Short Impressions of Korean Culture

I had a reader (actually, a cousin) ask me for a little bit more info about Korea in general--culture, weather, and the like. And while I don't consider myself an expert on the topic after only a few weeks, I think now is as good a time as ever to share a few first impressions of some more ephemeral things.

The first, and most amazing, and most amazingly boring insight is that, after about a month, Korea doesn't feel too foreign at all. Many of the core values at work in American society are at work in Korea, too--which is probably one of the reasons Korea and the US have become such close allies (though the military alliance is weakening these days, while the economic alliance is strengthening). It's a relatively Westernized economy, somewhere between American free-market capitalism and European sort-of-free-market socialism. There are some giant conglomerates with semi-official government backing (Hyundai and Lotte are the most ubiquitous), which gives certain aspects of the economy (i.e., limited consumer choice) a distinctly socialist flair. What I can't figure out about the economy, though, is the food. Basic economics suggests that prepared food in restaurants should be more expensive than bulk food from retail stores, but here the opposite is true: when the prices aren't the same, it's usually the restaurant food that's cheaper. How in the heck does that work?

So, let's see, that's the economy. How about the music? What little I've heard so far has been surprisingly groovy--lots of influence from American soul, with a little later Michael Jackson thrown in. Apparently, Korean pop culture is huge throughout East Asia right now--they call it hallyu, the "Korean Wave." The Japanese still rule the world of comics and animation, though. Our kids are extremely excited to be learning Japanese. (More on the Japanese later . . . the Koreans have this thing against the Japanese, what after they invaded Korea a century ago . . .)

Otherwise, there aren't too many glaring differences. The pace of life is pretty fast, but no faster than it was in D.C. People eat dinner late. But they eat with their families, which is kind of cool. (It can be very hard to order dinner for two in Korea, especially considering that most of the time one Korean serving can easily feed three.) The kids don't sleep enough. Most folks shop in giant box stores. (Homever = Target.) Even though Seoul has excellent public transit (and horrible traffic), people continue to drive around in their cars. The familiarity far outweighs the foreignness. Though there's certainly weird stuff. Like eating fish heads. I'll never understand that. (I don't normally like to eat things that can look me in the eye.)

Anyway, those are the first impressions so far. I'll try to make sure we add other "deep thoughts" from time to time, if only to keep us from getting too sucked into the school.!