Getting birth control medication can be difficult enough in your home country, let alone on the other side of the world. I recently had a sub-dermal progestin-only contraceptive implant inserted in Seoul, South Korea, and I’m going to share all the details so that anyone thinking about doing the same thing will know what to expect. A little background on my contraception situation before I begin. I’ve been on some form of hormonal contraception since I was 16 years old. I’m now 25. From October 2012 I was taking the progestin-only pill Cerazette, before I started using the progestin-only impla ..read more

The area of Jongno in central Seoul is sprawling and crawling with Koreans and tourists alike. It’s a busy soup of tradition and modernity and Korean culture. But amongst all the Korea-ness, at the bottom of the Bukchon Hanok Village area, is a little garnish in the form of a British-style cafe and bakery – Layered. Located inside a hanok – a traditional Korean building – Layered is a very popular bakery serving all sorts of British-style cakes. It’s most popular for its large range of scones of all sorts of flavours, but they also have a fantastic selection of traditional British cakes and ot ..read more

Nine months into 2018 and I have published exactly eight blog posts. Less than one a month – a record low for me! I’d like to say that I have been having suuUuuUuUch an amazing time that I’ve been totally distracted by other things, but that’s not exactly the truth. Well, it’s partly true that I’ve been doing lots of other things, but those other things have been work, spending time with friends, and scrolling social media on my phone; none of which have stopped me from creating content before. The nervous banana bread breakdown What’s really been the problem has come to a head in the last cou ..read more

You know sometimes you hear about or see a place through photos and vow to go but never actually get your act together to pay it a visit? Anyang Art Park was nearly one of those places for me until I finally made the most of a national holiday in June to make the (surprisingly short and easy) journey out there. It had been sitting on my ‘bucket list’ for at least a year, so it was about time I ticked it off. Anyang Art Park Anyang Art Park is less of a park and more of a whole recreational area filled with restaurants, cafés and interactive areas set around the Anyang stream. It’s a busy, thri ..read more

Spring finally sprung in Seoul, and April rolled around, all mixed-weather-y and annoying. Some days, she was beautiful and sunny, and others she was cold and rainy. One Sunday evening pertaining to the latter of the aforementioned April’s only two weather conditions, Ruth and I were wandering the streets of Hongdae looking for a slice of cake to give us the buzz we all need on a Sunday evening, and so we hopped along (not literally) to the Hongdae location of the Insta-famous Dessert Lab. Dessert Lab, Hongdae location I discovered Dessert Lab on Instagram quite a few months prior to our visit ..read more

During Chuseok 2017, my parents and boyfriend came to visit me here in Korea. We spent most of our time together in Seoul, but for two days we hopped on the KTX down to Busan and stayed for one night. This was my second time in Busan and I only knew a few areas, but after consulting a map I decided on the busy, lively area of Seomyeon, right in the centre of the city, and chose Home Hotel after some to-ing and fro-ing on Booking.com. Home Hotel Home Hotel is located just a short 10-minute walk away from Seomyeon station, conveniently situated on both Line 2 and Line 1 of the Busan subway syste ..read more

Back in October, my parents, Sam and I spent one night and two days in Busan. We popped by Haeundae Beach, walked through the famous Jagalchi fish market, people-watched from the top of a rickety, rusting car park, and visited the beautiful Haedong Yonggungsa – Busan’s stunning Water Temple. Read more about my life in Korea. The post Two Days in Busan, Oct. 2017 | Photo Diary appeared first on Hannah, International ..read more

One month ago I ended my first year contract at my school here in Seoul. There were some tears at the graduation ceremony, from parents, teachers, and even from some students. I got emotional, but I didn’t cry because my babies weren’t graduating. Precisely the reason why I have signed on for one more year at my current school; to see them out of the kindergarten system. I’m the first kindergarten teacher they’ve ever had, quite literally. I took them for their very first class on their very first day at kindy (highly nerve-wracking stuff, I tell you), and I have been the only consistent teach ..read more

2017 was an absolute blast. I visited three new countries, moved to South Korea, and started a job that I had been planning to do for three and a half years. I met a whole bunch of new people and made some amazing, crazy, ridiculous, wonderful friends who lift me up and drag me through the dirt (as only your best friends can) and inspire me every day. I unofficially adopted twelve little Korean babies (read: four-year-olds) as my own children and taught them how to speak English from scratch. I grew my blog (a little) and my Instagram (a lot). I even spoke live on national British radio about ..read more

It’s no secret that packing for a holiday is difficult. I often over pack and I never properly think about where I will be visiting beforehand, so I’m normally underprepared for whatever shenanigans I get up to. However, for my trip to Thailand I took my wardrobe into a little more consideration as I knew I would be visiting some of the most famous Thai temples in Bangkok, and I like to be considerate of their dress codes. It’s all part of having respect for a culture and just being a decent tourist in general, which I always try to be. But we can all make mistakes, and I’m sharing mine (as we ..read more