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The final type of Korean show that I watched and it was very clear to see how Koreans are viewed if they are not smart and how they are treated if they don't live up to Korean beauty standards.

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One of the types of videos that I enjoyed watching with my girlfriend who is a big BTS fan so although It was fast-paced she helped me understand what was happening. Very helpful in understanding other parts of Korean culture that cant be found in articles.

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A Korean Show that I enjoyed watching in my learning of this culture

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Blog Post 10: Managing Differences

            At the moment, I think it would be extremely hard for me to vacation in South Korea due to how I don’t know how to read or speak the language at all. So although I know a couple hand gestures it would not be enough for me to get around the cities without the help of a translator or some kind of translating app. Language barrier aside, I don’t think it would be too difficult to blend in many of the things in their culture are similar to that of the US although they do some different it isn’t enough to make me feel lost. After a year of living in korea I think that I would easily get the hang of how things operate around there and will have made some friends by then, whether it is neighbors or people that I work with. A couple of the cultural challenges that I would have to adapt to is the business cards when you first greet someone as that is seen as very important in the culture according to my research and I would struggle with something like this. Another thing that I would struggle with is the bowing to people and the signs of respect that people show to each other on a day-to-day basis. This is not only something that I don’t do but I don’t necessarily agree with the act of bowing and would rather just shake hands with people if necessary. Before I would go to South Korea I would have to do a little more research on how everything and I mean everything operates because I don’t want to be out of the loop as well as learn the language just a little bit so I can speak to people.

            Reading the intercultural ethics in the textbook I feel like they are very common knowledge that people should have been taught when they grow up as children. Respecting others is the golden rule of talking to people and seeking commonalties is how you create a greater bond with the person allowing you to build a connection. Recognizing cultural differences is something that many people in this world can work on but it is something that is easily done as long as you pay attention to not disrespecting people. It is not very easy for me to connect with people in South Korea due to the language barrier but I have made many connections and friends due to my girlfriends love for Korean music. I have listened to a lot of the music too and watched many Korean shows both for enjoyment and for this class’s assignments. This is how I would recommend someone engages with other cultures as it is very easy to fall in love with music of a certain genre even if you don’t know the lyrics and the shows with subtitles allow for you to get a better feel of the culture while not living in it.

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Blog Post 9: Education

            The South Korean education system is one of the best in the world and they are incredibly strict at home with their education. Education and grades are arguably the most important thing for a child in South Korea and many children get frowned upon if they get mad grades. Schooling before high school is free in South Korea and mandatory for every citizen but high school is not mandatory and therefore not free. You have to be admitted into high school and it is determined based on location, GPA, teacher recommendations, and entrance exams. This puts an enormous amount of pressure on students to perform but the youth accept this challenge and proceeds with excellence.

            The Korean schooling system is based on a two-semester system running from march to July and the other from September to February, and very similar to the United States students also get holiday breaks as well as 10 optional half days at the beginning and end of the breaks. It is very common for students to meet with tutors and other places to get ahead in education and is often seen as mandatory for students. A typical high school schedule has the classes start at 8 am and ends around 4-5 pm with each class being 50 minutes long with the students staying in the same classroom and the teacher moving around, which is the opposite to how it is run in the US. After class they meet with their tutors and many will study until midnight giving many students 16-hour days of schooling.

            70% of Korea has education beyond high school and has a nearly 100% literacy rate across the country further showing how important education is in Korea. The graduation rate from higher level education is 37% far higher than the OECD average. Korea is not known for its gender equality and women strive daily to reach the same chances and opportunities that men are afforded. It has gotten better over the recent years for gender equality and is trending more towards a 50-50 split between the genders. Korea has a portion of the country that is rural and these people receive the general education that is required but has a much lower percentage that go on beyond high school. Many of the topics that Koreans study in school are similar to what we learn in the US. Everyone is taught the basics and what other courses are mandatory to take are changed every 5-10 years due to what the society needs to function at a high level. The characteristics that are ingrained in children follow them all the way through the rest of their lives and education is the most important part in that.

