Category: Videos (Page 1 of 23)

This was amazing! Book Signing Experience

2017/07/18 / Nic / 2 Comments

The Book Signing

Thank you everyone who came out on Saturday! It was amazing! We didn’t know how many people would come, especially in the rainy weather, but we were overwhelmed at the turn out. We actually ran out of time, we only had a certain amount of time for the signing at the front of the Kyobo store. For the last few people we had to go inside the store to another room to finish signing and chatting with people.

Thank you everyone who wrote us notes as well! We read them all later and were so thankful and happy. The book also made it to the bestsellers of new releases table for this Kyobo store, which is great! It means it’s easier for people to see in the store, and that’s because of everyone who came and bought the book on Saturday.

Many people have been asking about an English version, but there won’t be an English version of this book exactly. There are English translations next to the comics, so it can be read by an English speaker but there is still a lot of Korean in it. Most of the comics in the book have previously been on the blog in English. The comics and the set up of the book is for the Korean audience, so if we release an English book it will be a different angle and different comics. But maybe in the future!

If you are in Korea and you could like to buy it you can buy from Kyobo book stores or order online here.

If you are not in Korea it will soon be available through the ‘Talk to Me in Korean’ online store. We will update when it’s available.

Once again a big thank you to everyone who came out to the signing event. It was very overwhelming but awesome! It was also lovely to see so many intercultural couples and families there as well. We hope our book also helps challenge negative perceptions about multiculturalism in Korea and educates people about intercultural families.

The footage was filmed by Yoojin Kwon, Hugh’s trainer and business partner and distant relative haha.

FIRST TIME SEEING THE BOOK! / A day in the life VLOG

2017/07/01 / Nic / 4 Comments

The first look at the book!

In this vlog we show you our day. Live radio in the morning, going to a big book store for meetings and then going to see the first print of the My Korean Husband book for the Korean market!

We have been really busy getting this book ready, but I think my editor and designer have been even busier.

Those that have been following us for years will probably know that we signed a publishing deal quite a long time ago but there seemed to be so many delays. Although we signed with a big company, there was a lot of internal problems within the company. There was corruption and a CEO change and whole departments were changed so our little book just got lost in the middle. I was also not happy with the designer there who didn’t seem to care much about the book. The guy who originally signed us to the company was lovely and believed in the book but he also ended up leaving the company.

Fast forward a few years and a much smaller company decided to publish our comics. There were a few different ideas and changes but eventually it was decided to publish as a proper comic book. They salvaged the work that had already been done by the bigger company, overhauled it and picked out which comics they thought suitable for the Korean audience. I actually didn’t pick which comics went into this book as even though they are my comics. I don’t know which ones Koreans will respond better to as I’m not Korean. Not all humour translates well. The translations were also redone so hopefully it will be a lot funnier now.

It’s been such a long time waiting for this book to come out. Even when you know publishing takes a long time, it’s always a surprised at how much work goes into things. Although I do art, I could never do the type of design our new designer did. If I had self-published I would have either had to hire a designer and pay for them myself, or tried to do the design by myself, which would have been disastrous. My editor is also very meticulous and arranged the comics in a way that tells much more of a story, rather than it being just a bunch of repackaged comics from the blog. I’m so grateful to them for believing in this project.

Now finally the book will be in stores in Korea! It will be in selected Kyobo book stores and if it does well enough it will be put in other Kyobo stores too. We will let you know where you can buy it soon. In store book sales matter the most at the start so if you can physically go buy it, it does really help! If your local Kyobo doesn’t have it, ask them to get it! It will also be available online in Korea. For the international audience there will be some online stores that will sell internationally, so we’ll keep you updated on that.

As we mentioned in the video, we will be doing a book signing at the Times Square Kyobo in about 2 weeks! Please come and say hi! We haven’t done a meet up in a long time, and it will be harder later with my pregnancy progressing (and impossible with a new born), so now is a good time to come meet us!

You can also listen to us Wednesday mornings on tbs radio at 9:30, either on the radio if you are in Korea, or through an app. Or you can catch up later online.

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2017/04/24 / Nic / 0 Comments

Being naked in Korea?

Korea has a culture where people go to public baths and are very comfortable to be naked around other people (though usually the same sex). There also isn’t any shame in undressing and changing clothes in front of friends, whereas many Western cultures have issues with that and there is a lot more ingrained shame when it comes to bodies.

