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Ariel [China], [Taiwan] Chen, and others have entered the chat.
Hey Rocky! What you are up to?? I’m so bored...
You just call me by name?! You gotta use the respectful form since I’m older! Call me “oppa”!
What are you talking about?
We’re all foreigners anyway.
Can’t we act as friends?
Well, that’s only what you think. Don’t you know how important age
is here in Korea?
True. In Korea, even just being a year older means you have to call people by a more respectful term.
Exactly! It’s important to follow the social rules.
And your elders, even if just by a year, come first!
Whatever. It’s just us, so I don’t care! This whole culture based on age thing is interesting, to say the least!
My real age is 25, but in Korea,
I’m 26. It stinks ☹
I know, right?
In Korea, they determine age
by the year you were born,
not your birthday.
And being born in December just makes things worse...
Oh, come on. Different country, different culture. Stop your whining, haha!
Yeah, okay OPPA!
Anyway, aren't there so many fascinating bits of culture here?
Totally! There were definitely some things that took me by surprise!
Even after 10 years living here,
there are still things that
catch me off guard.
What kind of weird
culture shock stories
do ya'll have from
when you first came
to Korea?
Haha, where do I even begin?
One of the first things for me was noticing the set location of the rice and soup each meal.
Every time, it's the rice on the left and the soup on the right.
I never took notice since it's
the same in Japan.
Really? In China,
it's the exact opposite.
So what's the deal
with the location?
Well, I came to find out about it when I had a Korean friend over for dinner and did as I always had.
Then my friend, looking all shocked,
tells me the soup is placed on the
left only for the memorial of someone who has passed.
In Taiwan, not of that stuff even matters, so I was really surprised!
Whatever the case, be sure to keep that location in mind from now on!
Yeap! So that culture comes
from the tradition of
memorial ceremonies ?
Ceremonies?
I think I've heard of that.
Not really sure what it is though.
It's a ceremony, called a "jesa,"
that gratefully provides offerings of
food to the souls of ancestors
that have passed.
I heard now you can actually order out for these kinds of foods!
ахахаха
Source: https://blog.naver.com/jamesjang97/221568101079
Man, what a world we live in!
No one does delivery like Korea!
Russia doesn't have anything like this, so it threw me for a loop
when I first found out!
Me too! I was more thrown by the other ceremony of offerings that takes place called "gosa" .
People do it when opening a business and plate different
foods on an offering table while
bowing in respect and praying
for the success of the business.
Oh cool!
We have the same thing in China!
Really? But in Korea, I saw that
they actually place a pig's head
on the table.
What the... A pig's heard?
You serious?!
Oh yeah. They even put bills of money in its mouth!
Of course, that was the tradition initially. Now, everyone just uses
an app showing a pig's head lol
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITID3tFTPAY
Aha! I remember seeing this
in K-dramas.
Oh, so the thing I saw yesterday was a kind of "gosa," not the traditional ceremony we mentioned before.
Ya know, I actually saw someone bowing respectfully toward
a car yesterday!
A car?! You mean
there's a car gosa , too?
Jeez... Do they place a pig's head on the car?!
Haha, don't be silly.
They just hang a silk threading on some dried pollack and place fruit, red beans, and rice cake, with
some makgeolli on the car, then
bow respectfully.
Source: https://blog.naver.com/tjaldo0502/221243848222
People even pour makgeolli on the car wheels! It was fun to watch.
That's sounds fun!
But lately, it's not as common to carry out those ceremonies like they used to!
And I thought people were the only ones who drank makgeolli. I guess cars drink it, too!
Since we're on the subject of makgeolli...
Why? What's up?
I always thought it was interesting how Koreans associate rainy weather with enjoying some
pajeon and makgeolli .
It's funny, right?
Why pajeon when it rains?
I've always been curious about that!
Me too! So I asked around about it.
What did people say?
The sound of the falling rain reminds everyone of the sound of pajeon cooking in oil!
Right, there's that and it also goes a step further lol
The combination of flour-based food with fermented food, such as pajeon and makgeolli, helps rid of hormones that potentially cause depression...
Take it as you will, of course, haha!
We should add that to the
food combo list!
There's even scientific reasoning behind it. Interesting!
No matter how long you live here, it's amazing the endless cultural tidbits you keep learning about!
I think being aware of these
cultural aspects make traveling
all the more fun!
We should keep letting
each other in on fun things
we hear along the way!
Sounds good!
1. Korean age is different!
2. Rice on the left, soup on the right!
3. Jesa : A ceremony respectfully commemorating ancestors who have passed.
4. Gosa : A ceremony to help protect against any misfortune, or bad luck, prior to opening a business, an event, and/or festival.
5. Cha Gosa : A ceremony commemorating the purchasing of a new car.
6. Pajeon and makgeolli are often enjoyed during rainy weather!
#RitualCultureKorea #KoreanAge #AncientCulture #IntroductionToKoreanCulture #CharacteristicsOfKoreanCulture #KoreanCultureShock #InterestingKoreanCulture