Korean school system explained [English guide]. TheKoreanGuide. (2022, August 18). https://thekoreanguide.com/korean-school-system/

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Blog Post 8: Healthcare Contexts

            South Koreas Health care systems is one of the best in the world if not the best. A very good example of this is to look at the coronavirus curve between South Korea and the United States. South Koreas curve of people infected rises a little and falls back down while the US curve rose exponentially and did not come down for a long time. Koreans view health care as extremely important which makes sense because no one wants to be sick or hurt for long periods of time. Its nation health insurance system is managed by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) and if you are staying in Korea for longer than 6 months you are mandated to register for the NHIS. Although it is not free healthcare residents only need to pay on average around 20% of their medical bill and when you bring in a paycheck 5% of your income will go towards the NHIS. One of the only flaws to the South Korean health care system is that almost all of the physicians are in the major cities leaving the more rural areas unattended. All this comes to explain why the perspective on south Koreans health care system is so positive not only from its residents but from outsiders looking in as well.

            Koreans have plenty of beliefs and practices about death that are utilized throughout their culture. Expressing emotions of a lost loved one is a very important thing for someone to take part in and this is not done in silence. Many times, it is a very loud wailing sound and this show of emotions is called a kok and can take place any time after a person’s passing and especially at funerals. As stated in a previous blog post, the person who is in charge of handling funeral preparations is the eldest son of the deceased and is known as the chief mourner. One of the stranger parts of Korean culture that I don’t agree with is that the chief mourner is responsible for letting his parents pass away and have to handle the preparations as punishment. To prepare the body the wash it, do its hair, cut its nails and put coins over the eyes most likely symbolizing that they want the person to look good in the afterlife.

            If I had a friend who was going to work in south Korea doing healthcare work I would be extremely proud of them first off because it is a very competitive industry and the quality of workers in south Korea is already amazing. I would tell them how to handle first impressions in the culture as talked about in the previous blog post as well as make sure that they understand as much of the culture and language as possible before moving. They should understand how people interact with each other in Korea in both a business and informal sense and how if at all possible the people in rural Korea are in more need of medical attention than the big cities.

Guide to Health Insurance and healthcare system in South Korea: Internations go. InterNations. (2024, March 13). https://www.internations.org/south-korea-expats/guide/healthcare#:~:text=Healthcare%20in%20South%20Korea%20is%20universal%20and%20funded,variety%20of%20both%20Western%20and%20Eastern%20treatment%20options.

Korean funeral traditions, customs, and beliefs. Ever Loved. (n.d.). https://everloved.com/articles/funeral-customs/korean-funeral-traditions-customs-and-beliefs/

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Blog Post 7: Business contexts

            South Korean business protocols resemble the culture due to how it is important to be on time and work hard while maintaining and respecting the hierarchy. There are plenty of websites that state the Korean business practices and almost all of them state how important it is to be punctual when attending meetings and any get togethers. You must also dress in professional business attire, for men this means a black suit for men while women typically wear a conservative skirt and a blouse. The hardworking culture that children go through school dealing with is further carried into the work environment as they work incredibly hard to continue progressing in the workplace.

            Greeting someone in a Korean workplace usually starts with a handshake and/or a bow as this is very common practice for almost all formal greetings. Another thing about greeting people in Korea that I find strange is that the only way people meet each other in the workplace is if they meet through a mutual who puts them together. During this initial greeting it is very important to have your business card out and available to give to the other person during this first interaction. This will give the person a way to reach you later as well as give your credentials and a way to remember who they met during the day.

            I couldn’t really find anything about initial conversation topics in south Korean culture but id assume that you want to keep the conversation light and not talk about super important things whether it be work or other stuff. Most important ways to get to know someone is to go to get food or drinks with someone. That is the way that most people get really close due to how they are able to talk about things that don’t revolve around work in a relaxed setting. Gift giving is something that is very common in social settings and should be given and received with two hands and not opened in front of the giver. It is normal to give a small gift of flowers or candy if you ever visit someone’s house and the gifts represent the importance of a friendship with the person.

