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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Jjimjilbangs (찜질방) are public baths that are commonly found in Korea. The word, "찜질방" is a combination of two words, "찜질" (bath) and "방" (room). A 찜질방 is separated by gender and consists of not only a variety of hot tubs varying in temperature but also showers, traditional saunas called hanjeungmak (한증막) and massage tables. These days, a 찜질방 will commonly have additional services such as unisex areas consisting of a snack bar, ondol (온돌) or under-heated floors which are designated sleeping and lounging spaces, TVs, exercise rooms, ice rooms, heated salt rooms, PC rooms, karaoke rooms, and much more. Jjimjilbangs are open 24 hours and a common weekend getaway for families as well as an overnight sleeping place if needed. They are enticingly cheap, costing only around 6,000-14,000 won which approximated to around $6-$14 a night.
Right as a person enters a 찜질방, she pays and receives clothing to change into.The clothing is often color coded according to gender. After paying, the person is taken to a changing room separated based on gender where she places her shoes in a small locker. Usually a person would shower first before entering any baths or saunas. In a 찜질방, public nudity is acceptable and a norm as it is, in fact, a bath house. A popular service in a 찜질방 is a scrub by an attendant who will scrub a person’s entire body to remove dead skin. After showering and bathing, a person will usually then head to the communal area to relax, eat, or sleep.
Kimchi Culture in Korea
1. Climate and geographic conditions
The winter in Korea is long, cold and very dry due to the Siberian air pressure. It is difficult for crops and vegetables to grow in a cold environment. Therefore, Korean pickled vegetables using salt and other sauces to preserve vegetables longer during winter. Kimchi gradually becomes a popular dish in winter.
2. Great nutritions
Korean Kimchi, the famous fermented food, has vegetables as the main cooking material, and sometimes fruits and seafood and meat are used as ingredients. Kimchi has great nutritions. It has low calorie but high cellulose, vitamin A, B,C. Especially there exist a beneficial probiotics for human body. Kimchi has been praised to be one of the top five healthy food in the Health Magazine by The American Time Warner.
3. Kimchi is good for skin care
Some people wonder why Korean ladies have good and healthy skin. Kimchi is one of the answers to this question. The professor who has studied kimchi for a long time in Pusan National University indicated that the probiotics in kimchi can delay the aging of skin and lower the level of cholesterol in human body.
4. The most important reason is that kimchi becomes one component in Korean culture
The history of kimchi has been lasted for more than three thousand years. During Three Kingdoms of Korea, Korean learnt the way to preserve food from Chinese. Korean used fiddlehead, bamboo, eggplant, cucumber and radish with salt, congee, vinegar, alcohol and other sources.
Later on, during Kingdom of Goryeo, the technologies of planting vegetables had improved so that more and more new vegetables were grown. Korean added Chinese chives, celery and other vegetables in kimchi. Also, people discovered kimchi soup.
During the Kingdom of Joseon, Chinese cabbage became the major material and pepper became popular source of cooking.
The cooking history of kimchi has been experienced dynasties in Korea for a long time. It already has been a habit in Korea and involved in Korean culture.
I decided to do a culture post on Korean Drama. The word “Korean drama” usually refer to the drama made in South Korean. Today’s mini deurama (Korean: means drama) format started in the 1990s. It was known as “fusion sageuks”. Often times, these dramas were made in a very tight schedule. Advantage is that the screen plays are flexible, depending on viewer’s feedback. However, such schedule initially is because of the financial issue. The most popular Korean drama is Dae Jang Geum, which had been widely spread into 91 countries. Sageuk Series mean historical drama in Korean. Two represent of such drama: The Moon that Embraces the Sun, Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Another genre is contemporary series. This type of drama is often consisted of tragedy, misunderstanding, coincidence, car accident and disease. The romantic love stories are often linked with a male protagonist who is rich and handsome. Two representative dramas: My love from the Star and Secret Garden.
I have always found personality cults interesting. Mustafa Kemal Attaturk played a huge role in defining the modern Turkish identity and still plays an important part in Turkey's culture today. Attaturk raically Westernized the nation after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He changed everything in Turkey even Turkish. He was an advocate for langauge, education, and social reform. The alphabet changed and women could vote. Many Turks belive this change was good. He is highly respected in Turkey. Airports, schools, and parks are named after him. Statues of Attaturk line many Turksih streets. People even have Attaturk tattoos. It is against the law to speak ill of Attaturk.
Pakistani food
Pakistan's food culture consists of variety of elements from neighboring countries like India, Afghanistan and Iran; in Pakistan's food, you can see variety of middle eastern influences. With so many varied regions and neighboring countries, Pakistan boasts a wide range of cooking style and flavors. For example, some of the more specific and distinctive cooking style is using pomegranate seeds to cook meat. Another key component of Pakistani food is slow cooking; a popular dish called haleem is a mix of meat and spices that take upwards to about 7 hours to cook. Not surprisingly, curry is also a key component of Pakistani food culture as well.
