#lifeinseoul

[lavishpink]

Bilingual Thoughts

How many languages do you speak? I mean fluently... that is. It is nothing to bost about these days but I speak two and have been studying for third..

I speak Korean and English. Back in the days (long long time ago) when I went to middle school and high school in the States, i used to have my thoughts in English. I guess that is natural when you live in an English speaking country and is exposed to everything English minus your immediate family.

Nowadays, even though I love to consume English contents, I do not have that many chances to speak English. I do watch Netflix in English without the subtitles and I do love reading books in English but as for speaking... there just aren't that many options.

So I find myself rusty sometimes. The incredible thing is that, whenever I travel or interact with group of English speaking people for over certain amount of time, I can feel my wheels turning and getting better at speaking within a very short amount of time. Human brain is amazing!! It is like there is a dormant part part of me that awakens sometimes.

Last Friday, my bookclub had our monthly booktalk meet upat a hummus restaurant at COEX mall (in Seoul). For November, we read "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner. Even though I had my teenage years in the states going to school as an asian girl and having super Korean parents, I had hard time relating to the author and did not find significance of reading this book. I was happy to find most of our members agreed with me and we chatted away~~~ in English. This book club is very special where it is consisted of small group of people who loves reading "actual" books, speaks English, and lives around Seoul all at the same time. It is rare to find these kind of people and I am very grateful to have met these wonderful group of readers. Our book talk usually bounces around a lot, and our conversation jumped from our book to topics in our lives and our experiences living abroad and so on. (not everyone in our group has lived abrod actually). I had so much fun that day, talking away in my second language and felt like there's this other version of me that comes out whenever I speak a different language. I am not saying which version is better or worse, but this is a very special experience.

Do any of you feel this way? ever? I am curious.

[theoreosisters]

New episode coming soon!

[wonderlifeofsara]

YONSEI UNDERWOOD INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE Q & A 연세대 언더우드 국제대학 | Korean Diaries

[jungjoobunny]

Saw this cute set of Go-Stop cards at my 92 yr old grandmas house. She doesn’t play but she says she likes to just touch them because it calms her anxiety or something. The next time I visited her, there was a big crack slashed across the plastic elephant case. I dont know why but seeing that made me sad. I hope she lives to see me get married. #데일리 #일상 #고스톱 #고도리 #화투 #elephant #korean #koreanculture #culturacoreana #seoul #lifeinseoul #자취 #자취스타그램 (at Seoul, South Korea) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0bdfHuBMu3/?igshid=pda8456ol725

[kim-isnt-seaweed]

20180810🌱 Today i have been home all day cleaning and taking pictures of my cat haha. Im a known homebody, or like my husband likes to call me “a house ghost” so it isn’t uncommon for me to not leave my house for days at a time, although there are days where i feel my body begging me to get spend some time outside, i wish i didn’t have to leave home just to spend time outside, maybe have a rooftop garden like many of my neighbors like this one. I don’t know if can see but they have tomatoes and peppers and just very beautiful to look at during the summer. My apartment does have a rooftop but the the previous owners left it completely ruined, i want to try to revive it but aside from me being terrible with plants just the thought of encountering a spider in those old dead pots and wood terrifies me haha O well one day i’ll face my fears, in the mean time i’ll look at my neighbors pretty plants🌱��🌶 . . . . . . . . . . . #서울 #seoul #ig_korea #seoulLife #seoulkorea #daily #sky #clouds #moments #capture #ISEOULU #korea #instaphoto #garden #imagineyourkorea #expatlife #summer #beauty #lifeinseoul #daytoday #photograph #marriedlife #국제커플 #me #travel #예쁘다 #인스타그램 #데일리그램 (at Seoul, Korea)

[ranamajid007]

