One Year of Insight (Part 2)

Here are some more awesome things about the Korean culture...

1.  Driving here is crazy!  People go through red lights like it's their job!  Usually, the light turns red, and then five people will continue through the intersection.  Police men seem to have no control of this situation.  Also, there are seemingly no parking rules!  It's really amazing to walk down the street and find more than one person literally parked in the road, blocking several people in.  Tim and I are happy that we don't have to drive here, and that we can just rely on public transportation!

2.  Koreans are actually one to two years younger than they say.  In Korea, at your time of birth, you are one year old.  Then, at Lunar New Year (usually in February), you turn one year older.  (Everyone turns one year older on Lunar New Year rather than on their birthdays.)  So, a baby could be born in January and be 1 year old, then turn 2 years old in February on Lunar New Year.  By our standards the baby would be 2 months old; by Korean standards the baby would be 2 years old!  Quite a difference!  So when people ask my age here, I tell them the American age (25) and the Korean age (27).

3.  Speaking of age, Koreans find age very important.  To Americans, the question of age is something very personal, but in Korea, they ask for your age so that they know how to address you.  People who are older than you are treated and spoken to with more respect.  For instance, there are different ways of saying "thank you" based on who you are talking to.  You can say, "Coma-wah" to a peer or someone younger; "Kam-sa-ham-ni-da" to someone older, or just to be formal; and "Kam-ap-sam-ni-da" for the most formal occasions, or just to be very respectful.  So age has a lot to do with how you speak to others and how you are spoken to.  Koreans like to ask other "personal" questions as well.  They're not trying to be nosy; it's just their way of getting to know others.  For example, in my classes, besides my age, I have been asked about my height, weight, and religion.  I will tell them just about anything they ask because I feel like I have nothing to hide.  I think one of the most frequent things they want to know is why I am married with no children.  In Korea, when you get married, kids follow very soon after.  They can't understand the idea of waiting to have children.  Some students even get mad at me!  I tell them, "Hopefully soon, but not yet."  Also, I say that I wouldn't be able to teach them if I had my own children, so that seems to satisfy them. :)

4.  I love the way Koreans wave goodbye.  I started doing it a long time ago, and now it is with me forever because I can't stop.  Koreans use two hands to wave.  Sometimes they wave their two hands side to side, and sometimes, they rotate their wrists, so that their hands move front to back.  I love it!

5.  Koreans are very much into presentation.  The way stores and restaurants are set up and decorated, the way they dress... all of it is very important.   When you enter the big department stores like E-Mart and Shinsegae, there is a neatly-dressed person at the front who bows to you.  We have lots of restaurants near our apartment, and each one is decorated in a very thoughtful and unique way.  Also, the way Koreans present themselves is very important.  I feel like they are always dressed up!  Nobody just runs to the store in sweats with messy hair!  Tim and I painted our classrooms the other day, and I felt really self-conscious because I had to walk down the street in old painting clothes.  It was a strange feeling!  I would have never felt that way in America.

6.  Koreans are all about protecting their skin!  They wear long sleeves to the beach, and carry sun-brellas in the summer.  They want to be as white as possible!  When I got a little sunburned at the beach one weekend, my kids FREAKED OUT!  They couldn't understand what had happened to me, and how I could have possibly let that happen.  I'm glad to know that my ghostly white skin will always be accepted here!

It has been fun discovering all of these culture gems over the past year!  Bye for now (waving with two hands)!