Fran111

Ranked in the top 3 winter festivals in Korea, Hwacheon Ice Festival is popular among Koreans and foreigners alike. For the past 7 years, thousands of people have flocked to Hwacheon to attend this chilly festival and this year it was my turn. First things first – Hwacheon is in Gangwon Do province (yes the one I live in!) which is known for its deep winter freeze. Saying it’s cold is an understatement – rather it chills you to the bone and even when you're wearing 2 pairs of socks, 5 jumpers (or jackets) AND boots you can still feel the cold. On the plus side, festivals like this one help all us waygooks make the most of the chilly weather, and keep our minds off the cold. We arrived and instantly found ourselves amused by ... read more

Ulsan – not to be confused with the very familiar sounding Osan near Seoul - is about five hours from Chuncheon. It neighbours popular metropolitan city Busan to the south and the Sea of Japan to the East. It’s marketed as the ‘industrial city’ of Korea - and when you look at its landscape, you can see why. The industrial district is huge and includes the world’s largest vehicle assembly plant and the world’s largest shipyard – both operated by Hyundai, a brand many westerners I’m sure are familiar with. So why did my good friend Jason and I venture to such a place for the weekend? Well I can assure you it wasn’t for the industrial aspect, ironically the opposite of cold, hard, work - the world famous Ulsan World Music Festival. Purely because it ... read more

Oh how poignant a single song can be at times.... It's 10.37pm here in good ol' Chuncheon, most simply the place I now call home. Just been dropped home by a rather lovely taxi driver, who despite minimal English managed to get it out of me that I enjoy "old school songs" and put on What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. Now of course, bare in mind I was still horribly jet lagged..and feeling the effects of about 20 hours sleep in two weeks...ANYWAY that's enough of that my god! Now it's time for the good stuff. That being what was the grand vacation of 2011 baby. To Thailand with a Motley Crew of friends... So I'll start at the beginning because you KNOW the drama or craziness would have started early..and bloody hell did ... read more

For many of us foreigners living in South Korea, there’s something about Sunday night. It’s that one night you occasionally find yourself missing the comforts of home. More so, the Sunday night dinner tradition that many expats are used to back home. For me, Sunday night is “roast night” with my family, so moving to a place where the idea of a roast was virtually nonexistent took a bit of getting used to. So you can imagine my surprise and delight last Sunday, when things took a turn for the better. My friends and I had been hanging out at Chuncheon’s famous Gongjicheon Park, sunbathing, playing in the fountain, and even running through it because the weather was so warm. We suddenly received a call from our Korean friend who invited us to Hongcheon River for ... read more