On Dec 21 which marks the start of winter and is the shortest day it is tradition to eat Patjuk which is a sweet bean rice porridge. We had it for lunch at school but it was quite sweet and felt more like a dessert than a main course mealThis year winter is about 5 or more degrees higher than it was last year when I kept hearing it was the coldest winter in years. Last year we had daytime highs of close to zero and we even got snow flurries which settled on the g...

It was announced on Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died on Saturday night. While some might think this is cause for celebration we should be more cautious. North Korea has long been perparing for this event and grooming various sons to take over the role. It seems they have picked his third son, although all sons are reported to have had bizzare behaviour habits in the past like sneaking in to Tokyo Disneyland on a fake passport. Third son Kim Jong-U...

Recently this issue has become a lightening for debate due to a blog interview and budget cuts in Seoul 1) A blogger interviewed a korean highlighting many of the problems of foreigners living and working in korea. This sparked controversy on the blog site and many other discussion threads as many felt these were gross exaggerations and did not describe them accurately, although there were some truths also Article : What do Koreans Really Think of Native English ...

Daegu City is walled in along its norther border by the Mount Palgong mountain range that runs east west for about 30 km. The Mt Palgong mountain range has played an important role in local history and the spiritual culture of the region for centuries. The mountain range is a popular hiking trail, and home to several of Daegu's most famous temples. This weekend I went with some friends to visit a couple of these historic sites and temples. Our first stop was the ...

I had a long love/hate relationship with my first apartment. When they first drove me up to it I hated it and didnt want to go in. When I did I wanted to walk out but had to be polite having just arrived an a new country with a new job so just smiled and said it was nice. I dont think anybody had lived there, there were cobwebs everywhere and needed to be scrubbed several times, including the ceiling. Another early problem was the drains which just had a constant...