My New Blog

Since returning to Korea I've begun a new blog, which is a little more personal and fun than this one. I will try to keep up with it once the semester starts, but I imagine I'll be quite busy once I'm officially a grad student.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my new blog, and you can also follow me on Twitter: @BredainKorea. Thanks!

Check Out My France Blog!

I'm leaving tomorrow to spend a month in France with my younger brother. If you want to follow our journey, please check out my travel blog. Au revoir!

So Long, and Thanks for the Lingerie

Today is my last day as a teacher at Uijeongbu Girls Middle School, and I can't help but ruminate on my Korean experience.

Exactly two years ago I first sat on a plane bound for Korea. I remember anticipating some kind of dramatic culture shock upon arrival, but it never happened. Rather, I found there are aspects of daily life that seem strange at first but quickly become normal, and then there are deeper cultural differences that you don't even notice initially.

At my school for instance, students giving hugs and shouting, "I love you!!" was odd in the beginning, but now I'm used to it. This week I've gotten many farewell love letters from students. But when my coworkers gave me a parting gift of lingerie, I felt as if I had stumbled into a parallel universe. Even after two years I regularly encounter moments of awkward, speechless surprise.

Overall I love living in Korea. I've had so much fun--traveling, learning, meeting people--and I feel more at home each day.

But big changes are ahead for me. After I visit my homeland and travel to France this summer, I will return to Korea as a graduate student. So my days as an ESL teacher cum blogger are over. I've enjoyed recording my mundane experiences here, and I'm sure there are many adventures in my future, but I will not continue updating this blog.

Thank you so much for reading, and farewell!

'Kimjongilia' Opening in Korea

Things at JFNK have slowed down a bit recently, and I've been busy planning my big move/trip/life overhaul, so I haven't written about North Korea much lately. But I do have some cool news.

"Kimjongilia," a documentary about North Korean prison camps, is coming to theaters in South Korea on June 23.

The film, which is based on interviews with prison camp survivors and other North Korean defectors, opened in the U.S. last spring. It recently aired on PBS as part of a project sponsored by "The Economist."

I wish I could go see it with friends here in Korea, but I'm leaving Friday! If you also can't make it, you can purchase the film here.

[photo by fresh888]