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Korean Culture
Family Life
Korean families have become very small. Many families have two children; some only have one child. In many families, the father goes to work and the mother stays home with the children. The men work very long days, much longer than here in the United States. On Sundays, we spend time together. Sometimes we go to the ocean or hike. Now that many of us are not with our entire families, we really miss the family time. Parents teach their children to respect older people, and children have a responsibility to take care of their parents when they get older. Corporal punishment is common, and Korean children would not dare talk to their parents disrespectfully.
Beliefs
About 40 % of Koreans identify themselves as belonging to a particular religion. Korea has two main religions—Buddhism and Christianity. Confucianism is a philosophy, not a religion, and it teaches Koreans to respect elders and value family relationships. Although not many people would formally consider themselves as practicing Confucianism, it influences our culture. Some Koreans practice shamanism, which is called muism in Korea. Still others take elements from each of these major religions and beliefs and combine them into their own personal belief system.
Language
Korean is the national language of Korea. There are about 80 million Korean speakers in the world. Since Korea is not very culturally diverse, everyone speaks Korean as a first language. There are different dialects depending on which part of the country someone comes from. Hangul is the Korean word for our alphabet, which consists of 24 letters. The Korean language has been influenced by Chinese, English, and Japanese. In fact, when Japan annexed Korea in 1910, Koreans were forbidden from using their native language, and people were forced to take Japanese names.
Dress
Koreans dress just like Americans do. Children wear jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers. However, many people also have a traditional Korean dress called hanbok. Hanbok consists of a long shirt and pants, which are brightly colored and decorative. The colors of the hanbok have specific meanings. For example, unmarried women used to wear yellow and red. At weddings, the mother of the bride wears pink and the mother of the groom wears blue. Hanbok may be worn on very special occasions.
Food
Korea has a lot of delicious food. Koreans use a lot of rice, fish, meat, vegetables, and tofu in their cooking. We also use a lot of spices like chili peppers. Kimchi is one of the most famous Korean dishes. Kimchi is a kind of pickled and fermentated cabbage mixed with other vegetables. It’s really spicy and it has a very strong smell. Most Americans would probably be afraid to try it. Once you get used to the smell, you’ll want more and more! Other popular foods are: bulgogi (roasted marinated beef, chicken, or pork), galbi (ribs), and samgyeopsal (pork fatback), bimbap (mixed rice), naengmyeon (cold noodles), galbitang (stewed ribs), and doenjang jjigae (fermentated bean paste stew). Koreans also eat a kind of fast food called gim bahp; it’s a lot like sushi. In fact, many of the sushi restaurants in the Albany area are actually owned by Koreans!
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Recreation
Korean teenagers like to do many of the same things as Americans. We like to spend time with our families and hang out with our friends. We use our computers a lot to find information and play games. We have iPods and cell phones. Many Koreans also like to fly kites. We enjoy watching and playing sports, including baseball, soccer, basketball, tae kwon do, and shirum (traditional Korean wrestling). Because most of us come from big cities like Seoul, we could always find something interesting to do.