Tired of eating Jjigaes, Kimbabs, and Mandus all the time, well this post will help you to explore some of my favorite foreign restaurants in #Seoul food 🇰🇷😋 It doesn't matter if you are new in #Seoul or have been living here for a long time, reality will always hit you in the face and you'll end up craving for your hometown food. So wanna try something different, why not getting a taste of #Mexican, #Indian, #Arabic, #Italian and Turkish food in Seoul? 🤩 Check out my top 5 international cuisine picks in Seoul. 1) Indian/Pakistani Food 🇮🇳🇵🇰 Restaurant: Indo Ya Sijang 인도야시장 Offers the best and the most authentic finger-licking Indian/Pakistani food. Located in Gangnam, it will always be my #1 preference. Tip: If you are on a date, don't forget to order Chicken Tikka & Chicken Biryani 🧆 2) Mexican Food Restaurant: KIM's Taco 김스타코 A heaven place for all the Mexican food lovers that offers the Best LA Style Mexican Food. Tip: I'd highly recommend trying Tacos and the Carne West Fries 🌮 3) Arabic Food Restaurant: Halal Guys 할랄가이즈 One of the best Halal food chains has come to Korea and has gained popularity among both foreigners and locals in Seoul. Tip: Their Chicken Platter is what I always flatter 🍗 4) Italian Food Restaurant: hyojadong Duomo 효자동두오모 Best Italian food that I ever tried in Seoul. I also loved it coz of its cozy environment & the location. Tip: Mushroom Risotto and Pappardelle al Barbera Caramellato Saltate is a must try 🥗 5) Turkish Food Restaurant: Mr. Kebab 미스터케밥 The list would be incomplete without Turkish food. And this place offers a rich diversity of Turkish cuisine. Located in Itaewon, this restaurant is one of the most loved restaurants by the locals and foreigners alike. Tip: If you are on a date, buy your girlfriend Dondurma (Turkish ice cream) but make her take it from the icecream man :) 🍧 Let me know which one is your favorite and if I have missed any food? ​#visitseoul#globalseoulmate #gsm2020 #livinginseoul #lifeinseoul #seoultips #lifeinKorea #Seoul #MajidMushtaq #ForeignersinKorea #MuslimsinKorea #IndianFood #Foodie #FoodGuide #weekend #마지드무스타크 #식당 #visitkorea #여행 #서울맛집 #pakistaniinkorea #pakistani (at Seoul, South Korea) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqNh8RpTRV/?igshid=1wewj9hyilv7y

[feryal-design]

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Feryalsurel. #lifeinparis #lifeinpink #lifeinthecountry #lifeintokyo #notinthislifetime #lifeinusa #lifeincolumbus #lifeinitaly #lifeinthemountains #lifeinnyc #lifeintravel #lifeinla #lifeinfrance #lifeingermany #lifeinindia #lifeinspain #lifeinbali #lifeinistanbul #lifeinseoul #lifeinaustralia #zinlife #lifeinthesouth #lifeinmotion #adayinthelife #lifeinthetropics #lifeinnorway #lifeintheuk #lifeinparadise #simplethingsinlife #dayinthelife https://www.instagram.com/p/B6LeZ3mJiij/?igshid=x54y9c6i5d06

[honestseoul]

Lonely Cafe Man - Korea Storytime

I used a lot of online things in the past to create friendships here in Korea I find its a good opportunity to meet people. But more often than not i end up with problems and this is a story about one of those problems.

Using a language exchange a man who we will just call "CafeMan" as to use real identity is rude and despite everything he said I will not ever reveal this.

Honestly I recognised his face but didnt think much of it until he found my Instagram and messaged me there too. I had seen previous chatlogs to which I remember one specific thing he said "Are you pretty?, korean guys are superficial they only have sex with pretty foreigners" I need to add here we never spoke about this subject and it made me extremely uncomfortable so I promptly stopped talking. I explained that I remember the conversation but due to the insta deletion option he quickly deleted it stating he didnt remember nor do it, and he was previously hacked.

I gave him benefit of the doubt....well I still assumed it was him but decided to move past it. We talked a lot, he mentioned his ex who was a foreigner who moved to Korea, he did everything for her and she apparently left him to do some job and become famous. I can get more specific but due to privacy again i will not. I genuinely felt bad he seemed like a nice guy.

But talking to him we butted heads a lot first being about tattooists, for context we were talking about foreigners who have the kpop/oppa hunter mentality who try to sleep with Korean guys in hope of this romance starting and he dropped a bombshell (I have screenshots of these interactions I may post later I just dont want him ever finding this) he written "Some of my friends they got AIDS for korean guys in hongdae" as you can imagine this caught me off guard maybe sick curiosity but I wanted to know more. So I asked questions and replied guys with tattoos so i asked further what he meant and he said "Half of girls get AIDS from sex with tattooist in hongdae" as I know some tattooists in Hongdae personally I was immediately ready to jump to defence. Because the way he worded it implied all tattooists I cannot confirm or deny that one tattooist actusally did do this but i dont like the generalisation of the professionals I know who are trying to make good reputations.

He went on to correct himself stating semi professionals or cheap tattooists but Im unsure if he only did this because i jumped at their defence but it was initially a bold statement to make. And then stated he knew a Netherlands girl who only wanted tattooists for free tattoos, again I cannot validate. But if true she is in the wrong too.