Pakistan is regarded as a bread culture; meals are almost always eaten with naan bread (with the right hand) to scoop up the other dishes. There are other breads like chapati and parata that are also eaten regularly. In terms of meat, lamb is the most popular followed by beef, chicken and goat. Yoghurt is used often to create sauces or to cook different types of meat.
Pakistan is also the origin of tandoor oven which is used to cook many of the bread and different types of meat like chicken, lamb or fish. Pakistan's rice (long grain white basmati) is also highly regarded as one of the best. There are also many types of sweets that are often made with ghee and infused with aromatic spices like rose water.
The division between North and South is one that is very apparent in Korean culture. Whether it's politicians campaigning on their stance on North Korea, or talk shows with North Korean defectors, South Korean culture is very wary of their neighbor. I read this article: http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/01/31/464798910/south-ko... and watched some of the dating show that was attached with it. It was very interesting to see the power dynamic between the North and South Koreans, but they seemed to interact in a pretty friendly and normal way. Even though both countries may be wary of each other, it seems to be the case that the Korean people do not resent each other for past events.
The cultural product that I decided to examine was the Korean superstitions because it describes a set of beliefs that the general population believes in despite the lack of evidence and it can influence the daily behavior of the average Korean person. One of the Korean superstitions is shaking or fidgeting your legs results in shaking off your good fortune and blessings. This comes from the notion that shaking is a sign of idling or being lazy, so having energy to do something but not doing anything is deemed unacceptable in Korean society. Another, do not write someone’s name in red ink because if you do, then that person will die. The color red symbolizes death and blood. Historically, the superstition is said to come from the past when Korean’s use to write the names of the dead in red. Additionally, Koreans view the number 4 as an extremely unlucky number hence some places do not put the number 4 in the elevator instead put (F). This stems from china in which the number four resembles the character for death. Another superstition is the idea of not giving your significant other a pair of shoes because it can result in breaking up (potentially running away from you). Lastly, Koreans believe that dreaming of pigs is great because it symbolizes wealth and prosperity (dreaming of pigs can foreshadow future success).
I will be talking about the "International Style," or Bauhaus architecture in Israel. The Bauhaus was a school in Germany which focused on art, architecture and design operating between 1919 and 1933. Its main stylistic approach was basic art and design -- nothing to elaborate. This allows functionalism and rationality when erecting a building. Some characteristics are asymmetry, cubic and rounded, ribbon windows, thermometer windows, balconies, roof terraces and plays of shadow and light. Four Israeli architects studied in the Bauhaus school which influenced Israeli society in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. In Tel Aviv only, more than 4,000 “Bauhaus Style” buildings were built. Israel's early fervent zionism allowed bauhaus architecture to thrive. Social-cultural ideology behind the “Bauhaus Style” matched the socialist-Zionist movement to create a new world order. White houses, in every sense—form, style, material, functionality, color—grew from the sands without a past, towards a future. Zionist art, then played a role in shaping the early state's image. Haaretz, a left leaning newspaper in Israel described: “In the first half of the 20th century, Israeli art didn’t exist in an autonomous space. Artists were expected to contribute to the mission of nation-building and the dramatic events that defined the period cast a shadow over artistic practice.” Moreover, its kibbutzem ("gatherings" -- communal living) around Israel adopted the architecture because of its functionalism.
Children's Day (Eorini nal) is a South Korean national holiday celebrated on May 5. It was founded by the Korean children's writer and storyteller Bang Jung-hwan in 1923 as a way to instill a sense of independence and national pride in children. Eorini nal highlights the dignity of children and their need for love, care, and respect. It is also a day to honor parents who have contributed to improving the lives of children.
On this day, families celebrate with various fun programs for children. Parents often dress up their children and take them to national parks, amusement parks, zoos, or to the cinema for a full day of fun and games. Children receive gifts and money from their parents as well.
Pujok: Good Luck, Protection
This type of talisman comes in 2 types: one acts as a good luck charm, and the other works to protect from evil or bad luck. It commonly had a yellow background with red symbols or characters. People felt that evil spirits disliked the colors of gold and yellow. Red represented blood or fire, and psychologically it meant the color of life and emotion. People attached the pujok to their body or drank its ashes after it was burnt. Sometimes, it was put on a wall or upper part of door to protect a house or part of a building. Good luck ones are carried on ones person at all times. A pujok can be customized for a specific ailment or circumstance or generic ones can be used for general purposes. They can be purchased from shamans or some Buddhist monks.
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