Life has become rather routine for Sharon and I here in Korea. We’re both primarily focusing on our work. However, it’s summer break for the kids, so Sharon will be taking a week off in mid-August. We’re considering a couple of different trips and also potentially just hanging around Seoul (money’s a little tight at the moment).
For today’s post I wanted to share a few of my recent links from around the web — Continue Reading →
Having grown up half-way around the world in a Western culture, I recently realized that for this reason, there are many things in Korea that I simply don’t understand. However, that’s not to say I can’t help but laugh at them. Here’s a list of a few things that Koreans do that make me laugh. Continue Reading →
I am not a fan of this type of plastic surgery.
When I think of the fact that South Korea tops the list of countries that are the most plastic surgery happy, I am a little disappointed that it happens to be the country of most of my heritage. When I think of the fact that people in South Korea predominantly get their eyes “widened” to look more “western” because their idea of beauty is “western looking eyes”, I start to get really sad. When I think about the fact that South Korean parents are now encouraging their children, as young as 12 years old, to get plastic surgery to look more beautiful, I start to get angry. Continue Reading →
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of my father, Barry Demant. Sharon and I were excited to host both him and my Mom at the end of May in Seoul for nearly 2 weeks. This was their first trip to Korea, as well as Asia. The primary goal that Sharon and I had set was to get them to try as many different types of food as possible. Overall I think we were successful. Reflecting on the trip, I now present Barry Demant…
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My wife Diane and I (Barry) had the distinct pleasure of visiting our son Jason and his wife Sharon for 12 days. Having never visited South Korea, we remained open minded but probably more nervous (at least initially) about the very long 12-hour trip from San Francisco to Seoul.
This summation is our thoughts and observations regarding our visit. Continue Reading →
A few months ago I read Tim Ferriss’ latest book, The 4-Hour Body. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to those interested in learning more about health, nutrition and exercise. One of the key parts of the 4-Hour Body, is the diet he recommends to follow — the “Slow Carb Diet”. I’ve decided to follow this diet and in the following post I’ll tell you why I like it. I’ll also include all of the changes I’ve had to make to it in order to make it more feasible in Korea. Continue Reading →
“Deskwarming”- that dreaded term known to every English teacher in South Korea. It is something that foreign English teachers here don’t really know how to handle at first, then become experts in the field by the end of the year. It is a work term that is well practiced here by Korean schools. It is something that every teacher here experiences. Some will deskwarm on a daily basis while others experience it once every week, month, school break, etc.
What is deskwarming? Continue Reading →
While I was sad to leave the US again a few months ago, I was also looking forward to coming back to the Korean lifestyle. In fact, I like the lifestyle here so much that if it were possible to take my friends and family from the states and move them all here, I’d take that deal. In today’s post I’ll give a few of the reasons why I enjoy my Korean lifestyle more than the one back in California. Continue Reading →
As a marketplace business, my startup, Unanchor.com faces a chicken-and-egg problem. We need itinerary writers to attract travelers and travelers to attract itinerary writers. To address the itinerary side of the problem, two months ago Mohammad and I unveiled our most aggressive program to date. We offered to pay writers up to $100 upfront in a revenue advance. In this post, I’ll give an update on the program and its results so far. Continue Reading →
People have always joked to me that Koreans eat dog. There have been many times when I told people that I lived in Korea and the first question they’ve asked is, how many times did you eat dog? Having lived in Korea well over 7 months (including last year) and never actually having seen a Dog restaurant, I thought it was a myth. I assumed it was North Koreans who ate dog, giving South Koreans a bad name. It turns out, I was wrong.
Last week I found out how to say Dog Soup in Korean (보신탕) and have now found 2 places within a 5-minute walk of my apartment that serve it. One is a hole-in-the-wall that was actually on my list to try (I’m a sucker for hole-in-the-wall restaurants).
The irony of this place is amazing. As you walk towards the restaurant you pass an animal store with adorable puppies sitting in the window ready to be purchased. Literally 2 doors down and around the corner…dog soup restaurant.
I wonder if the puppy salesmen ever gets desperate to make a sale and says, “Today’s the last day for this little guy. Unfortunately he’s getting old and we’re going to send him next door…unless you can take him off of our hands” while gesturing towards the dog soup restaurant.
The real question of the day is, do I try dog? I’m pretty tempted…just to say I have.
Random Additional Fact: In Korean, dogs say “Mung, Mung” — instead of the English equivalent “Bow-wow” or “Bark, Bark”. The nickname for Dog Soup is then of course “Mung, Mung Soup”.
Having a blog is a funny thing. At the beginning, it’s really exciting. You’ve got a thousand post ideas, funny stories, and great pictures to share so you start writing. Then, you get your first comment – things are even more exciting! But then, things start to slip. You miss a week. So you apologize and vow never to miss a week again! But, it happens again. You see this pattern time and time again with blogs.
When I started Life After Cubes I vowed to not let this happen. In today’s post I’m going to outline our plan for this blog and I’ll also tell you a little about our new Unanchor Blog. Continue Reading →
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Jason Demant & Sharon Duckworth left their Silicon Valley jobs in 2009 to pursue a Life After Cubes. This site chronicles their travels and entrepreneurial aspirations. Read More...
Our other site: Unanchor.com - Find the perfect travel itinerary or write and sell your own! |
