Saturday, January 15, 2011

Korean Society

In fiercely competitive Korean society, signs play a crucial role, alerting customers to the location and nature of businesses. It's not surprising to see many restaurants, PC rooms, noraebang (karaoke) in the same area. . One must never lose out to a neighbor. It's the basic mentality at work, so if one may not be able to win, at least one will not fall behind.

Nowhere in the world other than Korea would you find as many churches with steeples! As if there's an unspoken agreement, churches occupying space in commercial buildings maintain steeples in slab roofs. Just imagine the sight of three or four steeples on the same rooftop. At night, they transform into a forest of red neon crosses. In fact, one might even ask if the entire city is a graveyard because of the many red crosses. It's another prime example of the Korean temperament that if others do, I must do, too! If you have red neon cross, I will also put one.

Whenever there's a demonstration, there's always someone shaving off all of his or her hair. The demonstrators commonly tie red bandanas around their heads and raise their fists in the air. They also break out the drums and gongs, they follow the head "cheerleader" in movements and they sing songs, dance and shout slogans in unison.

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