“Because you’re foreign…” Western, White and English privilege in Korea
*Note: This post chronicles my own experiences with privilege in Korea as a White, American female. I am NOT speaking for all White people, females, Americans, Westerners or even Koreans. I nervously sat among my classmates in a holography class at the Korea National University of Arts in February 2009. A few days earlier, I’d...
“I think Shaw is an outright bigot.” Encountering trolls on the internet
I don’t really want to write this, but I feel like I owe it to myself. Yesterday, an anonymous woman ardently bashed my recent Glimpse story, “Riding the white horse: On being foreign in Korea,” by twisting my words and failing to comprehend the meaning behind the narrative. She concluded her irrational argument with, “I think Shaw is an outright...
How studying Korean made me realize some mistakes I’d made teaching English
Warning: This post may be a bit ranty because I’m mad at myself for failing my Korean midterm. I also have a speaking test on Tuesday which I will inevitably fail, and to top it off, I’m fucking hungry, and our cafeteria doesn’t serve dinner for another 45 minutes. It’s been awhile since I’ve studied...
Dear Dahae,
A few weeks ago, I was catching up with a friend who I’d met while studying abroad in 2009 at the Korea National University of Arts. As we were eating slices of Turkish pizza, I casually mentioned my former roommate Dahae. Much to my surprise, my friend suddenly responded, “Oh, she died.” I held my...
Notes on backpacking through Thailand
I’ve been traveling on my own since I was 17. I lived with a host family in Italy the summer after my third year of high school, and before I started college, I saved money by waiting tables and scooping ice cream at my part-time job to study Spanish in Peru. However, I didn’t embark...
Goodbye Seokgwan Elementary School
Goodbye Seokgwan Elementary School. Goodbye bringing toilet paper to work. Goodbye Cool Messenger. Goodbye empty office. Goodbye squat toilets. Goodbye deskwarming. Goodbye four-story building. Goodbye barren playground. Goodbye English textbooks filled with mistakes. Goodbye Nami. Goodbye Jinho. Goodbye low-budget English videos. Goodbye students who refuse to use punctuation. Goodbye Hello Kitty pencil cases....
My ever-growing attraction to Asian men, and how the US prevented it from happening earlier
How can you NOT find these washboard abs irresistible? “Sarah you’re definitely going to have a Korean boyfriend when you move to Seoul,” my Korea-American friend would tease me back in 2009, as I was preparing for my semester abroad. “No way,” I would respond, laughing. “I’m not attracted to Asian guys.” How wrong was...
Anish Kapoor at the Leeum Samsung
Prior to last weekend, I didn’t know much about Anish Kapoor, an Indian artist residing in England, but after hearing many positive reviews, I visited the Leeum/Samsung Museum of Art to see his solo exhibition. I’ve been anxious to return to this particular museum ever since I viewed Do Ho Suh’s impressive solo, “Home Within...
Crafting my first Glimpse narrative and developing a relationship with an editor
Since re-discovering my voice last year, I’ve earned a number of opportunities to grow as a writer and blogger, but the Glimpse Correspondents Program has been (and still is) the best experience yet. I find that narratives are the most challenging form of travel writing to write, but ultimately, they are the most rewarding. It’s...
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