Time goes by and I'm in Korea. He repeatedly asks to meet but due to circumstances (with family/house hunting) I cannot and I explain this calmly but he gets increasingly annoyed but I assured him we would meet after a certain date as that was the day I would have no more stress and i meant it. But he still seems to get angry with me.

I had some house hunting issues and he offered me some help with a friend, which is nice and all but i politely declined as my friend was helping me, taking time away from her own work ao I didn't want more help because it would feel like I'm turning my back on her when she was trying so hard.

Also if I happened to log into a language/friendship app i had met him on he would find my acc screenshot the log in and like accuse me of meeting friends and not him, like it was weird since we didnt know eachother well and at that time usually I clicked in app like force of habit not with any intentions at that point, such as opening facebook and scrolling when you have nothing to do.

I would complain or vent about my situation in finding a place a lot. This is my bad i shouldnt complain, but i was stressed and sad, its my first time renting a place anywhere let alone a foreign country. And he kept stating and laughing saying i did not do anything to change my situation which wasnt true, I was skipping on on showing my family around korea so I could tend to these issues but he didnt see it that way. But he kept saying I denied his help and again I explained everything and some personal issues that where making the situation worse to which he said "ok lets stop talking about it" and we did for the time being.

And then the big issue happend he kept going on and on at me so I explained my deep personal issues which i dont feel comfortable saying to anyone, but I told him because he didnt seem to understand where my behaviour came from which is understandable in a sense I dont expect people to read my mind or just put the peices together thats no ones job but i went into details on hows and why and what. And he said he went through same thing but stated "I acted like only miserable person in the world" yes i was sad and vented but, i never went out and said i was always sad or i was only one going through stuff and before this moment i never ever mentioned what i was dealing with because i dont want to use it or people to know. He stated that i post on insta like a bitch so he didnt follow me. Yes i post on insta, either selfies or "photography" (i use it quotes as its just some shitty photos im not a photographer by profession) i failed to see how it was bitchy, was i more confident in this online world? Yes. But arent most people, i think this mentality is so common in the modern world it borders on stereotypical. The fact he didnt follow me didnt bother me (i wasnt followimg him) but he seemed to try and use this as ammunition to hurt me I suppose because I knew he didnt follow, it wasnt a point worth mentioning. Despite he posted himself as a model which he genreally wasn't he did like one shoot maybe in another country but hardly professional but also stated to me he wasnt a model previously and thought of it like prostitution but still tagged everything as model. But i never brought this hypocritical comment up.

I told him i deal with my issues in my own way (i didnt state how its not his buisness) as I do because i went and got help and learned whats good for me.

He then stated I was making my problems his and they werent his. I wasn't i just wanted him to know because he would constantly mock me for not doing what he wanted or said. He got offended by me declining and stated "Helping people is Korean culture and if you dont want help you should live alone in Korea"

After explaining how much guilt i felt for my friend helping me and dealing with my mentality (currently she doesnt know my personal problems either) I told him i was wrong for complaining and i wouldnt do it again and he said "you can complain" but that was where the problems began in the first place.

Thats where i cut him off, I didnt think the friendship if you can even call it what was healthy for either of us. We clearly didnt see eye to eye and thats fine, not everyone is the same. Not everyone gets along its life.

He tried to contact me 3 times within the last month i think, once on Kakao which was first saying "Lol bye", I had blocked him on Insta to save the drama and he went onto his works insta and messaged me there (I have screenshot)

Saying "lol you block me hahahaha bye" and he swiftly deleted it but i had already seen. Then once very recently he messaged me again on another social media saying "why'd you block me lol".

I responded to none of these, why? What good can come from it, it would only lead to arguing of some sort as it did when we tried to keep a friendship. I don't believe its worth the attempt. I am not the good guy in this, I did plenty of this wrong as you can see and its taught me sometimes you just cannot fight for some friendships as they're just not meant to be.

Ive been made aware by a mutual he has gone on to post stuff thats says "you are lonley you need internet friends. Well I have real friends get fuck out if my life I don't need that" I wont deny he has real friends but to complain at people who meet online when you spoke to me twice from Insta and Language app which are both online which is a contradiction to his statment. He then made another post saying why he could be a bitch or rude and people are stupid. I cant be bothered going into it and these may not be worded exactly but as I was shown by my friend as i do have him blocked.

- Its been a over a week since i written this, as I do go back on forth of if I should post this even though i don't give away any privacy of the individual in question.

