This is Part 3 of a blog which outlines the areas where Eastern and Western culture clash that can cause friction at work or even in our place of study in South Korea; I mentioned before the tension that exists between the two cultures of Individualism = Western and Collectivism = Korea, which can cause
In Seoul, the whirlwind pace of life and blitz on all your senses makes it easy to get lost in its metropolitan modernity. Seoul itself seems to crane its head strictly towards the future in the form of higher skyscrapers and talks of economic growth and expansion making it easy to forget the fascinating, difficult, and sometimes harrowing past
It’s not just about watching pretty people eat. Have you heard of 먹방 (meokbang)? It’s short for 먹는방송 (meokneunbangsong) which translates to ”eating broadcasting”, a very fitting name as it is just what meokbang is; a live broadcast of a person eating copious amounts of food. Despite being a fairly new phenomenon meokbang has garnered
All you need is a rock, a harness and rope! Well, a rock will be a start, but rock climbing is a versatile and athletic sport. Rock climbing is popular around the world and Korea is no exception! Korea may not be a top-destination to travel to for rock climbing, like Venezuela or Yosemite, but
In my previous blog I wrote that, as guests to South Korea, us Westerners need to reconfigure our settings, meaning the way we have been conditioned in our home-country’s environment – because we see the world differently to Koreans – otherwise this may cause us problems. I mentioned that one area where we see the
I’ve yet to determine why exactly it is that the kids feel as though their moans of dismay have any sway over what, or the order of, the work I assign them in class. It’s both cute and annoying. “Okay, let’s get out our Practice book—” “No. Workbook.” I am unanimously interrupted by. No. If
The average cost of a Korean wedding is roughly $100,000 per couple! This cost may surprise western folks, where the average cost for a wedding floats around $20,000. This got me thinking, what are the expenses for a Korean wedding? Unlike in the western world where weddings take place in a myriad of
What was the rudest question you were asked by Koreans?There is one expression in Korean that is frequently used by brave Koreans when they, too are asked and are disenchanted by it, which I will disclose toward the end of this blog. Yes I am going to teach you the ultimate expression to genially squirm
