Korea

Today i met my korean friend. She is an exchanged student from Seoul. I met her on campus by chance. Now, we meet her two or three times a week.
we plan to go to the korean resturant on weekend. she has never been to the korean resturant in Fort Wayne. i love hanging out with her. she is so sweet and very beautiful.
one time, she mentioned that in korea, there are a lot of private institutes that teach english. when i was in korea, there are a lot of foreigners from englsih speaking countries teaching english in korea. korea is very fascinated about learning english.
The salary is good and they provide the accommondition. they even send you the airplane ticket once you signed the contract to teach english with the company.

South Korean Business and Social Culture

Despite outside influences from its neighbouring countries, South Korea has maintained a distinct and homogeneous identity influenced by its religious beliefs and breathtaking landscapes. The people of Korea share a common pride in the country’s unique cultural and linguistic heritage that has emerged during her long and turbulent history. As a result, Korea boasts an enriched cultural outlook that is reflected in its current business culture.

what is the matter ?

today, i went down to the korean store on coldwater road. There are two korean stories in town owned by korean people. They know me since i shop at their stores once or twice a month. They are korean and they have been in US for at least 20 years. Out of the blue, i asked how the business is. they answered me with the smiling face that the business is doing much better than last 2 years ago. I am glad to hear the good news from them. In the store, you can get every korean groceries of course, the price is a bit higher than korea. But all the groceries was imported from Korea. so, if you want to eat authentic Korean food, i would recommand you the korean grocerise on Coldwater Road.

people in korea are very fascinated about their country. korean people value their ancestors' hardships to become a new KOREA. Once you are in Korea, you will know what i am talking about. Throughout the whole country, you will hear old people saying how they love country.

business

Korean people think about business very seriously. they love being the investors and they love to create new technolgies very day. there are a lot of young adult who train to be technicians when they grow up. korea became one of the fastest developed country in the world. korea is where it is today because of their working hard.

about korean ( cont )

An important point to keep in mind concerns the nature of reaching an agreement with a Korean firm. Westerners attach great importance to a written contract that specifies each detail of the business relationship. Koreans, on the other hand, value a contract as a loosely structured consensus statement that broadly defines what has been negotiated, but leaves sufficient room to permit flexibility and adjustment. The Korean Government has attempted to address this dual perception by formulating "model" contracts for licensing technology and other arrangements. Both parties must be assured that the obligations spelled out in a negotiated contract are fully understood.

about korean

Most Koreans have three names. These names usually follow the Chinese pattern of a surname followed by two given names. In a Korean household, all brothers and sisters have the same last name and a common given name; the only distinguishing mark is the remaining given name. In addressing Koreans, foreigners should observe the use of surnames (e.g., Mr. Kim; Ms. Lee), using formal titles if possible (e.g. Dr. Yoo; Director Song). The most common last names are Kim, Lee, and Park. In the use of formal titles as appropriate, one should always be familiar with the complete name, including the two given names, for identification purposes, as there may be several Mr. Park's or Dr. Lee's in the same company and even the same work space.

Even though there are incremental changes in Korean attitudes and women are making progress, women professionals at the highest levels are still very rare. In Korean companies, the majority of working women, many with top university degrees, are still relegated to secretarial jobs, accounting or educational work. Many qualified women welcome the opportunity to work as a professional with a foreign company whose attitudes toward gender equality and professional respect and responsibility prevail.

Americans should be ready to mix business with social life as the Koreans base their business relationships on personal ones. The heavy drinking of the Korean alcohol, Soju, beer, scotch, or other liquor is commonplace in establishing a personal, business relationship. Also commonplace is the "no-rae-bang" where a group of businesspeople go to an establishment to drink and sing along to a video machine playing music. As most no-rae-bang machines come equipped with songs in English, a businessperson may want to be prepared to sing at least one song in order to gain social favor with their Korean counterpart. Although not as common as the no-rae-bang, businessmen should also be aware of “room salons” where Korean women serve food and drink to their patrons.

