Author: Jessica Moy

VOLUNTEERING FOR THE GIRL IMPACT IN LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA

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I have left South Korea! 안녕히 계세요! Departing from Seoul on March 3, 2018 I hopped on a plane, had a quick layover (and Burger King meal.. omgzzzz burgers and iced tea, I’ve missed you!) in Singapore, then Joburg, and before I knew it I was breathing in the sweet air of Livingstone, Zambia. Woo! Or as I actually said when I landed, “holy shit I’m in Africa.” Before settling back home in Canada, I wanted to go on one last adventure. A few months before my departure I researched volunteer opportunities within Africa and came across African Impact’s Girls Impact program in Livingstone, Zambia. What attracted me to this particular program was the fact that I could get my hands dirty and be immersed within a community that invests in adolescent girls. The Girl Impact initiative works with girls, boys, and women by hosting classes and workshops that range in topics from health, female health, safety, making a living, and self-confidence. The workshops I worked on specifically tackled subjects such as teamwork, leadership, hygiene, …

THE FINAL ONE: GOODBYE SOUTH KOREA

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Two years later, here we are. My bags are packed and I’m ready to leave South Korea, the place that has made me constantly crave spicy food, challenged me with language barriers and (many) cultural differences. The place I pushed my limits, challenged myself, fell in love, and battled loneliness. The place I found inner strength, discovered the power of my voice, and (most importantly) a place I felt safe and called home. Busan, will always be a special place for me. I’ll miss the mountains, beaches, prompt public transportation, cheap convenience store ice cream, and of course, my students. Leaving has been an extremely emotional and overwhelming process. I was not prepared for how much it hurts to say goodbye to people, places, and memories. But such is life. You grow and move on. Currently I am in Seoul, wandering around the city until my departure on Sunday. I’ve been taking my time to walk in and out of shops and discovering new places such as the COEX Mall‘s Starfield Library, which holds approximately 50,000 books and …

FANXY STUDIO: SUNMI (선미) HEROINE (주인공) DANCE COVER

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K-pop is a way of life in South Korea. If you ask any middle school girl in this country who her favourite K-pop band is, it will be answered in shouts, tears, and you being forced to watch the idol’s latest music video. On Get Up and Go Girl I thought it would be fun to be a K-pop star for a day! I signed up for not only a dance class, but to also star in my very own dance video. Oh yes, I feel your eye-rolls from here, but my K-pop dreams have finally come true! Heh heh. I found the experience on Airbnb (surprisingly!), and even though dancing is not my strong suit, I knew I would have the best time. After all, it’s about the experience, not perfection (as my mother would say to make me feel better at how uncoordinated I am). Myself and six other ladies (plus our wonderful choreographer, Kim Nyan) danced to SUNMI’s “Heroine”. In the video below you’ll see our sweet little routine plus, I explain in …

SOLO ADVENTURES IN TAIPEI, TAIWAN

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Have you ever been lying in bed at night and thought, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Because, same. Cue: Me booking a trip to Taipei, Taiwan FOUR days before departure. Initially I was going to stay at home during winter vacation but got FED UP with bone chilling winter weather. With the help of my brother and sister-in-law, they told me to book a ticket and fly to the land of beef noodles and red bean buns. This wasn’t the first time I’ve stepped on the soil of Taiwan. I travelled throughout the country with my father, aunt, and uncle two years prior, which you can read about by clicking HERE, HERE, and HERE! This time around I stayed at an Airbnb called The Comfy Cave which was perfectly located (quiet area but still central) and cozy AF, plus the host was an American living in Taipei and gave great suggestions on things to do, see, and eat. If you’ve never used Airbnb before, save $25 on your first stay by clicking HERE (dat self-promo doe). Since …

FASHION MAGAZINE INTERNSHIP ADVICE

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Hello all! I hope the first month of 2018 has been treating you kindly and that you’re smashing all of your bad ass new years resolutions. If not, that’s ok, you’ve got a whole new month coming up to try again. RESILIENCE IS KEY! If one of your goals this year is to get more involved in the fashion and/or editorial world, you’ve likely played around with the idea of internships. Internships are a way to kick-start your career, build relationships, and gain experience working in the field you’re interested in. I created a video almost 5 years ago (yup.. 5.. years.. ago..) titled: My Fashion Magazine Internship Advice. I get questions in the comments section of this video all of the time and thought it was time for an update. If you want to watch baby Jessica, a recent graduate who went through a plethora of internships and had sweet side bangs, you can watch THAT video below. Now for the updated version. I created a video on Get Up & Go Girl (have you subscribed? You should …

NEW YEAR, NEW ME?

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HAPPY 2018 MY LOVES! Typically around the holiday season I get a little somber, especially since it’s my third year in a row away from my family. But, if I learned anything from the past few years is that you make your own happiness. I repeat: YOU MAKE YOUR OWN HAPPINESS! Instead of curling into a ball and hiding away, on Christmas Eve I headed to Seoul to be with my friend Annie and celebrate December 25th with red bean donuts, ice skating, and treating myself with skincare related prezzies. And of course, I vlogged it all for ya. My New Years Eve was way less eventful. I bundled up at home in my thickest blanket, gathered my favorite junk food (chicken burgers, french fries, popcorn, and chocolate ice cream), and had a solo Harry Potter movie marathon. It. Was. Ah-mazing. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is by far the best movie of them all. I fell asleep around 11PM (lol, living the dream!) and woke up at 1:30AM with texts from my family …

