Tag: my korean husband (Page 3 of 127)

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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Body Changes and 24 Hour Gyms in Korea

2017/06/27 / Nic / 4 Comments

24 Hour Gyms in Korea

Hugh’s latest update about his “Last Chance” transformation. He has come so far! Last night he was looking at some old videos and realised how different he looks now. He has gained a lot more confidence and is feeling much healthier. Calling it his “last chance” has really worked motivation wise and it’s much better for him to make these changes now rather than in his 40’s. The earlier the better. In this video I ask him questions about his progress and he shows the inside of Korean gyms… in the middle of the night!

It has helped having a 24 hour gym nearby. Usually Hugh and Yoojin, his trainer, go in the evening but one time when they both fell asleep before going. I was just in our office working on stuff and when I came out I saw Yoojin asleep on the sofa and Hugh passed out on our bed. I figured they just weren’t going to the gym, but they both woke up at about 11:30pm and headed to the gym. I think going to the gym that late makes them a little bit crazy.

As we mentioned in the video, we almost weigh the same now! I’m always shocked when they check my weight at my hospital appointments because I have never been this heavy in my adult life. I have to remind myself that I’m pregnant. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hugh this lean in all the time I’ve known him either. He really has been changing his body shape. It’s also good timing with the baby on the way.

The last month will be the hardest as now his diet will be more restricted and he will be building muscle to get the special profile photo that is popular in Korea. Once he has done that he can relax. The photoshoot will also be his reveal of how much his body changed and he is very excited to show everyone.

Make sure you are subscribed to us on YouTube so you can see his final reveal video. SUBSCRIBE HERE!

Wearing T-shirts (the Slytherin t-shirt)

2017/06/24 / Nic / 3 Comments

Wearing t-shirts while pregnant

I’ve been getting bigger but Hugh as been getting slimmer. Some of our couple t-shirts we have now switched and I’m wearing the large one and he is wearing the small one. At home when I want to be comfortable I often wear one of his t-shirts. Most are too big for him now. I’m generally not fussy about which one I wear but I can’t bring myself to wear his Slytherin t-shirt. I’m a Hufflepuff. (Since Harry Potter is such a world wide phenomenon I don’t think there is any need to explain much about the Hogwarts Houses here).

People are often surprised to know Hugh is a Slytherin as of course he is a lovely guy. But he is ambitious and driven. A Hufflepuff and Slytherin marriage may seem odd but it does work really well. I remember not expecting to be a Hufflepuff when I did the test years ago, but it makes the most sense now. I definitely identify as a Hufflepuff!

Hugh has lost so much weight, and of course I am gaining weight, that we almost weigh the same amount now! He is only a little bit heavier than me. But he may get heavier again as he bulks up. Going from large and extra large t-shirts down to the small size has been amazing for him, although it does leave a lot of too big t-shirts he can’t wear now. I can wear some of them, but there really is too many. The Slytherin t-shirt, and my Hufflepuff t-shirt, were gifts from a fan so it’s a shame his one is too big for him, because it is a great t-shirt.

I just can’t bring myself to wear it…

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How to be annoying (Cold Feet and ‘being’ North Korea).

2017/06/20 / Nic / 0 Comments

How to be annoying in your marriage. Cold Feet!

We revisit quite an old comic from the blog! Are you the North Korea in your relationship? Do you deliberately provoke? Are you a totalitarian dictatorship? No… wait… that doesn’t sound right.

The real question: Are you the type to put your cold feet on your partner?

Original comic is here.

Hugh also elbows me a lot and does weird things like steals extra pillows and puts them on his stomach, or scrunches covers into a ball and sleeps with it like that on his stomach. Recently he even stole the pillow I had for my back (so much pregnancy back pain at moment) and had it resting on his stomach whole sleeping!

But I am a super light sleeper and I get up in the middle of the night several times. I tend to open and shut windows while half asleep or just move things around. I also will randomly put my hand on Hugh’s arm in the middle of the night, which can make him jump.

As annoying as a partner can be during the night, when you are used to them sleeping next to you, when they aren’t there it can be even harder to sleep.

This video was filmed over a month ago so my pregnancy isn’t showing as much and Hugh isn’t as skinny as he is now. I’ve been really busy with the book finally being released soon. Every day talking with my editor, re-doing things, drawing extra stuff for it. But I’m excited to finally have a book for the Korean market, which will hopefully be the first of many.

We have lots of exciting stuff coming up, so please subscribe to us on YouTube!

Also let us know what comics you’d like us to talk about in future videos!

