There are many culture differences between the United States and Korea. The way that we eat, talk, act and live our lives is almost the exact opposite from each other. Within these past couple of weeks, I have easily noticed them. Most of the differences are due to our “individualism” style of living and Korea's “collectivism” style of living. Dealing with food, there are many examples of this. In the US, when going to a restaurant, every person has their own plate of food and their own beverage. To eat off of someone else’s plate without getting permission first is very rude. On the other hand in Korea, there are multiple plates of various foods that everyone is welcome to eat off together. Also, one person will pour the beverage for everyone at the table, starting with the oldest. This is very different than in America. Even when communicating with others, we differ in many ways. For example, when you say “thank you” in America, the person that you say “thank you” to is expected to say “you're welcome”. Not responding or just saying “yes” is very rude. In Korea, I have noticed that when you say “thank you” to someone, they respond by saying “yes”. At first I thought they didn’t care for me, maybe because I looked American. Soon I realized that saying “yes” is a very formal way of saying “thank you”. When dealing with everyday life, one thing I noticed is that when you open a door for someone, they just walk by without acknowledging that you had opened the door for them. Again, in America, this would be very rude and could aggravate some people. But I then I realized that they were not being rude, but they are in more of a “pali pali” or “hurry hurry” state of mind. So they are in a hurry to get to where ever they need to go, without noticing too much extra things around them. These are some of the observations I have about Korea and United States.
Final Thoughts:
My experiences in Korea have been unbelievable. I am so happy I had the opportunity to be able to fly across the world to visit a country that I never thought I’d ever be in. Studying the language and culture has been some of the best parts of the trip. I love the new people that I met and also the time I had spent with them. I have learned so much in this last month, and I am glad that I did. I am very proud to be able to go back to the states with all of my new knowledge about something that not a lot of people get to experience. I hope one day I can come back to Korea and visit everyone again.
by Steven Trujillo, Buddy from Abroad from the United States of America