But again all the stuff he said on his posts about people making online friends needed to get out if his life has since been removed and a renaming of his instagram. Due to the previous mutual friend I have the original post screenshots of these before he removed them but I am debating if posting is wise as people may recognise the posts even with the name of the acc removed and anything that would relate to his identity. Maybe I'm overthinking but if anyone has an opinion if i should show screenshots or not I'd be happy to discuss it. And sorry its so long winded, i didnt want to miss much as most are vital points or so I believe.

10th August update - despite the long rant he had cussing people out about making online friends he has tried to ince again add me on on of the friend/language exchange app. I thought i seen him 1 day prior but I wasnt so sure as the name didn't match and photo was difficult to see. But today I saw his old photo but under a nee name.

[streetrasheart]

Graffiti building #graffitibuilding #graffiti #seoul #korea #koreastreetart #streetart #koreaartist #murals #lifeinseoul #lifeinkorea #travel #explore

[kawaiifelting-blog]

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A post shared by Marie's Kawaii World (@maries_kawaii_world)

The new Yeonnam-dong cafe YND 223-14! You can hear all about the backstory on my YouTube channel! . . . . . . #yeonnamdong #yeonnamdongcafe #ynd #seoulkorea #seoulcafe #hongdaecafe #koreancafe #genic_korea #soulofseoul #lifeinseoul #koreanfoodlover #discoverkorea #kawaiilifestyle #mommylife❤️ #mommyvlogger #연남동 #연남동카페 #cartooncafe #drawingcafe (at Cafe 연남동 239-20) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrVCTFRAOAs/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1echwnojomm3b

[igeoaiseukeurimyeyo]

Daily routine and random stuff

I tried to do some Kalligraphy in a thing the International Office/ Buddy program organized, but I feel like I am not really good at it xD.

U/

And I went to the library the first time. It is a huuuge building even with a small cinema and a fountain in the building! I was not allowed to take pictures but I some really interesting posters outside, I wanted to share with you, even though I mostly don't know what they are about. 

Some more daily routine stuff. Did you know, Koreans stand in line for the bus. The campus shuttle bus as well as regular one. And I saw one really cute bus the other day, too!

Something I really enjoy is the International Festival they have on campus these days. They have games, karaoke, live music, a trampoline and international food. Me and Marie-Even (from my Korean Language class) were having a lot of fun today!

I also got invited to a classical music concert. One of my classmates knows one of the students who were performing there and asked me if I would like to join here for it. It was really nice and they looked all very neat and beautiful in their hanbok. 

And for my buddy program, we went to the Banpo Bridge at the Han-River and had some good time (except the part where they forgot me =/) and also organized olympic games. I was in the blue team!

I think that is everything for today. Bye =) 

[andhine-blog1]

Its not what we have in life, but who we have in our lives that matters 💗 #ceritaryu #babyryu #ryugagoestoseoul #therahmansseoul #lifeinseoul #wheninseoul #familyfirst #familygoals #gyeongbokgungpalace (di Gyeongbokgung Palace)

[theoreosisters]

Adulting with a Spoon

My dad always used to say, “Choices you face, how will you make them?” Or was it “Choices you make, how will you face them?” Okay I can’t quite remember what my dad used to say, and he hasn’t replied to my text yet, so we’ll just have to move on.

But you get the point, right? Before making a decision, we should think about the outcome of the options, weigh the pros and cons, and then try to make what we feel is a ‘good decision’ based on that. (I think my dad would proud of me for remembering what he said all these years later. Love you pops!)

Five girls, five different choices. Is one of them right and four of them wrong? Not necessarily. Most decisions come at a sacrifice of some sort – something that is worth sacrificing because of the benefit you get in the end. The sacrifice of Ella opening the bathroom hatch was that old dust and dirt fell on her face. But if you ask Ella, she’ll say that was worth it because her curiosity being cured was more important. If you ask Ali if she likes having to take Oreo out at 9:30am every morning for a walk even in rain and snow, she’ll say no she doesn’t like it. But for Ali, having Oreo in her life is worth making that daily sacrifice.

You get my drift, decisions you face, how will you make them, and then how will you face them after you’ve made them?

There’s no judgment in our house. We’ll there is, just not of each other. Joking! You saw how we judged the Chinese guys on the sixth floor – we assumed the best even without knowing them! We assumed they were as beautiful on the inside as they were on the outside. With that said, let’s get back to decisions and peanut butter.

We’re in South Korea – the land of cosmetic surgery and skin care. If you’d like to read about Korean Cosmetic Surgery, I suggest you read a different blog. I haven’t watched enough YouTube vlogs on it to know much about it. However, Korean skin care! Yessss I got you covered! A few of the girls decided that they wanted to get some treatments – nothing major – just hot lasers burning your skin and being stabbed with tiny needles.

