Korea has recently become a popular tourist destination due to the influx of Korean drama in the media. When I knew that my family had decided to go there during my 3 months vacation, I was exuberated! I have always wanted to go there to experience the Korean culture but little did I know I will be experiencing a little cultural shock.

The trip was ok until the tour guide, Vincent brought us to this famous shopping district called Dong Dae Mun. My sister and I happily went into the shopping centre hoping to get a really good bargain. Our happy moods were dampened when we went into the shopping centre. The place was so crowded and we were shocked when Korean ladies started pushing and squeezing to get through without saying “excuse me”. Well, in Singapore, it has almost become a habit to say the special words when met with such situations. To add on to our frustration, when we said “excuse me”, no one responded, so we ended up doing the same. I guess such situations are considered to be normal in Korea because firstly, I think they are used to not saying “excuse me”. Secondly, English Language is not their first or second language thus they might not understand us. Probably, if we said “excuse me” in Korean, they would give way to us politely?

It was only when our tour guide, Vincent talked about the cultures of Korea, did I realise that Korea is actually very different from Singapore. Vincent mentioned one of the culture differences is that gender inequality still exists in Korea. He was shocked when he saw Singaporean men carrying their wives’ bags while they shopped. Apparently, men are considered the “heaven” in Korea. It is a taboo for men to carry ladies’ bags and even for men to walk beside their wives. The man is supposed to walk infront while the woman trails behind. It is hard to believe, but I actually saw such situations. Also, Vincent said that his family is one of the few traditional families in Korea. His whole family has to stand at the door to greet his father when he returns from work. Not only that, when it is dinner time, the men of the family will have their dinner first followed by the women. Oh my god! I am so glad that I do not have to go through that. In addition, some Koreans still retain the tradition of not addressing their friends or colleagues by their names. Instead, they call each other “brother” or “sister”. This is such a huge contrast to Singapore where youngsters can call their older colleagues by their names or greet them with a “Hey!” or “Yo!”.

Another culture of Korea would be Koreans are very patriotic. They would prefer to use products bearing the local brands. Koreans will most likely carry Samsung or LG handphones or drive Hyundai cars. They would try not to use Japanese brands if possible because of their hatred towards them due to World War II. Well, Singapore was under Japanese Occupation for 3 years and 8 months but we are still using Fujitsu laptop, Olympus camera etc. Not that Singaporeans are not loyal to Singapore, it is just that our country is so small, we cannot afford to boycott Japanese products and come to think of it, Singapore does not have many of its own locally made products.

The trip to Korea is really a very memorable and good experience for me. I can not only know and experience myself the cultures of Korea but also appreciate my own culture and not take it for granted. I like Korea but learning from their patriotism, I LOVE SINGAPORE! ( I always felt this way when I came back from overseas, probably because I cannot get used to the other foreign cultures.)
PS: The Korean cultures mentioned above happen only in some families, not all.