Around the World : South Korea

South Korea, at the age of 5 or 6 I went to Seoul, South Korea. It had been the first time I had flown alone with my big brother. Anyway, I spent my whole summer there and the culture was very different from what I was used to. Where I had stayed there was no shower at home, you would have to go use the public bathroom to shower. There were also no beds, you slept on the ground with one or two blanket and a pillow. Of course, you felt like you were having a sleep over every day. I also stayed at my great aunt's where they had lots of bobcats around the house. As far as cars go, there weren't very many around considering everything was in walking distance. In Seoul they had lots of street markets selling thing like acessories, handbags, electronics, and other things as well.

For Koreans, their meals are homecooked and usually always have rice or kimch'i incorporated in some way. Kimch'i is vegetables mixed with salt and chang, soybean paste. Their main dishes are either broiled or fried foods, soups, raw or salted fish, and vegetables. Koreans also have beef that is marinated with soy sauce, garlic, and spices. This is called bulgogi. Eating these foods you usally have to use chopsticks or a spoon ("South Korea: Food and Holidays").

In my extra research of this country I also learned more about the cultural makeup there. It is known as the most ethnically homogeneous place. People call it the "single race society" because 99% of the koreans speak Korean. When it comes to religion, it is the base for religious diplomats. More than half of the country has no religious preference and the rest is either Buddahist or Christian (Cybriwsky, "Seoul").

In South Korea you even celebrate holidays differently. For Singmogil (Arbor Day) everyone is expected to plant at least one tree. It is seen as a gift to the future generations, and it makes up for the deforestation from the Korean War and WWII. Another holiday celebrated in a different way is Ch'usok (Harvest Moon Festival). It is the Thanksgiving Day for Koreans, it's celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Koreans there even get three days of no work. How does that sound to you? Every 14-16 on the eighth lunar month they get time to go back to their hometown or visit family ("South Korea: Food and Holidays").

photographs taken from: http://quekzhenghao.blogspot.com/2011/01/seoul-south-korea.html