Korean Culture Part 3

21. Give cash when you attend a wedding. There's a counter at the entrance of the wedding hall. They received and give envelopes for the visitors. You are expected to give money and not gifts when you attend a wedding.

22. It's his one year birthday party. In Korea, a baby's first birthday party is a big event. It is called "Dol". Some guests give gold rings to the celebrant. The most interesting on this celebration is when the celebrant picks one of the objects that are put in front of him/her like money, string, pencil, microphone, etc. Each object represents the future of the baby. If he grabs money, the kid will become rich; pencil means he will study hard; string means he will have a long life; and microphone means he will become a singer.

23. Ready to get on and off the bus. Buses are a common mode of transportation in Korea. The route of the buses are seen inside the bus. You can also check the time of the bus arrival at the bus stop. So you know if you'll be late or not. Buses also have stations where it tells you where it stops and what the next bus stop is.

24. I got married to Mr. Kim but I'm not Mrs. Kim. In Korea, the women keep their family name. Unlike in many countries, after getting married, you should follow the man's family name.

25. Often go out with co-workers. I have a co-worker who wrote all our birthdays. Every month, there's a birthday party so we have to dine out together at least once two or three times a month not to mention the suprised dine-out from our boss like when the company is working well, the employees are having a hard time or if there's a job well done.

26. They are not fighting, they are just talking. You'll hear noisy people outside. They seem like fighting each other but if you listen to their conversation carefully, they are just talking and not fighting.

27. Chocolates for Men on Valentine's Day. Koreans celebrate Valentine's Day differently. Instead of men give chocolates to women, ladies have to give chocolates to guys. For youngs, they give chocolates to their friends. Boys give chocolates to boys or girls to girls, etc.

28. Candies for Women. If women give chocolates to men on Valentine's Day, now it's men's turn to give candies to women. It is called White Day or Candy Day which is celebrated on March 14. Again, young ones give to anyone.

29. Special plastic bag for your trash. In korea, you can't just throw away your trash. There's a special garbage bag to throw out the trash. These bags are available in different sizes. They are 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 liters.

30. Cook your order. At some restaurants, the food is cooked at the customers' tables. There are grills on the table where you can cook your order specially samgyopsal, daejigalbi, seogalbi, etc.

Korean Culture Part 1
Korean Culture Part 2
Korean Culture Part 4
Korean Culture Part 5