It’s lunchtime on a weekday in Gangnam (강남, Seoul’s main business district), and almost everyone walking back toward the office towers has a coffee in hand — a takeout cup they haven’t finished, headed back to their desk. Some are hot, some are sweet blended drinks, but the one you’ll spot most is the iced … Read more
Every morning, I make a choice. Comfort, or one more hour of sleep. The answer is always the same. Sleep. People who truly hate the packed train wake up an hour earlier. Not that leaving an hour early gets you an empty car — there’s no such thing as an empty subway car in Seoul. … Read more
The first time a foreigner asked me how old I was, I froze for a solid two seconds. Not because the question was rude — it wasn’t, at least not to me — but because I genuinely didn’t know which answer to give. My Korean age? My international age? In Korea I’d just say a … Read more
A lot of foreigners probably picture it like this: the Korean office worker chained to his desk until the boss leaves, then dragged out to drink soju until he can’t see straight, working until midnight and going drinking until 2 AM. And look — that picture wasn’t completely made up. Fifteen years ago, there was … Read more
Three years ago, I signed a jeonse (전세, “key money”) lease on my apartment in Seongnam for 410 million won — roughly $300,000. I handed that entire amount to my landlord. Not as a down payment. Not as a purchase. Just to rent the place. Today, that same apartment’s jeonse deposit has climbed to 570 … Read more
Last month, I was sitting in a car at Everland’s Safari World when my daughter completely lost it — in the best possible way. A giraffe had wandered right up to the vehicle, close enough to see its eyelashes, and she grabbed my arm and screamed so hard I thought she’d burst something. She’s seven … Read more
It’s a Saturday afternoon and my seven-year-old daughter is on her knees beside a shallow plastic pool, scooping up little magnetic fish with a toy rod. Every fish she catches gets swapped for a coin at the counter. With those coins she feeds an arcade claw machine, loses, feeds it again, wins a gummy snack … Read more
The first time a foreign colleague joined our team chat on KakaoTalk, he sent me a private message within ten minutes. “Why does our manager have three different names in here?” he asked. “And one of them is just… Tony?” I had to laugh, because I’d forgotten how strange it looks from the outside. In … Read more
When I was in elementary school, I watched a movie called Hackers. You know, the 1995 one with Angelina Jolie and rollerblading through New York. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. Then I watched Live Free or Die Hard and decided — yeah, I want to be that person. The one … Read more
A friend from the U.S. once asked me, completely serious: “Do you eat Korean BBQ, like, every day?” I laughed so hard I almost choked on my instant ramen. Look — Korean BBQ is amazing. I love it. But eating it every day would be like an American having Thanksgiving dinner on a Tuesday morning. … Read more