Have you ever heard
about the country of courteous people in the East? Can you guess its meaning?
It is another name of Korea. During the era of Chosun dynasty, Western people
called us, the country of courteous people in the East, Korea. That is because
of our kindness, respect and consideration for old people. Now I am going to
tell you some examples which pertain to these courteous situations.
 |
| Korean drinking culture |
First example – the
drinking culture. When we drink alcohol with older people, we have to accept a
glass of drink with both hands. After accepting the cup, we have to turn our
heads and drink alcohol sideways (not directly drinking in front of the older
people). However, older people don’t have to turn their heads. If we don’t turn
our heads in front of older people, they are going to think that we are very
rude. When we fill a glass of drink to older people, we must pour with both
hands. That is our courteous drinking culture.
Second - courtesy to
elderly people who use public transportation. When we use public transportation
such as subway or bus, we can meet people from all age groups. As the
transportations’ seats are limited, we give priority to selected individuals. In
our country, there are some seats that are reserved only for the old, weak
people, disabled and pregnant women. As courtesy, young and healthy people in
Korea don’t use seats allotted to these marginalized group. If the sick and the
old use public transportation and there are no more seats for the sick and the
aged, most people even give their seats to the sick and the elderly. I heard
that in other countries, the elderly stand when no seat is available.
Third - eating
meals with older people. If we eat meals with older people, we can’t eat first.
We can eat after older people start eating. However in other countries, people
don’t care who eats first. In Korea, eating after the elderly starts eating is
one of ways to show respect to older people.
Lastly – the honorifics.
I think that the major difference between foreign culture and Korean culture is
the honorific term. If we talk to older people, we have to use honorific term
like Yo (요) or Da (다). However in
America or Europe, they don’t use honorific terms. Many foreigners have
difficulties in using honorific terms and make mistakes about that. Honorific
terms are used not only for older people but also for meeting other people for
the first time. Even though we know the person is younger than you, you need to
use respectful terms. That is how our country culture different from other
countries.
Aside from the situations
mentioned above, there a lot of other things that indicate that Korea is a
country of courteous people in the East. I think these four situations highlights
the high regard of Koreans to the elderly. These practices differ the most with
other countries’ culture. It is good to know these basic manners so you can
show respect to other people, especially to the elderly here in Korea.
by Lee Jin Sol, GEO Class 5-1, Professor Stephen Jones and TA Mario
