10 things that irk me about Seoul

Note: this list should not be construed as any indication that I’m not loving my time and life here in Seoul. When living anywhere, however, there’s bound to be more than a few ways that irk you in one way or another. After living in South Korea for six...

10 things I LOVE about Seoul

It’s been six months living in South Korea as of today! After nearly six months living life in Seoul, there are quite a few things I’ve found I love about Seoul. Here they are, in essentially the order I thought of them (which is essentially random): 1)...

The normalcy of life (AKA the surrealness of it all, part 2)

Wow… Three months here, and life is so… normal… Get up, go to work, take a break after lunch, teach some more classes, make the most of every free hour or during the weekend… Sounds so… normal, doesn’t it? Yes, life does become...

Life in Korea after 2 1/2 months

After about 2 1/2 months of living in Korea, it’s about time to start thinking about what it’s done to me. Life in Korea has truly opened my eyes to the world – not just Korea. The global mindset is dominant in talking to people who have traveled to...

I’m officially an alien!!

Part of being a legitimate expat / Korean is getting your alien registration card – the card that lets the Korean government know you’re here legitimately. I’m sure the US has something similar for those who enter the country legitimately, but I...

Traveling around Seoul

So far I’ve had little problem getting around Seoul – once I got used to the subway system and it’s quirks. Looking at signs isn’t usually the problem, since there’s enough English to go around. One problem that cropped up recently was...

The apartment

For being something provided gratis by my employer, I can’t really complain – it’s actually a lot nicer than I expected. Walk into the ‘main’ room – complete with a dining room table and door to the bathroom. Walk a few steps...

Flying / deep vein thrombosis

I hadn’t flown since the 1990’s, so I was a little apprehensive – again, no problems with making it from point A to point B. Before you relax too much, look at how much time you’ll have between landing and boarding for the next flight. Budget...

I made it!!!

So I made it to South Korea!!! After three legs, about 20+ hours in the air, a couple layovers, a taxi ride, and meeting my new boss, I was introduced to my apartment late last night about 11pm local time (that’s about 10am for all of you still in the Eastern...

Just a couple days now…

Wow, so much has happened in the last few days that I’m still reeling a little, so we’ll start by reviewing… Over last weekend, I traveled to the Korean consulate in Chicago to give them their required paperwork and have an interview. Although I...