmate, a part of yourself dies with them as well. I don’t subscribe to the idea that your soulmate must necessarily be your life partner or significant other. I believe that your soulmate (and you may…
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Grieving
For the past several years I’ve been using Korean in happy situations, boring situations, professional situations, mundane everyday situations, medical or academic situations. But never for anything as tragic as grief… Until now. Except “I feel a bit down today”, my active Korean ‘sad emotional vocabulary’ was limited to what I knew from dramas and…
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The sixth Korean sense: nunchi
Nunchi, spelled 눈치 in Korean and literally meaning ‘eye measure’, is a concept you’ll inevitably have to deal with when living in Korea. Nunchi is a set of unspoken rules governing interpersonal relationships and can loosely be translated as ‘awareness of your surroundings’ or ’emotional intelligence’. Generally speaking, you can use the word in five…
Sofie to Korea 