Though Koreans have transitioned greatly into Western society, the traditional ways of thinking in many areas are still practiced. Koreans have a great respect for the family and hierarchy. Extended families (i.e., parents living with middle-aged married “children” and their grandchildren) are still commonplace, although this is rapidly changing. Among the older generation, the father is the primary wage earner, while the mother stays at home. Due to changing social mores and economic pressures, the necessity for families to have double incomes is rapidly growing in Korea. Although fathers are the primary income earners, in the majority of cases, salaries are entrusted to their wives and most day-to-day consumption decisions are at the discretion of the female spouse. US companies may wish to take into consideration these traditional family roles when marketing to Korean consumers.

Seoul ( cont )

picture ( seoul )

doing business in korea

At first glance, Korea appears to be "just like any other nation." Its capital city, Seoul, is a modern, thriving metropolis with all of the latest technology the world has to offer. All over Korea, you'll find first-class telecommunications, the requisite five-star hotels, Western restaurants, modern transport systems (including very efficient subway networks in Seoul and Busan), innovative architecture, and so forth. Nonetheless, it is still very Korean and it is imperative that any American doing business in Korea realizes that Seoul is not Los Angeles (even though the latter, in fact, has a sizeable Korean community). Every year Korea becomes more and more modern, but it is important to recognize that modern does not equal Western. Koreans will not expect you to be an expert on the nuances of their culture, but they will appreciate a show of interest in matters that are important to them. Koreans generally appreciate a foreigner's effort in expressing a thank you (gam-sa-ham-ni-da) or a hello (an-yong-ha-say-yo) in the Korean language.

One of the differences between here and Korea, and I didn't find this out until the bill came, but they actually charge you extra for things like the coals, 6 Kuai (about 75 cents). It's not really a big deal, but why not just add the price in with the meat. I mean, who's going to order raw Chicken heart and not cook it?
Also, and I can't see this going over well with the Korean population - you have to buy kimchi for 8-10 kuai (over a dollar) and even the leaves are not free, another 10 kuai. My favorite extra charge was 2 kuai, for the dipping sauce which we dodn't order but came with the meal. We were shocked they didn't charge us when we asked for more garlic!

one day i asked my korean professor about foreign investment in korea. he said he is welcomed all the foreign investors and he is glad to meet different people from all over the world. he thinks because of all these foreign investors, Korea became one of the well-known countries in the world and he thanks all these investors. He told me about korea before it got developed how korean people were poor and sometimes got nothing to eat.

eating out in korea!

i love korean food. They are spicy but very delicious. but sometimes, i enjoy eating out with my friends. In our group, most of my friends are korean and some are foreigners including me. We love eating. whenever we meet the first thing we talked about is a place to eat. Surprisingly, my korean friends love " Hamburger ". they love Mcdonald. one of my koren friends told me that mostly young adults think that eating Hamburger shows that person being modernized.

i got this one from online about people in subway in korea.

funny story!

one day, i took a subway on my way back from school. Subway is very essential for most korean people. It's much cheaper and can save time unlike driving because of traffic.

so,i was on the subway and all of a sudden, i heard a noise. it's like someone's snoring. so, i look around and didn't see nobody sleeping deep. So, i thought i misheard and continued reading my book. But i heard the snoring again and it came from ontop of me. This time, i looke up and i saw an old man sleeping. here is the picture! enjoy

korea ( cont )

let's continue about Korea.

So, here i am very proud of being a Burmese. But on the other hand, Korea is the place where i would go back and visit there again.

I lived in Korea for about 5 years. I experienced about their life style. As a foreigner, life in korea was so uneasy. it's not that the people are making your life uneasy. it's just the language problem that is making your life uneasy. even though korean people are very fascinated about learning English language, you wouldn't see any sign that is written in bilingual. For instance,, underground restroom.

Korea,eh?

Gosh, I love korea. It is a country with full of natures. i was born in burma. but i lived in korea and studied there. It's not that i don't love my mother country. of course i love my country and i am very proud of being a burmese. But korea attracts me with its beautiful people and their amazing new country. Like all people know, Korea was colonized by Japan. korean people worked hard to build a country which every korean people dreamed of.