Hugh does tend to be quite the nudist (maybe more than others) and once the weather is warm enough he doesn’t see the point of wearing clothes at home. Currently he is always exercising naked too. I’m sorry neighbours. But after I started talking about this on the blog, and with friends who also married into Korean families, I’ve heard that many Koreans can be quite similar in stripping off in their own home, at least down to just underwear.

I think men possibly have more freedom than women in traditional homes. Traditionally the parents’ room is also the living room which means a lack of privacy. When we lived in the countryside I never walked in on my sister in law or mother in law changing but constantly saw Hugh and my father in law in just their underwear. As a westerner who is used to parents’ rooms to be very separate and very private it was quite confronting and a big cultural difference.

Another contrast is that in Australia showing cleavage is okay and men often exercise without a shirt in public which just isn’t seen in Korea. Every country has a different expectation of what is acceptable and how much of the body is shown and where it can be shown.

I definitely think ondol heating (underfloor heating) has something to do with it. As Hugh mentioned, when there is ondol heating anywhere can be your bed because Koreans don’t usually have problems with sleeping directly on the floor. When the floor is warm and comfortable it makes sense to strip down and be the most comfortable possible. Also many Korean homes don’t have sofas or that type of furniture so everything is done down on the floor. It can be very relaxing, but I find it hard to be motivated when laying on a heated floor!

Original comic can be found here.

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2017/04/04 / Nic / 0 Comments

We are on Korean radio every week! We are on a show called Global Family on tbs eFM Koreascape every Wednesday at 9:30am. Another international couple Emil and Yumin who are a Danish/Korean couple are also on the show with us, as well as the host Kurt. This show is all in English.

We’ve done a lot of radio before but always as one time guests and we do get asked the same questions a lot. Because this is a weekly series we get to delve deeper into what it’s like being an intercultural couple in Korea. It’s also great to compare to another couple as well and see the different ways people deal with challenges. It will be interesting to see what topics come up. So far it’s been in a chronological order of meeting, getting married, meeting inlaws but it will be great to talk about things we don’t usually get to talk about in interviews. Most interviews, whether it be for articles or radio always ask the same questions, and we get really sick of answering them. But with this radio show we can explore a lot more. Emil and Yumin are great as well and we really enjoy working with them.

What we filmed for this video was meant to be part of a Seoul Life video but I’m now the sick one so we haven’t been able to film the other parts. But we wanted to let people know that we are on Korean radio every week so they can tune in. I know not everyone follows the social media where we announce things like this.

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Also let us know what other aspects of our life you’d like to see in vlogs or what topics you’d like us to talk about.

2017/04/01 / Nic / 0 Comments

Sara and I are back to try some Korean bananas! Or are we? Is this a dumb joke or a social commentary on South Korea’s reliance on imports? You decide!

Do you eat a lot of bananas? Does your country have to import them? Korea imports them from a bunch of different countries (a bunch? Was that a pun???) but The Philippines is the top country.

In Australia we grow our own bananas and can’t import. Because Australia is a continent with a fragile eco-system there are restrictions on what can be imported. Bananas can carry insects and small animals that can do a lot of damage to the Australian Environment. Luckily Australia has some regions suitable for banana growing. But a huge problem is when cyclones wipe out entire plantations. I remember this happening at least twice before and the few remaining banana stocks skyrocketed in price.

In Korea I think banana prices are usually reasonable (as an Australian) but I remember meeting a girl from South America who said sometimes when she sees bananas that are already getting brown spots on them being sold at a normal price she is shocked. Apparently in her country those bananas would only be given to animals, because there is such an abundance of bananas people can be very picky. The price of Korean bananas, or bananas imported to Korean, can range a lot so I always recommend seeking out a cheaper price if it seems expensive, especially at some super markets. Sometimes it’s cheaper and easier to just buy a pack of 2 bananas in convenience store. Often bananas are sold in huge bunches at supermarkets or markets and you can’t just break off the ones you want (like we would in Australia). But I know that in the evening at HomePlus they usually have small bunches of bananas available, if you are seeking out a way to buy less.

Subscribe to the MyKoreanHusband YouTube channel here.

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2017/03/25 / Nic / 0 Comments

This is just one of the mistakes I’ve made in Korean! It’s hard learning a second language and not knowing how words are related or not related at all. At least Hugh got a good laugh out of my dumb assumption.

Our audience can be quite fragmented. We have people who only read the comics, people who only watch our videos and some who only follow the Nicholalala webtoon. This new series is a way of showing the comics to the YouTube audience and to discuss them further as a couple.

When I posted this comic there were people who said they thought the same thing, so I felt a little less dumb! Let us know what other comics you’d like us to revisit in a video!

Original comic is here.

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