Being under the weather is never fun for anyone but it can be an especially crummy ordeal if you’re ill and in a foreign country. From communication barriers to navigating the country’s medical system, being sick abroad comes with more challenges and frustrations than one would like- especially if you’re not at your 100 percent.
If you happened to have just climbed off your airplane, or, like me, have been here for 18 years, you will soon notice, it is not just currency differences we need to change – we also need to change our attitudes for we have been conditioned differently from Koreans; it is not just our language
During my time here in South Korea it has been a pleasure, most of the time, for I have found Koreans, mostly accommodating and kind, especially to foreigners. But one thing really nags me – it’s those times that I am just walking along the pavement, minding my own business, when suddenly, “woooooooooooooshhhhhhhhhhh!” Something just
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
I’m a native teacher at an English academy. To be more specific, I’m a substitute native teacher. I’m sent to different campuses when a permanent teacher takes days off. Some pro’s are that I see different parts of Seoul, get well-acquainted with the public transportation system, and meet lots of people. The con’s are that depending
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
I’ve already, in my two months teaching, come to realize that the last teacher is always the best teacher. And this is okay, because next round that will be me those demanding parcels of energy romanticize. They will, at some point after I’ve gone, forgotten all the work pages I’ve assigned and harsher than normal
