Korea Life in Korea

A week in the life (guest post on The Professional Hobo)

Thu, 02/03/2011 - 09:36 — chrisinsouthkorea

A version of this article was submitted as a guest post for The Professional Hobo.

As a full-time English teacher in South Korea, traveling is limited to my off-hours. With that said, I’ve made it a point to visit a new place, event, or festival every week since March 2008. While the lifestyle is conductive to travel, teaching English during the week is still a requirement to pay the bills.

Monday

YAKP (Yet Another Konglish Post)

Fri, 01/28/2011 - 11:09 — chrisinsouthkorea

Gacina is the name of the brand

we always survire the highest

suality will the clistingais hed

style and the design
we do the our best for

the top

‘Nuff said.

I prefer my 김밥 and 라면 dead, thank you very much.

Random pictures: the 39th part

Thu, 01/20/2011 - 07:53 — chrisinsouthkorea

As with other posts with a ‘Random Pictures’ title, these are photos that are too interesting to keep to myself, but didn’t fit in with any other post. Enjoy!

Yes, these are models. No, these are not zombies. If you were confused too, raise your hand. Seen in Myeongdong, Seoul.

Trouts, ice, and a wintry festival – Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival

Wed, 01/05/2011 - 15:29 — chrisinsouthkorea

Go vote for me on Hi Expat!

Author’s note: a version of this article appears in the January 2011 issue of the Groove.

I never thought I’d get to drive an ATV on ice, or take a dip in freezing-cold water to try catching a slippery fish by hand. I also never thought I’d see a frozen water wheel with icicles at an angle, and yet there it was.

Seoul to Chuncheon by subway (the Gyeongchun and Jungang line)

Mon, 01/03/2011 - 09:54 — chrisinsouthkorea

OK, so this might be a little old, but it happened as I was gearing up for vacation.

Travel around Seoul and Gyeonggi-do got a little bit easier as 2010 came to a close:

The Seoul subway system has featured posters such as these in every station I’ve visited recently. For the sake of non-Korean readers (and people who love reading about travel in South Korea), let’s break this down.

The state of the expat - looking to 2011

Thu, 12/30/2010 - 00:03 — chrisinsouthkorea

The year of 2010 was good for Korean expats. We saw a number of K-bloggers get married (congrats to Roboseyo and Brian in Jeollanam-do), get pregnant (congrats to Joe and E.J. @ ZenKimchi), get to do something other than merely blogging and teaching (congrats again to Joe @ ZenKimchi and also to Dan @ Seoul Eats), and get noticed by a larger community (including this K-blogger, who was featured on TBS e-FM, Arirang, and was published in almost every issue of the Groove magazine in 2010).

Important update on E-2 visa regulations

Thu, 12/23/2010 - 20:06 — chrisinsouthkorea

As you may have seen on Gusts of Popular Feeling, we're finally getting some clarification regarding the new visa regulations for the E-2 teaching visa. This should come as no surprise to those who know Korean ways, but that clarification had to be specifically asked for, as seemingly none had come on its own. Credit for receiving the clarification goes to professor Ben Wagner for asking the big question.

The verbiage coming from Korean Immigration is a bit dense:

Christmas - Korean style (2010)

Thu, 12/23/2010 - 11:48 — chrisinsouthkorea

Ask your average Korean to name the December 25th holiday, and all but the youngest child will be able to tell you the correct answer. Ask them what holiday happened on December 1-9 (Hanukkah), on December 21st (Yule), or will happen on December 26th to January 1st (Kwanzaa), and you'll probably get a puzzled look. With respect to these winter holidays, I'll primarily refer to the most common winter holiday celebrated in Korea.

Life in Korea: winter - what are you waiting for?

Wed, 12/22/2010 - 23:22 — chrisinsouthkorea

Author's note: 'Life in Korea' posts are written with the newer expat in mind - this is a great place to share your expertise if you have some!

Korea is quick to mention its four distinct seasons – indeed, 겨울 (gyeo-ul, or winter) is typically cold, dry, and surprisingly beautiful. Although winter isn’t the prime season for tourists, there’s plenty of things to see and do during Korea’s winter.

Three things to take when traveling around Korea - and three to leave behind

Fri, 12/17/2010 - 16:13 — chrisinsouthkorea

Fellow blogger Nomadic Chick recently blogged about what works and what doesn't in her travels. While traveling the world and traveling around a first-world country are two very different beasts, I thought I'd share three things you'll definitely want when traveling Korea, and three things you can safely leave behind.

MUST HAVE #1: Entertainment. An iPod Touch holds enough music and games to keep me entertained on even the longest bus or train rides. Finding an outlet while out and about may be a challenge, but you'll always have one in your hotel room for the night. Note that a good book, a Kindle, an iPhone, or other similar things will work as well.

Life in Korea: shipping stuff home - or - help, there's no UPS!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 07:32 — chrisinsouthkorea

So you just found that perfect thing for your mom and your brother from Breda's recent gift guide - now it's time to ship it home. Oh, snap - WHERE'S THE UPS AROUND HERE?!

While there are FedEx/Kinko's stores or Tara stores around (Tara's the local name for DHL), you're better off finding the closest Korean post office and taking it there instead. It's not only cheaper, but once you get past the language barrier, a bit easier to use than you might expect.

Here's a chart of how long stuff should take when using Korea's postal service:

Life in Korea: the 10 survival phrases in Korean you HAVE to know

Sun, 12/12/2010 - 12:24 — chrisinsouthkorea

Current Korean slang amongst expats

Fri, 12/10/2010 - 08:41 — chrisinsouthkorea

UPDATED x2 21 Dec 2010 with another big one.

UPDATED 10 Dec 2010 - a hat tip to the commenters for remembering some I forgot!

So what if the Korean language is not your first language? You can still use it in a way that's probably not used by the locals. These are the examples I've heard - or used - of recent:

chunner: referring to a 1,000 (cheon) won bill.

Do you have a chunner?

Give me a chunner and I'll buy you a Coke.

manner: referring to a 10,000 (man) won bill. Pronounced 'mahn-ner'.

Give me a manner and we'll call it even.

You know Korea is your home when... (part 9)

Thu, 12/09/2010 - 12:03 — chrisinsouthkorea

Korea Life in Korea

Presenting part 9 of the series, 'You know Korea is your home when...'.

Question from a reader: getting around Korea and the KR pass

Tue, 12/07/2010 - 20:29 — chrisinsouthkorea

A reader named H.W. writes in:

You really have a great blog about South Korea. It's nice to learn many things about South Korea from your blog. When I wrote my comment at your blog about Cheongok Cave, I really didn't know that you have this great blog. It's more amazing to realize that you are not Korean.
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