Hunkering down for Chuseok, again

It’s Chuseok time again in Korea and for the next three days the country will be on vacation mode with around 20 million Koreans heading back to their hometowns to be with families or others just staying put. (With the Swine Flu scare, many Koreans are doing just that—staying at home and avoiding crowded buses [...]

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Yobo! — The night a Korean man thought I was in his apartment with his wife

I’ve had my share of “eventful” and “fun” evenings in Korea these past 19 years, but perhaps none more eventful, comedic, and surreal the night a Korean man thought I was in his apartment with his wife.
It was back in 1991, about two months after I had arrived in Korea. I was living in this [...]

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A War Was Once Fought Here

Once or twice a month, I board a bus at the Dongbu (East Terminal) Bus Station in Daejeon for about an hour and forty-five minute bus ride to Seongnam.
It’s my day out, as it were, to meet some friends, have lunch, do some shopping and then come back to Daejeon in the evening. I’ve come [...]

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Serving up Chicken, Korean-style

From the moment I had my first taste of Korean food-a hearty bowl of that famous vegetable and rice medley, Bibimbap-when I first arrived in Korea, I have been a big fan of Korean cuisine.
Over the years I have come to enjoy a variety of Korean food especially some of the spicier chigae dishes and [...]

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I’ve been in Korea for a very long, long time

That’s how I sometimes feel when someone asks me how long that I have been here; however, the other day was when it really hit me. Didn’t hit me hard or anything. Just kind of made me stop and think about how long I really have been here.
I was walking across the Woosong University campus [...]

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In like a Lamb…

Well, that’s how March began here in Daejeon today-a sunny and mild Sunday afternoon.
Tomorrow the spring semester begins but I don’t have my first class until Wednesday. Two more days of vacation and then I only have one class on Wednesday and one on Thursday. Next week it will be a full schedule.
My third year [...]

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Good to Go

Today I went to the Daejeon Immigration office, dropped off some paperwork-including the paperwork for a criminal background check and health check-paid my 60,000 Won and ten minutes later, I was good to go for another year in Korea.
It was down to the wire, too. My visa expired last Saturday and I still hadn’t gotten [...]

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Korea’s Winter Expression

As winters come and go in Korea, this winter hasn’t been as cold as other ones.
Although it has warmed up a little the past few days, we can still count on a few more frigid days ahead before spring arrives. Nonetheless, when I am not bundled up and trying to stay warm when I am [...]

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“I’m Henry the Eighth I am…”

Okay, for the record I want to emphasize that I have never, I repeat never fancied myself or considered myself to be much of a singer. I’m the kind of person that can carry pretty much anything but not carry a tune. Heck, I’m not even a good singer in the shower.
In elementary school we [...]

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Go Chicken

After fighting another round of the Chinese New Year crowds/shoppers at Home Plus and not too keen on walking the two miles (give or take a couple hundred yards or so) back to my room in the freezing cold, I decide to grab a taxi outside Home Plus.
“Jik-jin (go straight) chuseyo (please),” I tell the [...]

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