            Three potential challenges that an American business man could face working in Korean would be the business card greeting as it is not customary for a person to carry a business card in America but it is a very important practice in Korea. Another possible problem would be sending gifts because I don’t feel like it is normal for Americans to give gifts to others unless it is a holiday. Dressing up for work is something that people on the east coast do a lot but people on the west coast are not accustomed to wearing nice clothing which is the norm in korea.

            I would explain to them the norms to them before their first day of work so they don’t embarrass and alienate themselves from the rest of the people in the workplace. I would make it extremely easy for the person to make friends by assigning them to work in groups with people hoping to make it easier and quicker for them to fit in.

OptiLingo. (2022, May 3). 9 must-follow rules for Korean Business etiquette. https://www.optilingo.com/blog/korean/south-korean-business-etiquette/

Ssam, Y. (2019, October 26). 5 Korean Business Etiquette & 11 Korean business phrases you need to know!. uBitto. https://ubitto.com/blog/korean-business-etiquette-korean-business-phrases/

Tabitha. (2023, February 25). 13 business etiquette & culture in South Korea. Decorum Doctor. https://excellentetiquette.com/business-etiquette-in-south-korea/#12_Bonding_and_Building_Relationships

Toyryla, L. (2023, June 21). Business etiquette and practices in South Korea: A complete guide. 90 Day Korean. https://www.90daykorean.com/korean-business-etiquette/

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Blog Post 6: NonVerbal Messages

            I don’t know if I’ll ever visit Korea because I am not the biggest fan of traveling but I have heard of stories where someone travels somewhere and they do not understand the culture at all and look like a complete idiot. These stories are why it is so important for people to understand the cultures that you are visiting, not only the language but also the nonverbal communications. Most of the time you are not going to be talking with every person that you see which leaves most of your interpretation up to understanding their body language. Even if you are talking to someone there is still so much that you can pick up by understanding by their motions, possibly more than just using their words.

            Some of these obstacles in understanding nonverbal messages doesn’t come from culture but rather it differs from person to person. Everyone has a different way of expressing their feelings and it takes time to understand what those reactions mean if the person does not talk to you. This is especially apparent in my family between my sister and my dad, anytime something makes my sister mad or sad she completely shuts down and sulks around for the rest of the day. While for my dad, he just accepts what happened and tries to move on or handle the situation with no sulking. Add this confusion on how different people operate on top of not understanding a person’s culture/language and you will have no success in understanding what information they are trying to give you.

            All of those points are extremely important for nonverbal messaging as if someone is dressed up incredibly fancy then you can assume they are going to a formal party or on a date. Body movements are something that is used to a very high degree in Korea and it happens in most normal conversations, two of the body movements that stood out to me was the hand heart where they put their thumb and index finger together to make a heart and it symbolizes that you love the person. The other one would create a lot of confusion in the US being the rock paper scissors game where in Korea the symbol for scissors looks a lot like a gun. In the US this would have a very different connotation and would probably scare people. Facial expressions could also create a sense of confusion as smiling can also indicate that someone is embarrassed in Korean culture, this could be shown after they make a mistake.

            Physical contact and personal space are not something that many people worry about in Korea, which is different than what my assumption was before my research. Women may walk hand in hand and men may touch one another more often than the US. They also don’t worry if they come into contact with other people in the streets and this makes sense with how populated the streets are its expected to bump into a couple people. They also don’t apologize if someone’s personal space gets breached for this exact reason. South Korea along with many other Asian and western cultures is monochronic which means that they are precise with their time and punctuality. This is important to know as in some cultures it is cool to be fashionably late to greetings and if you did this in South Korea is would be extremely frowned upon.

Jelena Mraovic is a time management and productivity author. (n.d.). The perception of time in different cultures. Clockify Blog. https://clockify.me/blog/managing-time/time-perception/#:~:text=Monochrons%20mostly%20belong%20to%20Western%20cultures%20%28North%20Americans,a%20combination%20of%20monochronic%20and%20polychronic%20time%20use.