Massage Technique

2017/06/17 / Nic / 1 Comment

Hugh can give good massages but can also be a total cheapskate and want to use every last bit of lotion, even though we had a new bottle of it. I don’t really appreciate him banging the bottle against my back! But of course before I could get really angry his insistence that it was an ancient Asian massage technique made me laugh.

I do like and appreciate Chinese massages and this was not one of them! I shouldn’t complain too much though because Hugh has had to give me a lot more massages since I became pregnant and I know it can get annoying. But just get the new bottle of lotion out!

Are you good at giving massages? What tips do you have? It’s quite intense work and I honestly don’t know how professionals get through full days of massaging people constantly. My hands and arms get tired after about 5 minutes of giving a massage.

Have you also made up bullsh!t and insisted something was cultural, but really you were just being an idiot? I feel like Australians do this a lot, (drop bears anyone?). But Hugh has a much bigger pool to draw from when bullsh!ting since so many things fall under the category of “Asian”.

It’s been hard for me to get a new comic up on the blog lately because I’ve been working on the last few things for the My Korean Husband comic book (in Korean) that will be published soon. This book is for the Korean market and will be available in Korean book stores (and online).

Combining pregnancy with a lot of sitting at desk and drawing work hasn’t been that great for my back, so I’ve been relying on massages even more these days. Once the book is released I look forward to many more comics on here and more videos. (Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel).

KOREAN CULTURE: What to do on a Sunday afternoon. Korean Picnics!

2017/06/05 / Nic / 1 Comment

Korean Culture: Picnics

Every culture has their own style for picnics. It varies around Korea too. In Seoul, everyone heads to the Han river as there are many parks along it. There are some quirks to Korean picnics. The majority of people take a tent when going on a picnic. Whenever I livestream from picnic areas, there are always many comments and questions about the tents, as many people around the world think it’s quite unusual. People aren’t camping, they just have the tents up for the picnic. They are usually lightweight, easy to put up, tents. Not hardcore camping tents. People are usually staying at the river for the whole day as well.

When I’ve been on picnics in the Korean countryside, up in the mountains, people have cooked their own meat and other food. But for these style of picnics along the Han river no one is grilling meat and it may not be allowed. Instead people bring Korean picnic favourites like gimbap, and will often order pizza or fried chicken which is delivered right to the park. There is always a convenience store at parks as well so it’s easy to go buy more beer or food.

The weather is really good at the moment and it’s not too hot yet. I’m glad we could take advantage of these weekends. Last weekend we had a picnic as well. The parks can get really crowded but Koreans are used to living with many other people around. I haven’t really seen any major disputes over space before, even when so many people are consuming a lot of alcohol. I don’t think Australians manage as well at cramming into spaces (haha).

I like the Mangwon park near the river as it’s a quieter area and there are more trees and gardens. Also that bridge is my favourite bridge across the Han river. There is also a swimming pool nearby but I’m waiting for it to open for the summer. The pool is only open for 2 months over summer as Koreans are not as into swimming as Australians are.

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When there is no kimchi!

2017/05/30 / Nic / 1 Comment

No kimchi?!

(The original comic is here).

We revisit a comic from several years ago. This was when we were still living in Australia and I forgot to put kimchi on the table. As we mentioned in the video, Hugh obsesses about kimchi a lot more when he is not in Korea. He doesn’t eat it every day in Korea but in Australia has this desire to always eat it. It might seem like just a stereotype but it’s very important to Koreans!

Many older Koreans don’t consider a meal to be a real meal without rice and kimchi. So if they eat out and eat some type of foreign food they will still come home and eat some rice and kimchi. This type of ingrained thinking is possibly why it’s taken so long for foreign food to become popular in Korea, because there is a very strong cultural thinking of what a meal should be. Although many younger Koreans embrace all kinds of food, they have trouble convincing their parents to try new stuff and when older Koreans go on trips to another country they will try and take Korean food with them, rather than trying anything new.

In Australia it was easy to buy kimchi in Sydney and when we were in my home town I would make it for Hugh. These days we usually have too much kimchi as Hugh’s mother will send us kimchi. We still eat out a lot so we eating it several times a week even if we don’t have any at home. I’ve tried so many types of kimchi I know which ones I like and how fermented I prefer kimchi to be.

Making kimchi can be a lot of work and usually needs to be done over 2 days. If you are making kimchi for the first time I recommend reading a variety of recipes online several times so you understand all the steps. Also be aware that it will give off a strong smell in your fridge!