Born near Vancouver and raised in Montréal, Canada, Jonathan Hopfner graduated with a degree in English literature from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He was first lured to South Korea in the late 1990s by the promise of stable employment as an English language teacher—a tantalizing prospect for an arts major short on career ambitions. However, it wasn't long before he managed to parlay some early stabs at writing into a position with a newspaper in Seoul, launching a journalism career that has since taken him to Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong. As interesting as all these places were, Jonathan was wracked regularly with nostalgia for the rolling mountains, bustling cities, and bold cuisine of South Korea, and in 2008 he jumped at the chance to return to work in his adopted home.

Jonathan's reintegration into the South Korean expatriate life, along with his rediscovery of the joys of weekend hikes, all-night saunas, and rice wine, both informed and were inspired by the research for this book. Jonathan has contributed articles on culture and travel in South Korea and elsewhere in Asia to publications such as Canada's Globe and Mail, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, and DestinAsian magazine.