Korean gestures and body language you need to know. KoreanClass101.com Blog. (2019, December 2). https://www.koreanclass101.com/blog/2019/08/16/korean-body-gestures/

Pier. (n.d.). South Korean culture - communication. Cultural Atlas. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/south-korean-culture/south-korean-culture-communication

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Blog Post 5: Verbal Messages

            The official language of South Korea is obviously Korean and was adapted from old Korean that was used in prehistoric Korea. Along with Korean two other main languages get used in the country, English and Japanese. English has been promoted as the 2nd language of Korea as is been taught in school for 40+ years now, this is very understandable as many of the tourists speak English as it’s the most spoken language in the world and that south Koreans are allies with America in global trading. Japanese is mainly spoken around the region of busan which is on the very south corner of the nation which makes it the closest point to Japan in all of Korea. Because of this both people in Busan and people in Fukuoka in Japan have developed dialects that mix both of the languages together.

            A lingua franca is a common language that is used to communicated across cultures that normally would not be able to understand each other. This is extremely helpful for tourists because as mentioned above, English is the most spoken language in the world and this allows for a greater chance of being able to conversate with someone if you were abroad.

Hello = annyeonghaseyo

Yes = ye

No = ~eseo

Please = jebal

Thank You = gamsahabnida

Can you help me? = dowajuseyo?

I don’t understand = EUneun entendohaji anhseubnida

I don’t speak Korean = naneun hangug-eoleul moshaeyo

My name is Tyler = nae ileum-eun tailleoya

Via Google Translate

            Most of these words were hard for me to pronounce because of how different it is to normal English combinations of letters that I see on a day-to-day basis. Specifically, I don’t understand was incredibly difficult for me to pronounce because of how long it is and anhseubnida just doesn’t roll of the tongue for me. These words would be extremely important to know before traveling to korea due to how much they could be used for and how common they are to say. If you can’t say yes, no, can you help me then you have no hope in finding your way around the city.

            Using google translate is not always the greatest tool because it is not perfect and often makes many mistakes which are very noticeable to people who are fluent in the language. Despite knowing this I did still use google translate for the words above because I don’t know any other alternatives. I think that I means that language and the phrases/metaphors that are in the language shape who we are as people and how it influences us in our daily life’s. I’m not sure I quite believe in this at all because I don’t usually let language or words or phrases people use affect my mood.

Sawe, B. E. (2017, August 28). What languages are spoken in South Korea?. WorldAtlas. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-south-korea.html

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Blog Post 4: Cultural History

            South Korea has had a very rocky history and it still continues to this day due to the dictatorship of North Korea and the threats that it brings being so close. This was shown almost immediately after Korea was proclaimed in 1948 with the south declaring independence in 1950. This sparked the Korean War due to differences in political ideology due to south getting US support as a democracy and the USSR and China backing up North Korea and communism. The South Korean war went on until 1953 and 2 million lives were lost in the war. This war strengthened the identity of south Korea being a democracy led country and its cultural values that they fought for 70+ years ago are still intact.

The second important event in South Koreas history is the military coup and the return to democracy from 1961-1980s. The martial law was enacted after the military took control and it ended with the General Park being assassinated. This tells us that the perception of the military being in control was very negative as following the assassination the country returned to a democracy where the constitution was changed to allow direct elections of the president. This also led to the sunshine policy where south Korea would offer unconditional support to North Korea. This sunshine policy has been around ever since which it only faltering a couple times throughout history.

            This takes us into the 3rd important part of South Korean history, the continued conflict and tensions with North Korea. In 2010, North Korea sank a naval ship of South Koreas which resulted in trade being cut off between the two. This was not the first and it certainly wasn’t the last conflict that the south and north Koreans would get into as even today it came out that North Koreas leader Kim Jong un “has no desire for talks and repeats a threat to destroy the south if provoked.” –Kim Tong-Hyung (Associated Press). This is only 5 years after it seemed that everything was going good as the north and south agreed to march under the same flag in the 2018 winter Olympics also in 2018 Kim Jong-un became the firth leader to enter the south. The constant threats of war from Kim Jong-Un is very alarming to the citizens of south Korea as many of them just want to feel safe but the constant fear of war is always looming over them. The perception of war in South Korea has changed over time as they started their country having to defend themselves and followed by a military coup while today, they just want to relax and not have to worry about the threats from the north. They are still strong on the cultural values that the country was founded on and fought for 70 years ago despite all the conflicts and political catastrophes the country has gone through even recently with a president being impeached in 2016.

