I still remember my first week in Busan, standing in the dark alley behind my one-room near Kyungsung University, holding a bag of rotting food waste and staring at a pile of unlabeled garbage bags. I had no idea what went where, and honestly, I was terrified a neighbor would yell at me in Korean. … Read more
I still remember the knot in my stomach during my third month in Bundang. I was sitting in a tiny office near Seohyeon Station, staring at a contract written in complex legal jargon, while my boss told me that my “probationary period” meant I didn’t qualify for the standard severance pay. I nodded along, terrified … Read more
I still remember my first January in Songdo. I had just moved into a shiny new high-rise apartment, feeling pretty smug about the whole “modern Korea” thing. Then I got my first heating bill. I sat on my cold floor, staring at a number that looked more like a phone number than a utility charge, … Read more
I still remember my first week in Gangnam. I was standing outside Exit 10 of Gangnam Station, completely overwhelmed by the neon lights and the sheer speed of the crowd. I tried to hail a taxi, but the driver waved me off because he didn’t want to deal with the traffic. I tried to order … Read more
I still remember standing in line at the Ansan Driver’s License Examination Office, staring at a clipboard full of Korean forms that looked like ancient hieroglyphics. I had been living in Ansan for a few months, navigating the multicultural street with ease, but the moment I tried to convert my home country’s license, I hit … Read more
I still remember the sting of my first major cultural misstep in Busan. It was a Saturday night in Gwangalli, and I was out with a group of Korean coworkers. We were sitting at a crowded pocha (tent restaurant) with a view of the bridge, and I casually poured myself a glass of soju. The … Read more
I still remember standing inside a tiny real estate office near Suwon Station, staring at a whiteboard covered in numbers I couldn’t decipher, while the agent rattled off terms like “bog-jeung-geum” and “gwan-ri-bi” at lightning speed. I had just moved to Gyeonggi-do, had a decent job offer, and thought I was ready. I wasn’t. I … Read more
I still remember my third week in Gwangalli. I had just paid my deposit, my realtor fee, and my first month’s rent, and I was staring at my bank account wondering how I was going to eat for the rest of the month. The beach view from my one-room was gorgeous, but you can’t eat … Read more
I still remember standing in the crowded Sinchon Station underpass, sweating through my shirt, clutching a folder of documents I wasn’t even sure were the right ones. I had already failed the written test once because I didn’t realize the English test had a different question bank than the Korean one. I thought I could … Read more
I still remember standing in a Hongdae phone shop my first week in Seoul, sweating through my shirt while the clerk rattled off plan details in rapid-fire Korean. I nodded like I understood, walked out with a contract I couldn’t read, and spent the next month praying my bank account wouldn’t get drained by hidden … Read more