It wasn’t too long ago that I wrote a piece featuring some of the themed cafes of Seoul. It turned out to be a popular post, so I’ve decided to write my first follow-up entry highlighting some other quirky cafes I’ve visited since then. Travel has always been a passion of mine, so I was …
Whenever I tell friends and family at home about my adventures overseas, they usually go on and on about how much they would like to travel and do similar things. When I ask them why they don’t, they always give me the same answer: it’s too expensive. Well, I’m here to say that that explanation …
When thinking of ways to best describe Korea, multicultural isn’t exactly the first adjective one conjures up. In fact, Korea has always been known to be a homogeneous society whose citizens take great pride in their seemingly pure ethnic roots. In doing research previous to my arrival in Korea, I found that many foreigners had …
It’s official. After a long, cold winter, spring has finally arrived in Seoul: old men gather around plastic furniture at local convenient stores to drink makeoli, cafes and restaurants spruce up their patios, and best of all, the flowers bloom. While the magnolias and azaleas are stunning, no flower can compare to that of the …
There’s a Korean expression that describes the latest cold snap: 꽃샘추위 or “Kkotsaemchuwi” literally meaning “the cold is jealous of the spring flowers.” Whenever the weather starts to get relatively pleasant here, there’s always a few cold snaps before spring can get the chance to really to set in. Despite winter’s jealousy issues, I’ve been …
I had been putting it off for a while, so when I saw March’s visit advertised on the Korea4Expats website, I knew I couldn’t put it off anymore. With my time left in Korea getting shorter, I knew that it would be ignorant of me not to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity to visit …
Seeing as Korea is an Asian country, most might assume that its people’s drink of choice would be tea. That may have been true in the past, but in the late 1800s, King Gojong was introduced to coffee by the Russians and was quick to start importing the stuff into Korea. Since then, its people …
…where you’re walking naked down the street, and everyone just stares? In America, the whole being in front of a crowd in your underwear- or even naked- situation would definitely rank in the nightmare classification of dreams. In Korea, however, public nakedness is not only a reality, it’s a lifestyle. Jimjilbangs, or public bath houses, …
After returning to work after a week-long adventure-packed week abroad, I knew that I would be programming rather than teaching, as per the new rule created from the increased swine flu paranoia. Considering programming consists of anything from writing lesson plans to coloring Halloween posters to making balloon animals, I was completely okay with this. …
I consider myself to be an adventurous soul, always seeking a cheap thrill. So, when Sarah and Melissa agreed to join me on a trip to Lotte World, I knew it would be a memorable day in Korea. We hopped on the subway in the morning after grabbing some McDonald’s breakfast and headed toward Jamsil. …