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Raising Kids In Korea: Blunt Comments From Ajjummas
It's often said that Koreans are blunt. I don't recall hearing any Koreans say that but plenty of foreigners that come to the Land of the Morning Calm do. I imagine if you grow up here, what we consider blunt is considered normal and what we consider polite and non-confrontational could be considered passive and aloof. Going out into public with the new baby is something I look forward to while at the same time brings a nervous jittery feeling I never had before when faced with stepping out my front door.
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What to Expect After Giving Birth in Korea
We’d made it. We had our bundle of joy, gave birth in Korea, and were no longer the expectant couple. We were now a trio ready to face the world… well sort of. Giving birth in Korea can be daunting and there is so much going on from finding doctors, going to hospitals or birthing centers, to setting up the home to be baby friendly. It’s easy enough to think that once the baby comes, everything is done. But it isn’t! One of the first things to do is to get the birth certificate and yes, you should get both the Korean birth certificate and the English birth certificate. There…
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My Top Ten Adventures of 2014!
This year was full of new adventures for me and for my husband and not all of them included travel. I used to think traveling someplace new was all an adventure could be but, this year I learned that adventures can come in all shapes and sizes and experiences. 1. New Orleans, Louisiana: For our trip home this year we didn’t exactly go home. Instead of heading to my home state of Ohio, we headed to the Big Easy with my family to celebrate some big birthdays. We enjoyed the beautiful historic buildings and homes that lined the streets of the French Quarter and filled our bellies with the very filling…
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Basic Survival Rules For A Night Out In Korea
Whether you’re looking for a riotous night out or not, Korean style nights are a lot to handle especially if you don’t know what to expect. The basic game plan for any night out in Korea is to last five rounds which cover five different locations and often cover multiple alcoholic beverages and food across a spectrum of delicacies. There might even be some fun Korean drinking games. Drinking in Korea is serious… make sure you’re ready if you plan to have a night out in Seoul. There are plenty of tips and tricks and even Korean hangover cures for surviving and actually enjoying a night out, so let me…
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Dating In Korea: How I Snagged a Korean Musician
Dating in Korea might be a bit different than whatever you’re used to. I’m not sure what you’re used to, but I can say none of it is as romantic as it is in Korean dramas. I think that should be obvious already, but for some reason, a lot of foreign women in Korea don’t seem to get that. Just like American dramas, dating in the US isn’t the same as a drama or as hilarious as in the sitcoms. You can find your partner in Korea, but you might not. Dating in Korea can be different. Here are some things to expect: (This post contains affiliate links, which means…
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Secrets of the Korean Post-Natal Hotel: Postpartum Recovery In Korea
One of the decisions to be made by Korean women after they have their baby is whether or not they will stay in a post-natal hotel (referred to as a ‘PNH’ in the rest of this article). Post natal hotels are the best postpartum recovery option in Korea. Commonly women will attend such a place for two to three weeks after the baby comes in order to recuperate and learn how to care for the new addition to their family. If they will not attend one of these places it is generally assumed that they will be staying with their mother or mother-in-law or the elder woman will come to…
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Pregnant In Korea: I’m Under Construction!
Eleven months ago we decided it was time to add a member to our family and the next thing we knew, just a month later, I was pregnant. Though my mother warned me multiple times this was something that couldn’t be planned, we somehow managed to plan it pretty well. Anyone that reads my blog may have noticed by now that I am a planner. It’s not that I can’t handle unplanned events or occasions but, I always figure it’s better to have a plan going in and even if things change, I’ll have some sort of idea of how to adapt and cope with the changes. It’s all about…
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Changdeokgung Palace & The Secret Garden Everyone Is Talking About In Seoul
Changdeok Palace (창덕궁), translated to mean the “Palace of Illustrious Virtue”, was the principal palace for many of the Joseon kings and sitting just up the street from the more famous Gyeongbukgung Palace, it warrants a visit any season of the year with one of the most beautiful gardens in the city. This palace in Seoul Korea is actually said to be the most beautiful in each season and needs to be seen in each season… so I hope you’re ready to go at least four times. Looking for some specific information? Skip around: (This page contains affiliate links. That means if you click on them and purchase something, I…
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A Look Back: Our Korean Wedding Ceremony
Three years ago at the end of October, my family from the States arrived to Seoul and we made our way down to Busan to prepare for my first wedding ceremony to my husband. Though it’s not our “official” anniversary because we chose our subsequent American wedding ceremony date in January, that doesn’t stop us from receiving a card yearly from my grandmother wishing us a “Happy Anniversary” in October. Every year about this time, the leaves begin to change colors and I am taken back to images of the colorful Hanbok that I wore for our ceremony surrounded by family and friends outside on a gorgeous day with blue…
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Pregnant In Korea: The Superstitions, The Benefits, & So Much More!