Jeanne and Ari went first. After seeing their results, Miran wanted to do it too. I don’t know if I should call it laziness on Miran’s part or if it’s just because she has complete and total trust in Ari, but Miran didn’t look at all into the treatment that she made an appointment for. Ari knew about it and that was enough for Miran. She was Googling what the treatment was on the subway ride there. Ella also decided to make an appointment.

Each girl had to weigh the pros and cons financially. “You can’t have it all!” they say. I don’t know who “they” are, but I don’t like them. We’re happy we all only have to work part-time, but if we wanted to do these skin treatments, we would each have to cut expenses and save some money. Sacrifices would be made. Outfits would be lacking. Hearts would be broken. Spoons would be dirtied. Secrets would be kept. At that time, each girl had different financial circumstances so we would each have to make a different sacrifice. For one girl that sacrifice was postponing buying long-coveted lavender converse sneakers. For another girl it was, not spending money on a trip to Busan with some friends. For the other girl, the sacrifice was peanut butter - not that she was giving up peanut butter, the opposite.

Breakfast: peanut butter Lunch: peanut butter Snack: peanut butter Dinner: Ali’s leftovers from her dinner Midnight snack: peanut butter

I don’t mean a peanut butter and jam sandwich for every meal. I mean just peanut butter, on a spoon.

That’s where all the peanut butter was going! She didn’t tell us at the time that’s what she was only eating that and we didn’t really notice that she was eating peanut butter instead of buying actual food, but now thinking back to it, it was strange that there was always an excessive amount dirty spoons in the sink day after day.

We finally realized that this was the reason for the constant outage of peanut butter in the house. If you ask that girl, if she regretted getting her skin treatment at the cost of not being able to afford food for a week and therefore eating only peanut butter, she’d say that she loves peanut butter so she feels it was basically a win win situation.

So, future decisions we have to make, how will we face them? We’ll just put the spoon in the peanut butter jar and use our other hand to apply lip gloss and flip our hair. Bring it on!

P.s. Oh and the peppermint tea? A box of 20 tea bags divided by 5 girls – one of whom is British – well of course we were always out of tea. We shouldn’t have judged the imaginary man in the hatch assuming he was stealing our tea.

[wonderlifeofsara]

It’s been more than 2 years that I’ve been writing about #vegan places and vegan food in Korea and in that time I’ve picked up some helpful tricks - now all in my little guide to finding vegan & vegetarian food in Seoul! 🙈 You can find on my blog all the little tips on how to stay for a longer time in Seoul eating delicious plant based food! ❤️ Includes restaurant finders & tips from @vegefeed, how and from where to get delivery (featuring @plantcafeseoul and @sprout_seoul) and much more to make even #onemonthinseoul easier! 😍 Pictured are my favorite cakes from @pyeongsangshi 💕 #unicorn #unicornfood #visitseoul #globalseoulmate #gsm2020 #livinginseoul #lifeinseoul #seoultips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #vegangirl #외국인모델 #foodie #foods #healthyfood #plantcafe #평상시 #healthyfood #veganseoul #vegansofig #veganfood #foodstagram #맛스타그램 #인스타푸드 #veganfoodspace #비건유튜브 #유튜버 #veganyoutube #생활 #lifestyle (Seoul, South Korea에서) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBiTBXgBAy4/?igshid=tt8j8nqhb36

[jungjoobunny]

Katy Perry should have sang Do you ever feel like an inside-out watermelon? Plastic bag is so cliche . . .

[kim-isnt-seaweed]

20180815 🇰🇷 Today is Liberation Day in Korea - #광복절 -it's a harsh topic to talk about, given all the horrible things that happened in that time (that wasn't too long ago btw) and all the tough sentiments still being held on to, by both major parties. So it is best to leave the teaching up to Google. This monument near Seodaemun prison is dedicated to the patriotic martyrs that fought and suffered for Korea's freedom. You can't see it in this picture but the engravings are a little graphic since they depict what happened up until the day it all ended. Anyway, I just wanted to say happy Liberation Day to the beautiful country I call home! A true example of strength and a powerful will to overcome every obstacle life can present. Full of people with the most amazing fighting spirit i have ever come across!♥ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #seoul #ig_korea #korea #seoulkorea #instaphoto #picture #daily #beautful #photography #ISEOULU #life #expstlife #asia #imagineyourkorea #history #love #flowers #lifeinseoul #데일리 #인스타그램 #한국 #사진 #예쁘다 #사랑해 #데일리그램 #seul #todayinhistory (at Seoul, Korea)