Category Archives: Korea

About life, places, and experiences in Korea.

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Marriage!

I get asked the same questions a lot in Korea… especially questions about being married to a Korean man. The questions that foreigners ask me and the questions that Koreans ask me are not all the same. Foreigners tend to ask me questions like:

  1. How did you meet your husband?
  2. What do you like most about your husband?
  3. What do you not like about your husband?
  4. What is the most difficult part of being married to a Korean?
  5. What is the best part of being married to a Korean?
  6. What was the first year like?
  7. What have you learned?
  8. What advice do you have for someone thinking of getting married to a Korean?

And Koreans tend to ask me questions like:

  1. Where did you meet?
  2. Do you have children?
  3. Why not?
  4. What language do you communicate in?
  5. Why do you like your husband?
  6. Isn’t it hard?
  7. What did your parents say?
  8. What do you think of Korean men?

Is it just me, or do the foreigner’s questions sound more logical to you as well?

That actually kind of makes sense though considering the general differences between western and Asian cultures. Western cultures tend to focus more on logic and less on emotion, where as many Asian cultures have their roots in Confucius thought which makes them more concerned about relational things such as family and blood line.

Here are the two videos in which I address the questions asked by foreigners in Korea. Later I plan to do the same with the questions that Koreans ask me. However, I am quite busy these days and probably won’t get around to that for a couple of weeks. I’ll be making my Japan trip video first. Anyway, enjoy listening to me answer the 8 questions about my international marriage, and leave any more questions you have as a comment here or on my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/NanaCorea

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Mandu and Fish Bread

I made a video to show you some food I like to eat in Korea in the winter. Since winter is almost over, I figured I had better hurry and make this video. I plan to make another next week after I meet Chantal next Saturday. ^^

Oh, in the video I forgot to tell you how much the “fish bread” cost… the three of them together was the same price as the king mandu (about 90 cents). So my whole meal cost about $1.80! That is usually enough for a meal for me. If I am really REALLY hungry, I will sometimes get 2 of the king mandus.

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Respect

About 3 years ago I made a lesson about respect which compared respect in American and Korean cultures. Just last year my friends helped me make a video for that lesson. We had lots of fun making this video:

My students filled out a Venn diagram comparing things we do to show respect. There is no absolute correct answer about where each thing went in the Venn diagram. In general though this is what most of my students agreed upon.

I should note that when Koreans refuse a gift, it’s not the way Amy did in the video. They would very graciously say no and motion with their hands and body language, implying that they are undeserving to receive such a generous gift from you. Depending on the situation they may refuse it 2 or more times before they finally accept the gift. According to many of my students this is a way of showing respect.

It was a very interesting lesson. I had fun teaching it and learned a lot from my students.

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First 4 Years

I made this video about a year ago when I was about to leave Gwacheon Middle School. It is a nice summary of my first 4 years here in Korea. Really enjoyed the 4 years I spent working at that, my first, school in Korea.

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Introduction to Korea category

I have been living in Korea for almost 5 years now (Exactly 5 years on March 14th). This is where I met and married my sweet compassionate husband. Although I majored in Education in university Korea’s where I really learned how to teach. I went through all the stages of culture shock here. I’ve grown to love Korea just as I love my own country. And now I wan to share it all with you.

This is where I will post things about life, culture, and experiences in Korea. I will be posting videos, pictures, stories, and information about Korea right here in this category.