Intercultural Life
Traditional and modern Korean culture.
Guys… it used to just be that he’d be in his underwear but lately it’s been a t-shirt and nothing else. I think that’s worse!
I just asked him, “Why do you hate pants so much?” and he said, “Not only me! All Korean guys!…………. and not wearing pants is comfortable.”
Yes…. but…… sigh….
We made this video because I randomly filmed something that showed the different experiences my husband has in Australia. As we said in the video this wouldn’t happen this way in Korea due to the big age differences between. We always say that neither country is right or wrong, it’s just different. So in Korea you can really only be close friends with someone who is the same age as you.
I’ve seen the problems arise when Koreans aren’t respectful enough to those older than them a lot in Australia. Possibly it happens more than in Korea because it can be difficult for Koreans who come out on working holiday visas. If they are around Australians a lot they may adopt a more Australian way and then accidentally offend a lot of other Koreans. You also get Koreans interacting in Australia who would have never met in Korea, from different regions in Korea, but here in Australia they may be working together or living together and there are some clashes.
As an Australian it is difficult for me to understand why it’s such a big deal sometimes. If someone has no malicious intent surely they can joke around a bit? The word ‘larrikin’ is often used to describe some elements of Australian culture, but it just doesn’t transfer well to Korean culture. Many times I’ve seen Korean people in Australia get very upset because someone Korean and younger than them didn’t use the correct level of speech with them, asked something too directly, made a joke that they thought was too disrespectful. For me as an Australian, if the person who was ‘disrespectful’ is overall a good person, I don’t worry about it much, but for many Koreans it’s something they can get very upset about and there have been huge problems arising from these mistakes.
Those who watch some Korean TV shows may have seen some incidents like that. The YG reality show ‘WIN Who is Next’ had an incident in one of the episodes. YG boss appointed someone whose age was in the middle as the group leader and this guy then spoke very directly to one of the older guys. That guy didn’t take it well at all and stormed out of the room. You may think that’s just made more dramatic for TV but it’s something that happens. People can find it very offensive. My husband, understanding how Australian culture is different, doesn’t ever get really upset about it and especially because he knows my brother is poking fun because he likes him, but it’s something I will have to be careful of in Korea.
5 points to anyone who recognises who my brother is…. some Sydney-siders might have seen him around.
When you think it’s going to be a romantic moment like in a Korean drama and then it ends up like this…
But actually it’s a running joke because I get called “lucky pig” by his family because pigs are lucky in Korean culture. He is completely aware of the negative meaning in Western culture though so I’m sure he does stuff like this to annoy me.
Hey everyone! No comic today because it’s my 30th birthday and I having the day off. A big thank you to everyone who has left birthday wishes on Twitter, Facebook and his Facebook page.
Mr Gwon told me last night that he hasn’t got my present yet so I was a bit disappointed, but he was just lying! So when I woke up there was a present there for me and a very lovely card.
It’s tradition in Korea to have seaweed soup on your birthday and we follow that tradition even when we are in Australia. So I expected seaweed soup but my husband actually cooked japchae for me as well and set out the table like this.
He doesn’t like cooking so I was really really impressed that he made all this for me. (And why no chopsticks? We don’t have any in our new apartment yet haha).
Anyway I can’t believe I’m not in my 20’s any more, but as he has pointed out before… I’m already 31 in Korean age anyway!
Luckily he dropped me on a bed and not on the floor…
Eat Your Kimchi have a new video up about couple culture in Korea if you are interested in more Korean romance stuff.
We’ve celebrated some things, like 100 days and 300 days but not many of the others, unless we happen to realise it’s that day. As Simon and Martina said it’s usually newer couples who do all that but it can also be when the girl is more demanding and pedantic about it…. which ends up being not that romantic! But that’s what I’ve witnessed as well. I’ve witnessed Korean guys who know my husband ask for advice on what to give the girlfriend, not because they want to treat their girlfriend to something nice, but because they are scared of her getting angry if the gift or evening planned isn’t good enough! So that’s not great… but a couple that is more relaxed can have a lot of fun with the dating culture in Korea.
We do not wear couple shirts because I refuse to in Australia! We do see Korean couples here in couple shirts and sometimes I’ve giggled at that. However, when we are actually living in Korea I might change my views and start wearing them…
What is it with Koreans and forehead flicking? They seem to love to use it as a form of punishment in games too. They actually seem to love punishing people more than Australians do. When we were at my parents’ house and were good friends with the Korean guys next door (my parents’ rent out a house to Koreans on working holiday visas) I taught them lots of pool games. Korea doesn’t have a big swimming culture like Australia does, they had never played pool games, so I taught them how to play games like Marco Polo. They weren’t satisfied when someone failed in the game, like didn’t manage to catch anyone, was “fish out of water” or was caught early so they would punish them – like hardcore splashing or dunking them. I was always like, “You don’t need to violently punish someone like that!” and they’d say, “Yes we do!”
So yes, I’ve seen the forehead flicking used a lot as punishment as well. My husband wasn’t doing it hard this time, he was just doing it to be annoying.
We went to the Korean Cultural Office in Sydney tonight for one of their events: pARTy on the Park. There was a band preforming that is made up of only Korean Australians. They formed this year (created by Kpop Star Australia and Vocal and Dance Entertainment Academy) and for this event they played only Korean music. 
Mr Gwon has done a mini review:
K-note played some Korean music that was older songs and some newer songs as well. The lead vocalist and the band leader have really good voices. But the lead singer did most of the talking and no one else talked really… all other band members were quiet!
I liked that they played an EVE song. When I was in Korea and went to karaoke I sang that song all the time. It’s one of my favourite songs so I sang that song when K-note were singing. I think I was of the only one singing along to that one.
They did CNBLUE’s I’m a loner. That’s a good song so I sung along (and my wife loves CNBLUE). I also enjoyed YB “Butterfly” and a Yim Jae-beom “If this night passes”. It wasn’t really a concert, it was just a small event and they didn’t do that many songs. I wanted them to keep playing more songs. There was a good mix of songs, some older songs but also newer ones like Big Bang’s “Monster”. The lead singer also did rapping in songs that had rapping in them and did it really well.
It’s good for me that even though I’m not in Korea right now I can still go and see Korean songs being performed.
The lead singer did a really good job and has a really good voice and tried to get the crowd involved. I think the event needed a better atmosphere and feeling though, somewhere where people can just move and dance. I think some people just go for the free alcohol (haha) but I think the band deserved more attention. I really enjoyed K-note’s performance.
– Mr Gwon
I am really glad there are a lot of Korean stuff around for my husband to go to. He definitely appreciated the music played at this event. The Korean Cultural Office has a movie night on Thursdays as well which is a great way to check out some Korean movies that you might not usually get the chance to see.
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