Life in Korea
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Small daily joys in Korea
With only three weeks left before I’ll leave Korea for over a month, I’ve started to reflect on the things that I’ll possibly miss and definitely look forward to coming back to in early August for my second year here in Seoul. I guess you never really know what you have until you realize that…
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Making travel plans
Summer has finally rolled around here in Korea, and in less than a month I’ll be jetting off to Denmark for a full five weeks of vacation before going back to Seoul for another year. I can’t wait to go home for a while and see my family and friends again. I also won’t be…
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Korea’s sampo generation
When living in Korea, you often hear particularly younger people talk about Korea as Hell Joseon, (Joseon being the old name for Korea). Hell Joseon symbolizes the inhumane competition and pressure that many young people are facing during their school years and when searching for a job. Aside from describing the difficulties in getting employment…
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My Korean class photo ordeal or a childhood trauma relived
Do you remember when you were in middle school and it was class picture day? For many students, and certainly also in my case, picture day was an annual event that should be dreaded a least a week in advance. What to wear, how to look, how to make sure that one’s eyes stayed open during the…
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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 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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A day in my Korean campus life
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” is an important line that we’ve all been taught by John Lennon. My recent blog posts were all about the more extraordinary events in my life here in Korea, but let’s not forget that in the end, our lives consist mostly of the small everyday things…
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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…
Sofie to Korea 