Affiliate DisclaimerĮxpat Life In Korea FAQs What’s Expat Life In Korea Like?Īfter more than a decade of living as an expat, with more than five of those years in Korea, I’ve built up a library of experiences – good, bad, and often strange. I mix some soju into my beer, shove the lettuce-wrapped meat into my mouth, and smile as contentedly as you might do when enjoying a hearty home-cooked meal in the middle of winter.ĭisclaimer: This site contains affiliate links and I may earn commission for purchases made after clicking one of these links. I’m free to indulge in one of my favourite traditional Korean meals, one that puts a big smile on my face (and a few more inches on my waistline). I probably would have burned it anyway.īefore she leaves, she remembers to instruct me on the finer points of Korean dining, by stabbing at the various other ingredients I should wrap together in the crispy lettuce leaf with her tongs, which she begrudgingly leaves behind. I don’t mind really, I’m happy for her to show her skills and prepare this mouth-watering meal perfectly for me. I’m a foreigner in Korea away from the main tourist areas and so I can’t possibly know what I’m doing.

When it’s ready, she shoves the deliciously juicy smouldering meat in my direction, indicating that I’ve been given permission to eat a meal I’ve enjoyed (and cooked) dozens of times.

She mutters to me in Korean several times whilst she turns, cuts, and tends to the meat, shaking her head every time I have thoughts of serving myself dinner. The metal tongs are snatched from my hand as I gingerly, yet knowledgeably, poked at the sizzling samgyeopsal (pork belly) slowly cooking in front of me, taken by the aggressively kind ajumma (middle-aged lady) who doesn’t trust me to cook for myself in her restaurant. This happened recently – in my 5th year of expat life in Korea – and shows you never really escape the fact you’re a visitor in the Land of the Morning Calm.

What is it like living in Korea as an expat? Let me tell you of one of the countless unforgettable encounters I’ve had to illustrate why expat life in Korea can be such a wonderful, beguiling experience.

Semi korea my wife