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Korean Social Norms (Part 2) Posted by Flying Oyster on Dec 7, 2020
We talked about Korean social norms in a previous post. https://blogs.transparent.com/korean/korean-social-norms-part-1/. If you haven’t had a chance to look at them yet, I suggest that you read them. As I promised, I will talk more about Korean social norms in Part 2, but the following social norms are more applicable in interpersonal relations. Your…
Korean Social Norms (Part 1) Posted by Flying Oyster on Nov 23, 2020
Every country has their own social norms, and that certainly includes Korea. Korean culture is modernized, but many social norms are still based on 유교사상 (you-kyo-sah-sang: Confucianism), which emphasizes harmonious relations in social groups. I have been wanting to talk about Korean social norms, but I didn’t want to misguide readers by over-generalizing some…
How To Make Cucumber Kimchi Posted by Flying Oyster on Nov 12, 2020
I have been desperate for Korean food for a while. My plan to visit Korea this year completely crashed due to COVID-19. My Korean food craving has become really bad and I even dream about eating Korean food. I don’t remember myself craving Korean food this much – and living in places where you can’t…
Neologism that Reflects the Changing Korean Culture Posted by Flying Oyster on Oct 27, 2020
Even if I live far away from Korea, I still keep in touch with friends that I grew up with. It is fun to talk to them, but I hear some words that I had never heard when I grew up in Korea. My friends are not in their 20’s, but they still use many…
What is K-Beauty? Posted by Flying Oyster on Oct 8, 2020
When I was in school, I had a classmate whose skin was always radiant despite her age. I asked her once what her secret was, and she said that she used olive oil. She added that it was her family secret coming down from her great-grandmother to her daughter. I guess women in many different…
Korean Thanksgiving – Chuseok Posted by Flying Oyster on Sep 23, 2020
Did you know that there are still a few things that South Korea and North Korea share in spite of over 70 years of separation? One of them is that both countries still celebrate two major Korean holidays. One is 설날 (Seollal: Lunar New Year’s Day) and the other is 추석 (Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving Day)…
Differences in Korean and American Home Design Posted by Flying Oyster on Sep 9, 2020
Because I travel often, I have stayed in many different places in equally many different countries. When I stay in different short term rentals, I like to discover just how different things are from my childhood home in Korea. Living in an apartment is very common in Korea since 인구밀도 (in-goo-mil-doh: population density) is…