Archive for the ‘ Andrew's posts ’ Category
You may have noticed last week that the Olympic gold medal winning figure skater Kim Yu Na had ended her successful partnership with Canadian coach Brian Orser. The sudden and unexpected news wasn’t top billing in Korean media, until Kim and Orser decided to air their differences in public. Revelations about the coach walking away to [ READ MORE ]
The message from the Ministry of Justice in Korea is don’t come to the country if you are holding a fake identity or your reasons for visiting are deemed “suspicious” – the outcome is you’ll have your photograph taken and the fingerprints too. Stricter immigration regulations are being brought out in advance of the G20 summit [ READ MORE ]
So, last night I packed my bags and moved out of what was my home for the past fifty-three weeks. I think it was a home solely because it was the place I crashed in for a year. Knowing I would not be staying on in my job as far back as February meant I [ READ MORE ]
I can’t believe I have been here for 53 weeks now. I still recall the fifteen minute drive from my family’s home to Dublin airport. My brother, an English teacher in Japan, was in the car during undoubtedly the saddest journey of my life. He was home for two weeks visiting the family. He told [ READ MORE ]
You may have seen this last week, but a Newsweek “study of health, education, economy and politics” has ranked South Korea as the 15th best country on the planet. Finland, Sweden and Switzerland occupy positions one, two and three. Unsurprisingly, North Korea did not feature in the top 100. According to the findings, Korea has a [ READ MORE ]
www.xe.com is one of the biggest on-line sites when it comes to currency conversion. Chances are you’ve used it from time to time. You might have spotted that the Korea (South) Won is not listed on the first page, and that it requires you to click ‘more currencies’ in order to get what you’re looking [ READ MORE ]
Oh, how we love talking about our experiences with local Koreans. Whether they are holding our hands walking around a lake, cleaning our apartments or trying to shoot us with their guns, it’s fair to say most of our encounters have been friendly and pleasant. Then, there is this. Thank you to my colleague and friend Vanessa for [ READ MORE ]
We’d love to be able to talk in greater detail about North Korea, but some information is barred from us in the South. We get the following message when we click on links to do with, for example, how North Korean systems operate in Japan. This wikipedia entry is a classic example – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_University_%28Japan%29. Some [ READ MORE ]
Media sources worldwide spent the weekend speculating the treatment of North Korean soccer players following their dismal World Cup exit in South Africa two months ago. Reports leaked from the secretive state suggest managerial staff were severely reprimanded, possibly ‘tortured’, after the team lost all three games, conceding twelve goals. Radio Asia claimed last month that the [ READ MORE ]
If you were wondering why KIA fans were, to every man, woman and child, on their feet during Saturday’s game with Lotte Giants, it was because Lee Dae-Ho had just broken the world record for consecutive games with a home run. Lee is also a Lotte player, but it was clear the home crowd didn’t [ READ MORE ]