Learning Journal #2

[Henry Trinh]

After reading the article regarding time and communication, as well as doing some research, I came to the conclusion that Korean culture exhibits a polychronic, collectivist culture that focuses a lot on direct communication. I believe that the Korean culture is polychronic because I found that there is a non-spoken rule that as long as you are no more than 30 minutes late, the other party will not mind/ be offended. This shows that Korean people do not value their time as much as a culture that provides strict rules on enforcing timeliness. They are also a collectivist culture because there is a huge emphasis on family and family structure. Family is very important and the father is the head of the family and must provide for the rest of the members. There is relatively low emotional distance between family group members. Lastly, Korean culture focuses on direct and a lot on non-verbal communication. There are many examples, however one example includes how the other person of lower status bows first and then the other person acknowledges them by bowing back followed by a handshake. Besides this, there are a lot of dining etiquette that need to be taken. One example of this includes removing one's shoes before entering a house to show respect.