What a Korean Family of Three Actually Spends in a Month

On the 25th of every month, my credit card statement lands. Last month I caught myself staring at the total, thinking, “Where did all of this even go?” So instead of shrugging it off like usual, I opened my banking app and broke it down, line by line — me, my wife, and our seven-year-old … Read more

Raising a Kid in Korea: What It’s Actually Like

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

Korean Kids Cafes: Why They’re Everywhere

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