COME CHRISTMAS SHOPPING WITH ME

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‘Tis the season of Korea reminding you how single and lonely you are. Heh heh. THE HOLIDAYS ARE HERE! Christmas isn’t a big deal on this side of the world, it’s another Valentine’s Day for couples to hold hands, take pictures with pretty lights, and have a quarrel by 8PM. You’re not in an official relationship in Korea until one of you storms off in rage in public. Sighhh, I love witnessing real life K-dramas. It also doesn’t snow in Busan so it hardly feels like the festive season. But even when the weather does get below zero, I still order vanilla milkshakes (I can’t be the only one!) because how could you say no when it comes with a topping of caramel corn! There have been a couple frigid days in the city, but that’s just a valid excuse to eat a copious amount of hot noodle soups. Whether it’s ramen, pho, or a kimchi jjigae, noodles are my ultimate comfort food. My favourite kind of noods are the ones sold in the alley …

THE HATE U GIVE – ANGIE THOMAS

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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas follows Starr, a teenage girl who witnesses a fatal shooting of her best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. The title actually derives from the rapper Tupac’s philosophy of THUG LIFE (The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody). True. Very, very true. From the moment I opened the cover I breeeeeeeezed through this novel. I couldn’t put it down! I admired the mention of African-American history and culture. Some references I knew such as the acknowledgement of  Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American from Chicago who was murdered for flirting with a white woman. But there were others I had to Google search (my history teachers would be so disappointed..) such as the Ten-Point Program, which was a set of guidelines written by The Panther Party, and Nat Turner, an African American who led the most effective slave rebellion in America. These references were essential to the novel because it gave Starr’s character (and myself) further of understanding of race and police brutality in America. What I loved most, however, was the resilience of Starr’s …

SEXUAL ASSAULT: SHE’S NEVER “ASKING FOR IT”

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Sexual assault must never be tolerated. Period. Any form of inappropriate touching without consent is not ok, even if it’s a person you know or consider a friend. Saying “no” doesn’t have to turn into a fight, it’s not a debate or up for discussion. No means no. Unfortunately, the word no is sometimes not taken seriously and because of this I (and millions of other men/women) have been grabbed, groped, pushed, forced, pressured, hurt.. the list goes on. The way I dealt with sexual assault was I suppressed. If I didn’t talk about it, it never happened. But it did. It has happened to me and it wasn’t until my most recent encounter that I went over the edge. Enough is enough. I came home from work, pressed record, and made the below video. Nervous to hit the publish button, I didn’t know how it would be received. Will I be judged? Not understood? Am I revealing too much information? Then I thought of the millions of men and women who are also victims of sexual assault and …

THE WORLD HAS ALWAYS BEEN RUN BY MEN

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“The world has always been run by men, and it still is today. Only thirteen countries and 6 percent of Fortune 500 companies are run by women. Just 13 percent of police officers are women, and only a few hundred are police chiefs. And less than 20 percent of the U.S. Congress is female. These numbers reveal a power structure that has marginalized women and others for far too long. We need to see more women in these roles – and more people of color, LGBT individuals, and members of religious minorities and underrepresented groups of all kinds. We are seeing what happens when power is held nearly exclusively by men. It gives rise to an environment in which, at its worst, women are treated as bodies to be leered at or grabbed, rather than peers entitled to equal respect. It wouldn’t solve all the problems we face if more women were in power – although I believe we could get quite a lot of good done. But one thing’s for certain: many fewer people …

GIRL POWER IN GAPYEONG, SOUTH KOREA

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Hello lovelies! Quick blog post for ya! I wanted to fill you in on my latest trip to Gapyeong, South Korea for a pleasant Woman’s Empowerment Retreat organized by The Seoul Chic. Myself and 20 other ladies met up at Garang Pension (an hour or so away from Seoul) which was S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G, especially since it was in the middle of autumn and leaves were changing on the surrounding mountains. We had a jam-packed weekend filled with fun activities such as pear picking, cooking/eating homemade meals, face masks, and personal chats about life, dating, and sharing stories about the pros/cons of being a foreigner in South Korea (we had A LOT to say..). It felt nice to unplug for a weekend and fill the soul with lessons/life advice from supportive, ambitious women. Check out my video for mooore!  

IT’S OK

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It’s ok to be on your own. Take time for self-care. It’s ok to not understand. Not everything needs to have an explanation. We are currently living on a planet that no one knows the exact age of, spiraling hurndreds of miles per hour in vast darkness, in a universe filled with matter we can’t truly identify. Yet, here we are. It’s ok to stand up for yourself. Don’t let people walk all over you just because they’re louder. Let them know your truth. It’s ok to be sad. Ugly cry it out. Scream at the top of your lungs. Let yourself feel your way through. It’s ok to miss him. He misses you too. It’s ok to give into a moment of weakness. Be honest with your feelings and remind yourself how far you’ve come. You will make mistakes but you’re also capable of making radical changes. It’s ok to fall asleep early. Put your phone on airplane mode, slather a thick layer of lavender scented lotion on your chest, and go to bed …

WEEKEND TRIP TO CHUNCHEON, SOUTH KOREA

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Before I get to Chuncheon, I want to rewind a bit and chat about last month when I went to Seoul for Hera Seoul Fashion Week. My last one, ever. WAH! I am incredibly lucky to have attended four wonderful seasons of SFW, and each time I am amazed by the creatives in this city. I only had time to attend one show and invited my friend Dev to sit front row with me at NOHANT. The mix of prints and textures made me miss spring/summer already, not to mention the designer chose the best looking models in the game. One model from the show stood out the most, Han Hyun-Min. Born and raised in Korea, Han Hyun-Min is ethnically half Nigerian, half Korean. Stunning look kid, eh? I couldn’t imagine the struggle this 16-year-old (YES! 16!) had to/probably still goes through growing up in a homogeneous country. I have no doubt that he is going to make international waves in the fashion industry. This season at SFW I stopped every human who either had glitter on their face …