Describe a cultural product or practice and reflect upon the cultural perspective(s) it illustrates.
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Describe a cultural product or practice and reflect upon the cultural perspective(s) it illustrates.
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Rice is the backbone of almost every Korean meal. Each person will also hace their own bowl of soup or stew. The side dishes and main dishes, which can be meat, seafood, or tofu are all be served in the middle of the table. Korean national dish is kimchi, which is spicy and salty. It is kind of pickled vegetable. Its primary ingredient is cabbage and radish. It is prepared in the large quantities in the fall by families and left to ferment for several weeks in large jars buried in the ground. Mostly Koreans eat with chopsticks and a spoon at a small table, which can be moved to any room of the house. Everything, including meat, is cut into bite-sised pieces so there is no need for a knife. Koreans are also adept at using chopsticks so if the meat is too large, it can be split with chopsticks. Korean cuisine has been affected by its geography, climate, and neighbors China and Japan. Some European traders also had an impact in the cuisine.
Politeness is very important to Koreans and there is a lot of emphasis places on sharing drinks and meals, although some of the older traditions have relaxed in recent years. The young need to wait for the oldest person to sit down before the young take a seat at the table. Before eating, especially at someone’s home, it is polite to say that you are looking forward to the meal. In Korean, people say Jalmukesumneda. (I will eat well) At the beginning of meal, the young also need to wait for the oldest person to lift their spoon or chopsticks first before you start eating.
Korea is a collectivist country and one of the common activities Korean people love to do together is to go to the Korean Bath House. Koreans usually go to the Bath House with friends, families, or the loved ones. Korean Bath house can also be called as Korean Sauna, or Jjimjilbang. At the Korean Bath House, Koreans go through an intense cleaning process, called “seshin” in a weekly basis. This is a weekly scrub and the purpose for this activity is to improve skin vibrancy and blood circulation, obtain muscle relation and become rejuvenated. This process usually takes 40 minutes and it consists of six steps. Firstly, take a pre-scrub shower and use sop instead of liquid shower gel so it could make scrub easier. Then, soak in medium-hot water (about 100 Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes to relax the whole body. Then, remove accessories such as rings, earrings and be completely bare and lay down in one of the massage bed where the scrub women or men would perform the seshin process. The scrub process is performed using a Korean Italy towel, a colorful, think loofah with a sandpaper-like texture. This towel helps to get rid of the body of all the gunk, dirt and layers of dead skin that accumulated naturally, and eventually rolls of dead skin away and revel soft, pink skins underneath. After the scrub process, take a shower and go to Suna depending on each person’s needs ranging from five to fifteen minutes.
In Pakistan, English words are replacing many of the Urdu words. There is a broad vocabulary that has been actively adopted by the Urdu language that are actually English words. I've currently learned through my learning process that words such as 'guitar' are the same in both languages. Words like "jungle" however are adopted by the English language and were originally an urdu words. Urdu is being replaced by English as a more common language used in conversations. The number of English schools in their society and the excessive use of email and messaging amongst the youth of Pakistan is helping this process (because these messages are usually in English or a combination of English and Urdu). Also because of this technology, these messages are usually communicated in Roman characters-- this clearly diminishes the importance of Urdu script. In some places, English is even used as a tool to distinguish between high and low classes because those that can speak English proficiently are considered to be among the elite class despite the fact the Urdu was the only official language of Pakistan until English was added later on.
In Pakistan the use of pre-paid cards for cell phone service is wide-spread, unlike the United States. The pre-paid cards have a certain rupee (their currency) value, which translates into X amount of minutes or texts (or a combination of the two.) Though there are monthly plans like in the US, pre-paid cards are far more common in Pakistan than in the US. Further, the amount spent on cell phone service is proportionately (to salary) much higher for the average user in Pakistan than in the US. An American earning an average salary will spend 1-2% of their monthly income on cellphone service, while a Pakistani who earns an average salary will spend around 5% of their salary on cellphone service.
I believe these two differences can be understood (at least partially) from the same reason - the communal culture in Pakistan. Though Pakistan is a poorer country than the US, individuals feel more security/optimism in regard to spending habits because they view their community as more dependable/willing to help than for individuals in the US. What I mean by that, is that although one might be spending more money on "short-term" goods in the moment in Pakistan, there is less anticipation felt regarding such behavior because of a sense of security (financial in this case) from the importance that Pakistanis place on providing for those in the community/family. This can help explain why a larger proportion of salary is spent on cellphone service, because staying in touch is important enough to pay that much, and there is a dependable community/family in case of times of financial trouble. Further, long-term cellphone plans are not seen as attractive as compared to the US, because there are less worries about whether one will be able to afford cellphone service in the near future, because their community/family will be willing to help if they need financial help at some time in the future.