During this semester, exploring Korean culture from academic journal, news and talking with students coming from Korea is a really interesting culture aspect. The Korean culture places a lot of value on interdependence. In contrast to individualistic cultures of the Western hemisphere, Koreans develop a sense of identity through relationships and tend to identify strongly with their in-group. They prefer to immerse themselves in the in-group’s activities; however, it seems that these collectivistic tendencies shift towards individualism when Koreans receive more education that is beyond high school.
Talking about collectivism, firstly people refer to people or things as ‘our’. Usually Korean will say our house, our friend, our food, etc. As we known, we get used to refer to my house, my friend in us. A major community item is food. When you went into a restaurant in Korea or ordered a Korean meal, a lot of times you will not able to order a meal for one person, but for four or five people minimum. Because of collectivism in Korea, it is not usual for Koreans to eat, drink, or live alone, they all eat collectively and together. Each person does not have their own dish and plates; all dishes are put in the middle of the table and shared together. Korean culture is about sharing and give and take.
Secondly, I realized that Koreans have little or no personal space. When I watched Korean drama or Korean movies, people in public spaces have bumped into them or cut in front of them in line without saying sorry. In American or western cultures when we bump into someone or need to closely pass the crowded, we may say ‘excuse me’ or ‘I am sorry’ to the passerby.
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