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It’s Our Cotton Anniversary & Finding A Home In Korea
Today is our second wedding anniversary! Time really flies when you’re having fun. I hadn’t even realized the cotton anniversary was upon us until it was here. Has it really been two years? Yes, it has and this year we’re thankful for not only each other but also moving into a new place where we can cozy up on our couch in our pajamas together to call our home for the foreseeable future. (This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a certain percentage of a sale if you purchase after clicking. These funds go to maintain the site. Thank you for your support.) Waking up in a place…
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My Top Ten Adventures of 2013!
2013 was a great year for traveling. Not only did I get to see some fantastic places in Korea, but I also enjoyed quite a few trips abroad. Here are the top 10 places, here and abroad, that I saw in 2013. What a year! 1. Fukuoka, Japan: We started off the year with a trip to Fukuoka, Japan in February. It seems as the end of winter nears we always start to get a little cabin fever, not that we live in a cabin, or that we completely hibernate all winter, but we just need to get away. I had been to Fukuoka before, as had my husband, but this…
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The Addresses They Are A Changin’ in Korea
Have you been getting letters in the mail in Korean and you can’t read anything except that you see your address is printed in the center or at the bottom with an arrow to another address? Have you been getting emails from your bank telling you to go online or to your nearest branch and update your address to the new system? You may have gotten an English letter from the immigration office some time back if they have your updated address on file, which they always should. Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t, or maybe you have and you didn’t realize it. The addresses are about to change big…
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Our Christmas Story In Korea
Twas the night before Christmas, and next to the tree the husband and cats were fast asleep awaiting the arrival of he. Who was the “he” that they waited for there? The postman of course, as Santa hasn’t found us since we were in daycare. The tree was done up with ornaments and lights, and the star was on top leaning slightly to the right. The handmade stockings were hung on the TV stand just there, and we were sure the cats would attack them with flare. The postman did not arrive as timely as we’d hoped, and as Christmas morning dawned, we could only cope. Our friends would be…
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Crazy Multiply!
Crazy Multiply is an art collective based in Seoul, Korea that promotes contemporary Korean and international artists. They aim to bring artists and musicians together and explore different themes in a variety of mediums. According to Amy Smith, one of the founders and curators, Crazy Multiply started from a desire to show their own work. A friend departing Korea wanted to have an art show before departure and a roommate suggested paring it with some music and thus an idea was born. The first few shows went so well, Amy Smith along with Olivia McNair and Laura MacDonald chose a name and the collective was established in the hopes that…
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My First Press Tour
I’m pretty jazzed about my first press tour experience: two days all expenses paid down to two places in Korea I hadn’t been to yet with reporters from Russia, China and Korea traveling with diplomats from Venezuela, the Czech Republic, Russia and the head of the Korean Tourism Organization, Charm Lee. The other reporters weren’t the competitive paparazzi type, but low key, eager to share their stories and contact information type and the diplomats were important political types but with down to earth smiles and were clearly used to and even gracious with so many people taking their pictures at every stop we went to. I hadn’t realized we’d be…
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I Hear Your Voice: Musicians and Actors Collide
This week, the number one drama across the country for the past six weeks, I Hear Your Voice (너의목소리가들려) wrapped up production and aired the final episode. The after party for the very popular show was probably as you would expect: very famous people with lesser famous people with a bunch of staff that wanted photos with each one of the famous people. I was in attendance with the music team and let’s be honest, the show would not have been nearly as great without the amazing musical talents of Sung-nam Moon and Jae-oo Jeong of Every Single Day, Sung-hoon Choi of Romantisco, Cha-sik Jung of Rainy Sun, Hee-chan Kang…
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First Meeting: The Korean Women of the Family
Two weeks ago, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law both called to ask what I wanted for my birthday. I’m getting better at telling them what I need, because I’ve realized when left to their own devices they get me things that aren’t me at all either because what they’re giving me is what Korean family members usually give each other, or they just don’t know me all that well due to the obvious language differences. I’m still not sure which is the case, to be honest. I can explain things in Korean until I’m blue in the face, but when it comes to showing my personality, my real personality, it’s a…
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A Korean Deals with Sarcasm
The second time he came home with me, it was summer and everyone was more comfortable. Jae-oo knew where things were in the house and could get them on his own, though he still wanted me to help him find things in the kitchen, and my family was now comfortable enough to wear pajamas in front of him in the morning. With guards let down, it was inevitable that this would be the first time to really see if there was any discomfort between people without the fake ‘nice to meet you’ smiles on. The novelty of dating a foreigner had somewhat rubbed off and people were starting to act…
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Getting My F6 Visa In Korea… The End
Take two. I’m going through the process to get my F6 visa here in Korea. Up until this point, I had gathered my passport, my Korean marriage certificate and through a slight debacle hadn’t yet gotten it translated, notarized and authenticated at the US embassy. So, here we are… After going home to the States and coming back at the end of January, I wrote the addresses of the two nearest offices that could translate and notarize our Korean marriage certificate for us once more for Jae-oo. Since I was still on vacation from school I went with him this time to make sure the translation and notarizing was done…
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Getting My F6 Visa… The Beginning
After two wedding ceremonies and a month vacation in the States, we finally made it back to Korea and after a week of resting from the vacation got our rears in gear to get everything filed for the F6 visa. We had started the process a few months ago, but after Jae-oo inadvertently made me make an unecessary trip to the American Embassy, I pushed everything aside until we were definitely ready to get serious about it. At the start, those months back, I had scoured the internet for information on what was necessary and what to expect of the process, but came to the conclusion that it all depended…