Documentary on the History of North and South Korea

BBC. (2018, May 1). South Korea - timeline. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15292674

Tong-Hyung, K. (2024, February 9). North Korea’s Kim says he has no desire for talks and repeats a threat to destroy south if provoked. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-jong-un-south-korea-tensions-ef006cbc4e167ba8b8fb160239f3838f

YouTube. (2020, October 31). History of north and South Korea. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TMtRTFqPXw

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Blog Post 3: World View

            Many of the Asian nations are high on the list of atheist percentage with China and Japan being 1 and 2 respectively. This is no different as South Korea is one of the most atheist nations in the world ranking 9th in most atheists by number in the nation and 14th in atheist percentage being 65% compared to the rest of the world. This however does not stop many of the citizens and families in the country to carry Confucian traditions and practices. Confucianism is a scholarly belief system that promotes education but still carries with it 5 constants that are quite similar to many religions. Ren(humaneness), Yi (justice), Li(propriety), Zhi(wisdom), Xin(faithfulness). The views on the afterlife are based off of these Confucianism principles, which is to say that there isn’t a clear belief of there actually being an afterlife but many do believe in it. There are folk stories about helping their family members making a smooth transition so they don’t become a wandering ghost. They also often make food offerings to help them along their journey to the afterlife. I believe many south Koreans being atheists leads to them being a harder worker because they don’t have a higher power that is supposed to lead them to what they want and instead have to work for it through education. One piece of South Korean funeral rituals that I found extremely different than anything that I had ever seen before was that the son or grandson of the deceased is known as the chief mourner. This title is given to him because he is thought to have “let his parents die” which is the part I found strange because everyone is going to die eventually and, in many cases, there is literally nothing that can be done to stop it. For me, it was already hard on my father when his dad passed and I wouldn’t want him to have to deal with the thought/title of it being his fault for letting his father die. The job of the “chief mourner” is to plan the pre-burial, funeral rites, and memorial.

            Religious freedom is given to all citizens in South Korea as said in article 20 “all citizens shall enjoy freedom of religion.” Although it is allowed many people do not explore religions and instead a very large majority are atheists. Religions must register with the government and the government does oversee practices while funding some religious groups. Over the years, there have been conflicts between Buddhists and Catholics in South Korea due to building of shrines but other than that not major conflicts between the religious/no religious groups.

Works Cited:

Cake, & Krystyna, K. (2022, September 9). Korean funerals: Traditions and what to expect. Cake Blog. https://www.joincake.com/blog/korean-funeral/

Most atheist countries 2024. (n.d.). https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-atheist-countries

Southkorea. (2023, July 31). Does South Korea have freedom of religion? - namhan south korea 🇰🇷. Namhan South Korea. https://www.namhansouthkorea.com/does-south-korea-have-freedom-of-religion/

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, January 24). Confucianism. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism

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Blog Post 2: Family Structure and Function

            The south Korean culture has been labeled as one of the best societies at raising their children to be successful and it is seen due to the prosperous nature and education levels of the citizens in the nation. The traditional family structure of South Koreans is head lined by how loyal family members are to each other, one person’s actions affect the whole family whether it’s good or bad. They are very determined to continuing the characteristics of collectivist societies and limit individualism. Traditional families are patriarchal with the father expected to be the bread winner of the family and is also expected to discipline his children when necessary. Over recent years this has changed due to the Korean war and families have begun to adopt a more modern family structure with the women having more input in not just families but in society as a whole.