When I found out I was pregnant, the feelings of excitement, joy and of course some nerves washed over me. Being pregnant in Korea can have so many benefits and great things, but being a foreigner who is pregnant abroad can bring with it a whole new set of questions aside from the standards. What are the benefits of giving birth in Korea? What are the Korean pregnancy superstitions I should know? Where can I buy maternity clothing that fits me? When I was pregnant there weren’t any guides for being pregnant in Korea online to check out or much info in English at all about doctors and centers. My…
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The Yangnyeongsi Herbal Medicine Market: Experience Herbal Medicine In Seoul
Pharmacies, pharmacies everywhere, but did you know there are also herbal medicine markets and more holistic medicine places you can go in Seoul too? After living in Korea for many years, I become very interested in some of the more holistic ways that they take care of pain. After birthing, Korean traditional medicine recommends staying in very hot rooms and eating seaweed soup to produce more milk. When I have headaches or indigestion, my husband were ask where it hurt and then push on pressure points in my hands the way his other would do to him. Why take medicine when you don’t have to? Anyway, if you’re looking to…
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The Annual Seoul Fireworks Festival: A Guide To The Event & The Views
The Seoul International Fireworks Festival (서울세계불꽃축제) is a yearly event in Seoul that takes place in the Yeouido Han River Park area each autumn and it is stunning! Massive crowds arrive using all modes of transportation and not only is the Yeouido Han River Park packed, but the bridges are as well. Want to know how to see the fireworks in Seoul? Have a picnic before the fire flowers, as they call them in Korean, explode, or just have some fun near Han River? Here is what you should know to plan an amazing outing to see this festival in Seoul that is a must see event each year. Below…
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My Korean Husband Attended Our Baby Shower
Baby celebrations in Korea are a bit different from in the United States where I’m from. Koreans don’t usually have baby showers so I thought it was important to invite my Korean husband to my baby shower and let him enjoy this cultural celebration. It was a great way for him to see how we celebrate the impending birth in the States with silly baby games, gifts to help us prepare and friends that love us. Of course, we would do other celebrations the way Koreans do later, but this was an introduction for him on how we prepare for a baby in the US. (This post contains affiliate links,…
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Saying Goodbye to Summer with Blooming Cosmos
The winds have shifted and the cooler breezes have been blowing in to say autumn is here and winter is on its way. With autumn comes some amazingly colorful mountain views but also to delight, the cosmos bloom. It’s a flower that holds on until the end and seems to wave goodbye to summer and welcomes us in to autumn. It’s one of the last flowers to enjoy before the plants begin to wilt and turn brown winter ice and snow make their own beautiful scenes to view.The pinks and white of the blooms conjure up memories of the recent spring and summer fun we had frolicking outside with bare feet…
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Haedong Yonggung Temple & The Seaside Views In Busan
Buddhist temples are not terribly difficult to stumble upon while in Korea. There are temples in the middle of Seoul daring those that enter to just try and find quiet solitude and there are temples dotting the mountains across the country so any hike becomes that much more interesting with the addition of a tour of one. Rarely, though, do you find a seaside temple in Korea. Haedong Yonggung Temple (해동용궁사), which means Korean Dragon Palace Temple, is probably the most popular and widely known seaside temple in South Korea and it truly does live up to the hype that brings so many visitors to its gates in Busan, Korea.…
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Seokguram Grotto: Seoul’s Version
Seokguram Hermitage (경주 석굴암) is one of those places that makes it onto every list of top 10 temples, Buddhist sites or wondrous views while in Korea. If you haven’t heard about it yet, head over to my friend Dale’s website and read more about it there. As I’ve read the name and heard it again and again, though haven’t yet been the site myself, I recognized it when I came across the name in Korean as I sat on the side of Mt. Inwang in Seoul. Seokguram… Seokguram (인왕산 석굴암), when I realized why I recognized the name it made me all the more confused as to why there…
