magazine

Surviving a university job interview in Korea

Filed under Daegu, GRRR Inspirations by Christine Ka'aloa on February 6, 2012 at 1:46 am {20 comments}

: Working at a Korean university?

A few of weeks ago, when I tweeted I was undergoing a job interview in Korea, I got a response from Dave of The Longest Way Home about doing a post on ‘Surviving a job interview in Korea’.

At first, I laughed at the idea and then later, I thought…well, why not?

“K******** University wants you to contact them ASAP about a job position. Please call them; they are a very good university.”

That was the message I got from Eun-Hyung, my Korean co-teacher, last April in India. It was a university job I had applied for long before I left Korea. The position started March 1st and it was for a full-time lecturer in the Media Arts department, teaching Video and Animation. At (more…)

Photo Essay: Hwacheon, Trout fishing and Winter Carnivals in Korea

Filed under Festivals by Christine Ka'aloa on February 5, 2012 at 7:41 pm {one comment}

: hwacheon winter festival

Work hard, play hard?… Maybe that is the Korean motto, because it seems when Korea throws a winter festival, it goes all out!

This January, I visited the Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival. Initially, I thought the festival was purely about the spectacle of fishing for sancheoneo (or wild trout) through a hole in the ice like an eskimo or even fishing by bare hand. But when I got there, what I got was a surprising peek into how Koreans enjoy good old-fashioned winter fun.

I took the weekend bus from Seoul. Swishing past the Korean landscape for three hours at a mere 13,000 Won wasn’t a bad way to go. Hwacheon county is in the Gangwon province, which is north of Seoul, running parallel to the Korean Demilitarization Zone. (more…)

World’s Worst Toilet: Andong Bus station, Korea

Filed under Korea, World's Worst Toilets by Christine Ka'aloa on February 1, 2012 at 8:31 am {9 comments}

: Andong Bus Station toilet, Korea

I’m not a toilet connoisseur or nitpicker, but I do have varying degrees of tolerance. Smell, appearance, technology, leftovers, size, etc… whenever it pushes my standard into a level of discomfort, it makes my list.

Andong, why is your bus station toilet making my World’s Worst Toilet list?…

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World’s Worst Toilet: The mystery of Korean public school restrooms

Filed under Korea, World's Worst Toilets by Christine Ka'aloa on January 19, 2012 at 9:34 am {12 comments}

: My Korean Public School restroom

This post comes a bit belated, but in lieu of my recent visit to Korea, I have to do it for laughs. When I was teaching in Korea, there was something in my Korean public school johns. Take a look at the photos below and guess what it was…

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Love Letters #16-25: Where have I been in the past 7 months?

Filed under Cambodia, India by Christine Ka'aloa on September 29, 2011 at 12:04 am {3 comments}

: Love Letter #16: Bangkok, Thailand

I’ve cheated you, my dear readers. I haven’t been good at taking you with me on my travels. Sorry.

Blogging on the road hasn’t been as easy as had I hoped, but then, long-term traveling without a plan isn’t as easy as one would think. So here’s an update on my travels:

Where have I been after India?

Without giving away all my stories just yet, here’s a summary of highlights and places I’ve been to…

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Written by Christine Ka'aloa Korea

Is Korea a state-of-the-art country?

People ask me what I love about living in Korea. One of the many things I’m always amazed by are the state-of-the-art things which make living there feel more efficient, easy and pretty darned cool.

September 26, 2011 21

Written by Christine Ka'aloa Just Show Me Pictures!

10 funny quirks you didn’t know about Koreans

Korean culture is often a dynamic and fun to observe. Most of the time, from a foreigners viewpoint, it offers interesting quirks which might leave you either scratching your head or speechless.

10 Mysterious things I’ve Learned about Koreans:

September 23, 2011 27

Written by Christine Ka'aloa Fear Factor Foods

Fear Factor Korea (Part II: Fresh foods)

It’s all too easy for a foreigner like myself, to point a camera and say, Ewww to foreign foods I’m not culturally raised with nor understand. That’s why in this post, I’d like to applaud Korea for is its proud aspiration towards healthy and FRESH foods. And …to say, Ewww.

September 19, 2011 7

Written by Christine Ka'aloa Korea

Kimbap restaurants: the healthy fast food joints in Korea

Living in Korea, it often feels like you’ll never see a fat Korean (…okay, they are exceptions; but it’s rare)! Obesity is not a chronic problem in Korea as it is in the west. One big theory is how healthy Koreans are when it comes to what they eat. Koreans do however, occasionally like their meals served simple, cheap and pali! pali (fast)!