            When raising children in south Korea children are raised to surpass their parents in education and career possibilities. This is the main purpose of the parents and in many movies and shows is portrays the Asian families as strict and often you hear “getting anything less than all A’s is failure.” This value comes from the desire to have their child be the best they can possibly be. Beginning to instill family values and traditions in the children starts as soon as they are born and it is said that “habits formed at 3 last until 80.” Children are taught about the gender discrimination that is extremely prevalent in their culture, ranking 115 out of 145 in gender equality in 2019. They understand how women are viewed as lower in their culture and what jobs and roles that each gender is supposed to fill in their society. They are taught at a young age to respect people older than themselves and not talking respectfully to their older brother by the age of 7 would bring punishment to the child.

            Globalization has a negative impact on the south Korean traditional culture as children are learning more about western culture that is not as strict and emphasizes individuality compared to collectivism. This is due to an increase in technology that is allowing these children to learn about these ideas and not a curriculum change in education. This directly opposes the values and previously elders where to be honored and there are even dedicated days to honoring ancestors but children have begun to disagree with these values. The elders want to demand respect of the younger generation but do not receive it and often get disrespected. Despite this rejection of values, the Korean culture is still very similar to the traditional values that have been held for centuries.

Works Cited

         Euny. (2019, November 15). This Korean parenting style is the best-kept secret to raising smart and successful kids. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/15/how-korean-parents-raise-smart-successful-kids-best-kept-secret.html

Pier. (n.d.). South Korean culture - family. Cultural Atlas. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/south-korean-culture/south-korean-culture-family

Traditional gender roles of Korea. TOTA. (n.d.). https://www.tota.world/article/107/

The value and meaning of the Korean family. Asia Society. (n.d.). https://asiasociety.org/education/value-and-meaning-korean-family

[tylernelson]

Blog 1: Specific Culture to Study

            The culture that I will be studying in my blog is going to be the South Korean culture. The reasons behind this are that I don’t have much knowledge about the culture and I really like some of their food as well as my girlfriend a big fan of a South Korean band. When I do interact with people in my day-to-day life, I don’t tend to talk about people’s cultures and race because I don’t know much about it so I just don’t bring it up. I could see how this assignment could make it less awkward if I did get into one of those conversations and I could understand what they are talking about compared to just being clueless. This will help me by able to use the skills I learn from understanding one culture to help translate to a different culture when I want to try and understand the intracies of their culture.

Features of the culture:

Food: Has plenty of different foods and has very unique flavors, my personal favorite is jjajangmyeon and Japchae. Similar type foods to Japan and China because it is in the same region but has many differences that separate it

Music: Has an entire music genre based around Korea called K-pop with it biggest band being BTS. Its music has not just stayed in Korea and is influencing nations all around the world.

Holidays: Seollal (Lunar new year), March 1st (independence type holiday), Children’s Day, Buddhas Birthday, August 15th (Full Independence Day), Chuseok (fall harvest), hangul day (creation of alphabet)

Clothing: the Hanbok is the traditional Korean fashion and has been around for 2000+ years and the different embroideries are used to represent a person’s social status.

            During this assignment I will take a couple precautions to make sure that the information I am getting is accurate. The first and most important one is not taking my opinions on the culture into account when making the blog and doing my research. This will make it so that it is a completely unbiased account of the South Korean culture. The next thing that I will do is to only take it from sources that are credible by not taking it from Wikipedia or any other cite that doesn’t have credibility. The final thing is going to be to if possible take information only from people who live in or are from South Korea, this could get challenging because of the language barrier but more often than not I should be able to find articles written from South Koreans.

WORKS CITED:

Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/korea-south/#people-and-society

Dom. (2021, July 8). Korean holidays: What are the major holidays Koreans celebrate?. Learn Korean with Fun & Colorful Infographics. https://domandhyo.com/2020/12/korean-holidays-what-are-the-major-holidays-koreans-celebrate.html

Marrinan, J., food, K. thanksgiving, & Tim. (2023, December 26). 30 traditional Korean dishes: Korean food you’ll love 2024. In My Korea. https://inmykorea.com/traditional-korean-dishes/

What is Hanbok?. The Korean In Me. (n.d.). https://thekoreaninme.com/pages/what-is-hanbok