Ep. 2 - Manuel Azuaje-Alamo on Japan and Korea differences, East Asian literature, and language learning

Settlers of Seoul

Manuel Azuaje-Alamo is a PhD Candidate at Harvard University. Manuel came to Korea mid-last year to conduct research for his dissertation on world literature in East Asia. He speaks seven languages and his lived in over half a dozen countries. Manual spent several years in Japan, and you’ll hear in this podcast a lot of references and inferences to the country as a reference point to placing Korea in context over certain topics and themes.

We talk about growing up in Venezuela, the differences between Korea and Japan, how foreigners, especially Koreans, are received in Japan, the lifestyle of Tokyo compared to Seoul, language learning, and of course, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese literature.