Influence Of American Culture On South Korea

There were many instances where individuals have stated many negative and positive remarks about my bodily features that have both impacted me in various ways that stem from being, not only an Asian Canadian but in a more specific sense, a Korean Canadian phenomenon. In this paper, I will discuss where the judgements of ‘societal norms” come from, and how it relates to “me and my body in society” as a Korean Canadian. Through my convictions developed from vast amounts of past experiences of what people have stated, have also enlightened me, I have gained the body of knowledge as a result, through my personal experiences of which I will be discussing. I will be using western ideology and my experiences of being a Korean Canadian, how it particularly

Cultures around the world are divide by their distinctive characteristic of people, and how people interact within their society. Most cultures are driven by the way their environment has been set for them. Many of cultures have to adapt to the way their environment are due to the conditions that are set for them and the amount of resources that they are provided. The biggest drive for culture are the historical custom. Most countries continue to carry their ancestor custom so that the tradition may stay with them throughout their years, in which making other countries distinctive from one another. One of the particular country that will be discuss in this report is North Korea. In this report, I will be discussing the North Korean culture, with describing their living condition in the country, common issues that they face with on a daily bases, and common threat that they pose on other countries.

Although China’s influence over Korea has waned severely since the dynastic years we find the Confucian system of virtues and behaviors, China’s chief export from that time, still very much alive. Korea highly values the extended family, education, personal discipline and public order. In South Korea Confucian temples continue to be maintained throughout the country. The tenets of Confucianism are seen as antidotes to social ills and therefore education is thought of as a means of building character, not simply of intellectual formation. The values of Confucianism are promulgated throughout Korea in places as diverse as school, the office and the home. Television programs often portray Confucian merits such as filial piety and harmony. However

South Korea and America are two pressing and influential countries in the world, both with an expressible different history back grounds and present day cultural life style. While most of South Korea is notably similar to America in architect and popular culture, there are some huge divergences in our education system such as classroom atmosphere and student conduct, what a prototypical school day looks like and how many hours we study, and our college placement assessments.

Previous research reveals that Korean-Americans are considered the most separated from the rest of the society, both culturally and ethnically. Study used Berry (1997)’s strategies of assimilation, integration, separation and marginalization and three main dimensions of cultural orientations; language, identity and behaviors (Choi et al. 2014). Study included youth who are highly integrated in society; born in the US or immigrated at a young age; proficient in both English and mainstream behavior practices whereas their parents known to be culturally separated and the family socialization processes largely Korean (combination of high acculturation and high enculturation, characterizing integration). Researchers used years of residence and nativity

Culture includes the customs, traditions, ideas, and ways of interacting with the environment that often differ in various parts of the world. Over the last several decades in the U.S. there has been a growing awareness and tolerance of cultures other than the traditional western culture in the community. And in healthcare we are expected to provide all patients and families with the same respect and treatment, but at the same time provide individualized care. In order to meet these standards the work place environment has responded with training and education on cultural competence. The term cultural competence can be defined by the ability to respect and understand the beliefs and attitudes of

I have not participated in any Korean extracurricular clubs because of the fact that I participate in many other clubs such as chess, health and fitness, code interactive, and board game club. However, I have participated in Ms. Kang's Movie nights in 9th grade. In these movie nights, we would watch Korean movies in order to expose us to Korean lifestyles and improve our ability to better listen to Korean. Through these movie nights I learned of the vast differences between Koreans and Americans. One very important difference being Korean’s importance in respect. Korean people are respectful to everyone they meet and are happy to do so. There are even two ways to talk in Korean that are considered respectful, those being informal polite and formal polite. In my everyday life I see Americans disrespect one another for the smallest things such as a little accidental push, or forgetting their name. However, in these movies I noticed how passionate and excited both are on their culture. Korean people become siblings in their Chuseok, just as Americans thank everyone and everything for their lives in Thanksgiving.

