K-Appreciation

I am a Kiwi girl who has had a bit of a love affair with all things Korean for a number of years now. I finally packed my things and headed off to the land of kimchi last year and since then I've had many adventures in this weird and wonderful place. Here you will see tidbits and tales of discovery as I navigate a new culture.

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It’s a fall wonderland!

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Same park only a week earlier.

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Two weeks later and it’s a winter wonderland.

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My first snowfall in Seoul was all kinds of magical.

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My pretty city.

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A damn dam. #chuncheon#soyang#korea#winter#snow춘천

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This is my beloved Daegu, my first hometown in Korea. I love these streets, bad smells and all.

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This lovely ad popped up on my Facebook wall. It’s wrong on so many levels, and this isn’t even the worst thing I’ve seen. Women in this country are bombarded with more messages about needing to be thin and beautiful than anywhere else I know of.  Most of them also correspond to the necessity of finding a man to make you feel secure and good about yourself. Many, like this ad say that the only way you could find that kind of happiness is to be the right kind of attractive.

It makes me sad to see that my beautiful little students already believe this stuff. They’d rather I tell them they were pretty than hear that they were smart.

Excuse me while I go rebel by eating a whole bunch of sugar.

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In Korea it's not strange to eat standing up, slurping over a hot bowl of something as an ahjumma looks on. The more noise you make, the more compliments to the chef.

After a long weekend, some udon hit the spot right before we boarded the bus for the long journey home to Seoul.

These stalls are pretty cheap and not bad for the quantity of food and the taste. It's usually around 5,00won or less for a pretty filling snack. Good value food is something Korea does really well. No excuses for an empty belly here!

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Just when I was beginning to think Korea was devoid of all natural beauty, the fresh air and lush greenery of Mt. Seorak (Seoraksan) convinced me otherwise.

A weekend away with friends was exactly what was needed to recharge and refresh. The crisp air, full of beautiful oxygen and fragrant plants helped reset my brain.

Never underestimate the power of a weekend away to make you appreciate where you are.

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Don't be scared of ahjummas with spatulas! Usually they're doing something gastronomically amazing.

Ok, so I couldn't partake in this particular meal, but I heard that this was the best Abai Sundae (a squid stuffed with rice, spices, and various deliciousnesses) we had all weekend. She drew us in with her smiles and promises of side dishes.

It turned out we had to order two servings to get the free stuff, but nobody complained too much and it was demolished fairly quickly.

Abai Sundae gets a big thumbs up from these waygookins!

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Cheap thrills.

In Korea you can buy fireworks all year round. We took advantage of this and had some fun with long exposure.

If you want some fun for only a few thousand won, I highly recommend grabbing some sparklers and roman candles from your local CU convenience store and lighting them up.

Probably best if you're on a beach or somewhere away from animals and babies though! Be safe!

Nothing gets you reliving those Guy Fawkes antics than holding a roman candle and resisting the urge of shooting it at someone. Wait, what!? I never did that...

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