I’m no animal activist, but every time I visit some sort of space where animals are inclosed in Korea, I come out either depressed or bored by the horrible lack of space and tacky decorations. When my husband and I decided to visit the Seoul Zoo this morning, we had very low expectations and assumed we would be in
Living in a goshiwon allows you to meet a lot of different people with very different goals, dreams and motivations. Some of them you like, some of them you don’t. I have this theory that there maybe be a correlation between the prize of your goshiwon room and the amount of oddballs surrounding you, but
How long does it take for an expat to settle in South Korea? Well, that depends. As a Korean American, it has taken me 10 months, more or less. Even so, I might still be transitioning. Yes, it is trite, but time does seem to fly here. I attribute the arbitrary pace partly to the
The past weekend’s sunny skies and warmer temperatures seem like a cruel tease with the sudden plummeting of temperatures over the last few days. Koreans call this sudden drop in temperatures just before spring “꽃샘추위” or kkot-sem-choo-eui, when the skies are said to become envious of the flowers beginning to bloom and bringing on a
I have successfully settled in Korea. It took a lot of work to prepare many things to settle in more quickly, however the Arrival Store helped me with the last few important items needed. What is the Arrival Store? The Arrival Store is specifically designed to help foreigners move to Korea. Focusing on mainly
Sometimes I get a little tired of the generalizations I hear foreigners make about Koreans. You know, those broad-sweeping stereotypes which are usually negative? Koreans are such bad drivers; Koreans are poor planners; Koreans have no sense of privacy. I understand where the stereotypes derive from, as I also have days that are sometimes filled
During the past few months, there’s been a sudden increase in Western food products, both at the large supermarkets- E Mart, Homeplus, Lotte Mart- and smaller convenience stores- CU and 7/11. Anyone else celebrate when Reeses Nutrageous Bars appeared in the shops? How about when Biscuit Spread became readily available? Personally, my most recent exciting discovery was Milka
The month of February sees the supermarkets and convenience stores in Korea filled with pre-packaged gifts. Of course there are all the heart-shaped chocolates boxes and extra red, pink, and white cellophane for Valentines’ Day gifts, but there are also the somewhat strange gift boxes of more “every day” items: canned tuna and olive oil,
