Postby kc101com » November 5th, 2013 8:54 am
Hey Olay,
This definitely sounds quite a project and thank you for also asking opinions to us!:)
As a team at Koreanclass101.com, I grew up in Korea spending bout 16 years of my life there - I think this should be a good reference for you besides any others you would encounter!
Who holds the most “status” in your family? Why?
: this has been changing but still the male(whoever the oldest) takes the highest status. This comes from the confucianism as Korea was strongly influenced since long ago - some of words say 'respect the elderly', 'Male to be a leader and female to be a supporter'.
How important is education in your family?
In Asian culture in general, education is very much important - compared to the States and Europe(Europe could also vary as you would know, in Scotland or Germany education are free). Nearly 8-90% or even more go to the universities and the reputation of the university is also significant considering the how it frames you in career-wise or so.
What is the most important meal of the day?
I think this could be very much subjective on each family but in terms of having a meal all together may be important as Koreans always think of having a meal together as in bonding.
Do you eat foods that are indigenous to your culture? Why or why not? If you answered yes, name some of the foods that you eat. If you answered no, what types of foods do you eat?
If you mean by Islamic not having pork or Hindu, beef - I don't see Koreans to have specifically prohibited food. Though Buddhism is dominant, there is freedom on other religions, most popularly Christianity, and the government does not particularly regulate on this matter.
Did you ever live with your grandparents or extended family?
For myself I never did but some might have done - but definitely having a big family and living all together are disappearing considering that the number of children are decreasing.
How important is religion in your family? Why ?
This could also be subjective but I believe usually one family tends to follow the same because of the ceremonial reason for the ancestors - if buddhist, it would be having food and bow while christian would have different ways.
Are the roles of men and women specifically defined in your family? If so, what are they?
Not so much these days but it is still common to see the women doing housework and men sitting.
Do you have any eating habits/rituals that are specific to your culture?
Not necessarily but possibly let elderly to grab the silverware first then younger ones start eating- again differs by the households but for my case, it would be having breakfast, trying to take time, no talking with mouth full, and try to finish the meal not leaving half or dirty.
Define and describe the most important (or most celebrated) holiday of your culture.
New Year's and Thanksgiving would probably be the biggest holidays in Korea - we follow lunar calendar for these two holidays and earlier one is around the late January to early February, later one from August to September.
How is physical contact viewed in your culture?
Popular yet conservative. Probably more open than how Japan would be (and possibly among Asia) but PDA will not be as common as Western at all. Also shaking hands for greetings not hugging or kissing on the cheeks.
What is considered most disrespectful in your culture?
Probably going against the minority or elderly, infants. The Korean society has the roles on every situation and it would be regarded rude if one behaves wrongly from the conventional wisdom.
Hope the words may help a bit on your research and we also have lots of articles regarding the Korean culture as well as the language!
Please feel free to follow up with us and good luck with your project!:)
Thank you
Madison
Team Koreanclass101.com
What would you say is, from your perspective, the most commonly held misconception about people of your culture?
