I went to Hahoe Village (하희마을/Hahoemaeul) again this weekend. This will be my third post on it, and I would leave it alone except that I spent a lot of time in the Southern part of the village, which I hadn’t done much of before. It really is one of the most beautiful places I’ve [...]
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I got a buckwheat pillow. I didn’t exactly mean to… I was walking down the street and a man was making them from his truck. I needed a new pillow and had heard about their health benefits… so I bought one. I love it. It only cost me $14 (after asking for a discount, which [...]
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I came back to Korea 3 weeks ago — since then I’ve lost 10 lbs. Last year in Korea I lost 59 lbs, and I expected to lose more weight when I came back to Korea, but this rate has surprised me. Last year everyone asked what I was doing to lose so much weight… [...]
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I love buying CD’s in Korea. They put so much effort into it, and each one is different (at least with the kpop idol singers). So, I was doubly excited today when I went to buy 2NE1‘s new album and in addition to the 47 page lyrics & photo book that come with the CD, [...]
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I was so excited when I found out about the Chicken Art Museum. However, none of my Korean friends knew anything about it, and upon learning of it, were not entirely thrilled at the prospect of going. So, earlier this summer I dragged a friend to come with me… The grandmother working was so excited [...]
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Reason #3 for moving to Seoul: I started taking janggu (장구) lessons this weekend. It wasn’t my first choice (I wanted to learn the gayageum), but I was pleasantly surprised after my first lesson. It was a little harder than I expected, but hopefully not too difficult. From Wikipedia: The janggu… is the most widely [...]
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Reasons for moving to Seoul: Reason #1 was so I could date, fall in love, not get married, and live happily ever after. Reason #2 was so that I could do fun things that did not involve batting cages. Things were going swimmingly with both. I was two dates away from changing my Facebook relationship status [...]
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The main reason we visited Hahoe Village this weekend was to see our friend Usher perform in a musical. It was really, really great. I didn’t understand the plot given that my Korean is pretty much limited to ordering food, ordering more food, and telling taxi drivers how to get me to said food. But, [...]
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Some friends and I went out to Hahoe Folk Village this weekend. It’s so beautiful there, and I was happy I got to see it again before I left Andong. Hahoe Village is a traditional Korean village from the Joseon era (1392-1897). The homes, the rice, the river… it’s all rather wonderful. And people actually [...]
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This has to be the best Kpop song to come out in a long while. It’s a new girl group, so I didn’t (initially) have high hopes… but, I’m obsessed. Earlier this week I was listening to the song on YouTube and an elementary student saw part of the video where the girls slap their [...]
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It’s almost been one year in Korea, and throughout that year there has been one recurring theme… I am the fat American. I hate being the fat American. I stand out in a crowd It’s impossible to find clothes (although I did save a lot of money). And my students lovingly (and sometimes not so lovingly) [...]
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The other day I posted some photos of Andong’s music fountain. Now, I’ve finally put the video together. It’s very short (2 minutes). I removed the live sound and replaced it with one of my favorite Kpop singers — Son Dambi. (I love love Son Dambi.)
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Generally speaking, I find Korea to be very good with lighting. There’s obviously some rough spots here and there, but for the most part, I think they (more than Americans) take pride in how things look. Examples being… the ugly bridge in Andong that is slightly less ugly due to the colored lights at night… [...]
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I’ve been in Korea for 51 weeks, and for 51 weeks I’ve maneuvered my way out of ever having to use a squat toilet… …until now… It’s not that I’m against the squat toilet. Like most things in Korea, it’s efficient and it makes sense. I’ve just had this perpetual fear that I would lose [...]
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Last week while I was planning my trip back to America and trying to navigate three states in 12 days while also trying to see many friends, I felt a sudden dose of relief when my itinerary arrived at the date I would arrive back in Korea. And then I realized… Korea is my new [...]
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Before I moved to Korea I immersed myself in Korean movies — at least as much as I could via Netflix (which doesn’t offer all that much). I remember watching the movies and feeling like I was in some bizarre dreamland. The movies were very similar to Hollywood, but something was always off. Small things [...]
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This weekend I went to my first bodybuilding competition. Some friends from my gym were entering and I wanted to support them, while also realizing that the chance I’ll befriend bodybuilders again is about as likely as Bristol and Levi living happily ever after. It was interesting. I saw more muscles, more black bikinis, and [...]
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It has been an interesting week on the Korean peninsula… with many things happening related to the sinking of the South Korean ship, the Cheonan. On July 9, the UN Security Council released a statement about the sinking, “condemn[ing]” the attack but not placing the blame on North Korea. So, no new sanctions on Kim [...]
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I just finished Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. I bought this precisely because I wanted a non-sensational account of life in North Korea. I didn’t want to read about nuclear weapons or labor camps. In many respects, the handful of people Demick interviews do lead normal lives. They go to [...]
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