"As I stood on a mountain pass, looking down on the valley leading to Inch'Con, I recalled these words of my friend. The Ôstrong hand of Japan' was certainly being shown here. I beheld in front of me village after village reduced to ashes. Destruction, thorough and complete, had fallen upon it. Not a single house was left, and not a single wall of a house." (F.A Mackenzie). Japan did many brutal and harsh things while colonizing Korea. Imperialism is when another nation forcefully takes control of another nation. In the 19th and 20th century, many European powers were trying to get colonies in countries in Africa and Asia. In order to do so, they needed to imperialize countries. Japan was the first Asian nation to defeat western countries trying to imperialize them. During the 1900’s, Japan

Hannah informed me that she is 100% Korean and was born in Mokpo, South Korea. She moved to America when she was only six months old. I asked her if she misses living in South Korea, and she said that she sometimes wished she could move back there to feel more like a “standard” citizen. Hannah then began to explain the cultural differences between America and South Korea. The first is that cultural beauty is drastically different. Secondly, Koreans are extremely traditional and their history speaks for its culture. They value their identity as Koreans, even though they are now somewhat Americanized. Most Koreans keep to themselves in terms of traditional values. Lastly, cultural beauty in South Korea consists of having pale skin, heavy sunscreen and umbrellas on sunny days, and wide, double lidded eyes. It is common for some Koreans to get surgery to widen their eyes. I asked Hannah for her input on changing a person’s physical appearance, and she concluded that it would be a dream to have the perfect figure; however, she would never make any major adjustments on her body. If she could change anything about herself, she would change her hair color to blonde, and have perfect

According to Western society, Korean masculinity standards contains some qualities that apply to beauty standards that are

The people of South Korea have a strong connection to plastic surgery which is evident by its usage among both women and men. According to a statistics website called nationmaster.com about 20% of the Korean population have had some kind work done on them. It is estimated that women between the ages of 20 and 50 years old underwent the knife for some reason, be it eyelid surgery or a nose job. While the act of cosmetic surgery mainly occurs in women, it has estimated that about 44% of college men think about getting plastic surgery at some point in their lives (nationmaster.com). In 2010 the number of Korean men who had cosmetic surgery was around 15% based on the Korean Association for Plastic Surgeons estimations. Any attempts to explain the high popularity of cosmetic surgery in South Korea mostly frames it in two ways: 1) Koreans have the desire to look more like white people or 2) according to feminists it is the continued subjection of women to patriarchal ideas. (Kim 2009). However, this is a very limited way of explaining why plastic surgery is so important to in South Korea because the issue is more complex than that. The plastic surgery world of South Korea shows a struggle between what they believe is beautiful, what the world and social status believes is beautiful, and what their culture believes is beautiful.

South Korea appears in the first quadrant of Figure 2.2 in which states that the country has a culture with relatively larger power distance and lower individualism. South Korea has a relatively large power distance due to the country’s strong emphasis in respecting for one’s elders and superiors. This cultural belief is deeply

Manners represent an individual by the way they dress, behave, communicate, and their etiquette, while customs refer to the traditional way that a culture is practice individually, or by a group of people. Workers are expected to bow to their seniors when they greet them, and to use only formal language to their seniors, as it is rude to speak informally to someone of higher rank. In Korean businesses, meetings are often held in evenings at a restaurant or bar. Drinking is part of the Korean culture, as Koreans believe that drinking helps to bond colleagues in the company, and an offered drink must never be refused as it is considered to be rude. Along with drinking, Karaoke is a popular activity after meetings. People who attend the meeting are usually expected to sing a solo song.

My return to Korea in the summer of 2001 was nothing short of a culture shock. I was in a country I thought I had learned by heart. It was the country I always rooted my identity and pride from. I wasn’t ready for the shock. I

South Korean love their country very much that they tend to buy national made products than foreign products. For example, a Germany brand called MCM able to regain their status after been taken over by South Korean company after it went bankrupt in 2005. They prefer Samsung over iPhone, LG over Philips, Hyundai over imported cars.