Daily Life
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Finding a New Normal: What We Miss Most about Korea
Now back in the United States for a couple of months, we’ve been enjoying some of the comforts of home. Catching up with friends and family has been a highlight of our return. However, it’s also been a time of reflection on those parts of our South Korean experience that we really miss. Grief is a normal part of culture shock, and part of coping is understanding that conflicting emotions are okay. It’s okay to miss home and also to feel really excited about living in a new place. It’s also okay to feel happy to be home but also to grieve for the place you left. Few life transitions…
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Returning to “Normal”: Hitting the Easy Button on Stateside Life
We loved our experience of living in Seoul and wouldn’t trade that time for anything. It was hard to leave a city we had come to love and the people who made our year really special. As happy as we were, we knew that parts of life in a different culture and with a significant language barrier were very stressful at times. The moment we landed in Hawaii, our first stop in the U.S. after leaving South Korea, we were reminded of how much easier life’s simplest tasks are when you are in a familiar culture and speaking your first language. Here are some of the first everyday “easy button”…
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A Chemical Mystery: Navigating the Unpredictable Course of Research
Did you know that research scientists and detectives have some things in common? Research often does not go according to plan, and sometimes in the lab you stumble upon something unexpected and mysterious. If you’re lucky, you can follow the clues to solve a mystery that you didn’t originally set out to solve. This is the story of how my biggest discovery during my sabbatical year at Seoul National University (SNU) was not in the research area I set out to study. It’s not a disappointment, nor is it something that really surprises me. In this post I’ve described the chemical mystery that I stumbled upon and how I solved…
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Making “Framily” with Seoul International Hikers Club
When we considered what it would be like to move to a large city in a new country, especially in the middle of a global pandemic, it was impossible to know what it would be like. Would social activities be allowed? Would we find other people willing to meet strangers during a pandemic? Would we make friends? Even though we had some ideas about how we might meet people, I think we were semi-prepared to spend a lot of time alone. Within a month of our arrival in Seoul, I found the Facebook group for the Seoul International Hikers Club (SIHC). The introduction to the group says, “We are a…
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How to Pack for Korea: The Wins and the Regrets
Packing for a year in South Korea was remarkably difficult. Never having traveled here before, we had a hard time managing our expectations about what we would and would not be able to find easily. We figured the chemist might be able to find some clothes and shoes to fit him if needed, but as a taller woman I was afraid to count on finding anything in Korea that would fit me. Plus, we are #1 cheap and #2 efficient, so we weren’t willing to bring extra bags or to add weight beyond what the airlines allot for free. We found lots of packing lists on the internet, and for…
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Somebody call 1-1-9! How to Access Healthcare in South Korea
We are happy to report that thus far, we have not required any emergency services while living in Seoul. (Everybody knock on wood with us, please!) In an emergency here, you call 1-1-9 instead of 9-1-1. Easy enough for us to remember, though hopefully we never need it! After six months of living in South Korea, all visitors not already registered by their employer are required to enroll in the National Health Insurance (NHI) Program. Our case was unique in that the chemist ended up on a student visa, so he is not covered under an employer and had to register with the NHI after eight months instead of six.…
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Korea Winter Trekking in a Nutshell: Outside Seoul
“Oh, South Korea should be beautiful this time of year, with all that snow.” “Well, must be wonderful in South Korea this time of the year. All that underwear!” So sums up our frigid, snowy South Korean winter, though I might have paraphrased a bit… (Extra props to those who can identify this set of wintry quotable quotes!) We hiked so much over the winter that we’re not trying to post separately about each hike. Instead, this post will be a “photo album” representative of our favorite chilly treks outside of Seoul, with brief information about where to find each trail for those who may find themselves hiking in future…
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Korea Winter Trekking in a Nutshell: Seoul
Now that spring has sprung in South Korea, it feels as though the winter flew by in a blur. Many months ago, we were determined that we would not lose our whole winter in Seoul just sitting inside. And with COVID restrictions, being indoors in public spaces often was not an option. Having been warned about the low temperatures and cold winds that are common in this mountainous country, we brought along our warmest layers and prepared to spend time outside no matter the weather. Small groups of intrepid hiking friends joined together to tackle often icy, snowy trails, often comparing how many layers of thermal underwear each person had…
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Hate is a Virus: A Foreigner’s Perspective on the Pandemic in South Korea
Although the one-year anniversary of the global pandemic declaration has passed, this week marked one year of COVID-19 impact for our household. One year ago this week, the “distant” pandemic became real, as Peter’s university quickly made the decision to go on-line and the hospital where I worked began scrambling for PPE and isolation rooms for patients we knew would present with the novel coronavirus. My gym closed, our church stopped all in-person meetings, and our plans with friends were canceled. It all got very real, and that was before we witnessed the overwhelming loss of human life that was to come. Experiencing the effects of a pandemic first in…
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Good Grief! What’s so Shocking about Culture Shock?
If you’ve ever traveled outside of your hometown, you probably are familiar with the highs and lows of experiencing a culture different from your own. Traveling (even to another state or city) can be exciting, challenging, and full of learning opportunities. It also can be scary, frustrating, and overwhelming. Add a worldwide pandemic into this mix, and you have a recipe for lots of potential stress. The term culture shock describes the mixed emotions and sense of disorientation that are commonly felt by travelers to a culture different from their own. As I’ve spent my social work career helping people coping with grief and loss, I find it helpful to…
