South Korea

Programs Available: Overseas English Tutor

Geography | Culture & History | Cultural History of Korean Food
Traditional Dining Etiquette | Monthly Expenses | Support | Map

Geography:

The Korean Peninsula, located in Northeast Asia, is bordered on the north by China and Russia and juts toward Japan to the southeast. The Republic of Korea is composed of nine provinces, with Seoul as the capital city. Other major cities include Pusan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, and Daejeon. The landscape of the country is spectacular in its variations and about 70 percent of it is mountainous, with more than 3000 islands dotting the coastline. There are several major rivers in the South, one of which is the Han River which cuts through Seoul.

Like other countries in the temperate zone, Korea has four distinct seasons. In spring and autumn, the weather is superb: clear, blue skies and warm, gentle sunshine. Summer is relatively hot and humid, with heavy rainfall occurring during the monsoon season. Winter is cold and dry, with occasional snow. However, these cold spells alternate with periods of milder weather.

Culture and History:

For over five thousand years, Korean culture has incessantly been formed, changed, perished, and re-flourished in Korean peninsula and it has its own originality. The identity of Korean culture is based on the socio-cultural characteristics of Korean, which is formed by many factors such as geographic location, homogeneity of people and cultural exchange with other peoples. The most outstanding characteristics of Korean culture is probably "The Koreanized things." The cultural gap between North and South Korea is widening for the last 50 years since the partition of the Korean peninsula after the Second World War.

The most distinguished characteristics of Korean people come from using their own language (Korean), having their own alphabet system (Han-gul), wearing Korean dress (Han-bok), eating their own style of food (Hansik), and living in Korean style housing (Han-ok).

More than a thousand years ago, around the mountainous region of the northern part of Korea, forefathers of Korean people were used to nomadic culture: hunting, collecting and constantly moving around. As Korean people started trading with other adjoined nations and agricultural culture prevailed throughout the vast plain in the mid-southern part of Korea, Korean people fixed themselves in the Korean peninsula and agricultural culture became Korea's identity. Such agricultural and nomadic cultural tradition made costume part of the culture; men wore Korean jackets and trousers while women wore a long skirt and a Korean jacket.

Due to its cold winter in the northern part of Korea, the 'On-dol' (a Korean under-floor heating system similar to hypocaust system) was invented and developed especially for this region. Wooden flooring was developed mainly in the southern part of Korea which is ideal for cooling off and ventilation. The wooden floor is one important feature in Korean housing. In sum, the aerodynamic shape of the roof line, wooden flooring, and the On-dol are important features of Korean housing which represent the identity of Korean culture.

70% of the nation lies within a mountainous region and three sides of the country are surrounded by the ocean. Small valleys and plains in both small and big mountain ranges have formed farm lands. Distinctive four seasons and moderate rain fall facilitate agriculture and farming. These natural conditions have helped the agricultural culture flourish in the Korean peninsula dating back to the 6th century. Korean people acquired grains and vegetables by farming and collected necessary meats by hunting and fishing. Until the early period of Chosun, the staple of Korea was mainly coming from vegetables with the influence of Buddhism. But coming toward the late Chosun dynasty, they consumed animal fiber to obtain necessary nutrition. Such staples include rice, barley, wheat, bean and Indian millet. Subsidiary foods are mainly fermentation foods such as Kimchee, chili paste, soybean paste,and pickled fish.

The most important identity of Korean culture is the notion and cognizance shared by all Korean people that they are from same forefather: Dankoon. Apart from these, there are many other things that identify Korean culture, especially respect for the elderly and pragmatic characters, among others.

Cultural History of Korean Food:

There is some evidence that people in Korea cooked their food using fire from as far back as the Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age: 500,000 - 10,000 BC) and the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age: 4,000 - 2,200 BC). The cauldron in the Neolithic Age was made of clay whose downside was that food cooked within tasted and smelled like clay. Therefore it is presumed that food wasn't boiled in the clay pot but steamed with an earthenware steamer. In prehistoric times, seafood and meat were staples, but as agricultural life developed, rice and other grains supplanted meat and fish. Vegetables, fish and meats became side dishes.

Rice cooking methods like today began from the Bronze Age (1,000 - 500 BC) and an iron cauldron was introduced in the Iron Age (500 - 200 BC). The slightly burned rice in the bottom of the cauldron is called 'Noorung-ji' and boiled 'noorung-ju' with water is 'soong-nyoung'. On some special days they ate rice but normally mixed rice with barley was common because rice was relatively expensive.

Korean foods differ depending on the season, the economic status of the household, and housewife's cooking skill. Traditionally, Korean eat hot soup, pot stew, grilled foods and kimchee in the winter. Cold soup, hard-boiled food and lettuce wrapped rice are common in summer. As agricultural life began to develop and Buddhism prevailed in the Three States period (100 BC - 600 AD), fish and meat consumption declined gradually, but again increased during the late Chosun. These days, Korean usually eat soup, stew, boiled dishes, grilled and fried dishes of beef, pork, chicken, seafood and many kinds of Kimchee.

Korean people traditionally have enjoyed drinking grain wine and distilled liquor called 'So-ju,' especially in the summer. For some special occasions, 'Chung-ju' was used. Commoners usually had 'Makkoli', which is raw rice wine. Nobleman drank 'So-ju' and 'Yak-ju'. Traditional Korean drinks are 'Shik-hye', 'Su-jung-kwa' and 'Hwa-che'. Tea was enjoyed mostly by nobleman, clergy and the royal family. Wealthy people ate snacks such as 'Kang-jung', 'Yak-kwa', 'Yoo Kwa' and wheat-gluten candy in the winter, and fruits during the spring and fall.

Normally people ate three meals a day. Labor workers ate three regular meals and three snacks. The 'Saecham' in the past were mostly traditional foods such as 'Shik-hye', 'Su-jung-kwa' and 'Hwa-che', potato, sweet potato, noodles and 'Bibim-bab', but these days, Korean consume soft drinks, milk, bread, instant noodles and rice rolls.

Traditional Dining Etiquette:

Korean table settings' distinctive feature is that all dishes are to be presented together at once. Meals are eaten using spoons and chopsticks. The traditional setting includes the rice bowl on the left and soup bowl on the right with side dishes in front of them. Normally people use only their right hand to eat their food with the spoon and chopsticks. There is no fixed sequence of eating a meal, but in general they eat food which is placed closest first. One thing to remember about table manners: pick up your spoon or chopsticks only after elderly persons begin eating. Normally 'soong-nyoung' comes last at the meal. Women prepare foods in the kitchen and carry the table to the room. After the meal, the one who prepared the foods carries the table back to the kitchen. After the elders are finished eating, juniors and women eat whatever is left over.

Monthly Expenses:

Here are some approximate prices:

• Transportation by subway in the cities is about 75 cents
• Taxis are about $1.50 base plus 50 cents/mile thereafter
• Work shirts: $10 - $50
• Haircut is about $7 for men, $60 for women
• Cost of movie is roughly $3
• Books: $10 - $20
• Tipping: not customary in Korea. Often a 10% service charge will be added to the bill

Support During Your Placement:

We will be available to give you any support, advice, or guidance you may need with any issues. There will always be an emergency number for you to contact. Our aim is to ensure that you have a happy and successful experience during your stay in South Korea.