About Seyoung
The Interview
Q: What made you want to
study here in America?
A: I like challenging
myself and I thought studying abroad was quite challenging for me. I believed I
could learn many things such as: Interacting with foreigners and improving my
English skill.
Q: What
was the hardest thing for you to adjust to here in America?
A: I'll
say the language barrier and cultural differences.
Q: Was
there anything that you did to upset someone here in America or that someone
did to upset you?
A: American
people tend to be more honest about their feelings. One day, one of my
roommates said "it looks disgusting" when she saw my Korean food and
it made me mad of course.
Q: When
greeting a Korean in business or out on the street do you bow or shake their
hand? If they are of the opposite gender do you greet them differently?
A: In
Korea if he or she is older than you, you should bow to them. If the elder ask
you to shake hands, then you can do. But there is no difference when you are
greeting someone of the opposite gender.
Q: When
entering a room with a group of people what would be the courteous thing to do?
Open the door for everyone? Let the ladies go first or oldest first?
A: Ladies
first.
Q: When you are eating
with a group what are a few things people should do or know?
A: No eating before everyone
else, and offer a person food while eating. We have kind of strict rules about
eating.
Q: If you are dating or married what kind of affections are
considered appropriate and inappropriate for public displays of affection?
A: I think American people are more generous about skin-ship in public. Even kissing in the public is not common in Korea.
A: I think American people are more generous about skin-ship in public. Even kissing in the public is not common in Korea.
Q: When you meet a Korean for the first time would it be okay
to give them a gift? If so what kind of gift would be appropriate? Would they
enjoy a store bought gift more or a handmade gift?
A: It
depends on the situation and personalities, but I do believe in most cases it’s
okay to give a gift when you meet for the first time. Anything not expensive
and unweighted presents would be good I guess.
Q: After
meeting a Korean for the first time when and how do you know if the two of you
are friends? Is there a specific way they let you know or does it just
naturally happen without anyone saying anything? What are some signs of you and
your friend becoming very close friends?
A: We
have 3 different language tones. One is for elders, strangers and one for
friends. If they use the "friends" tone, they are probably friends.
I can really relate to the differences in culture when it comes to expressing one’s feelings. Although I was born in America, I was raised in an all-Italian family. Italians not only express every feeling they have, they also tend to yell it regardless of whether or not they are actually angry. This is usually too much for most other cultures. I could not imagine what someone from a Korean culture would do with an Italian family. They may be frightened. I was friends with a Korean boy as a child but he never visited my home, now I am truly glad that he didn’t. Thank you for this information, it explained a great deal.
ReplyDeleteYour interview with Seyoung is very interesting because her views are much different than ours. One of the reasons she wanted to study here was to improve her English skill, which is something we don’t even think about. I don’t think its true that all Americans are honest about their feelings and are rude, and I also believe that there has to be some people in Korea who are straightforward about their feelings. Every place has a mixture of people! However, I can relate to the differences. Because my family is from Pakistan, I can see how it would be harder for her to adjust. Pakistan is similar to Korea in some ways, such as the public affections part. This interview is great to help understand Korean culture.
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