Thursday, February 08, 2007

My Korean Culture

Today we live in a different lifestyle compared to the past. Cultures from other countries have changed many things of our native culture materially and mentally. Even though there have been many changes in our culture, we still have our own culture such as a language, food, traditional clothing, social customs, a housing system, family structures, and so on. In my culture, the biggest cultural differences are in housing system, food, and traditional clothing.

First, the Korean housing has its unique heating system named “Ondol.” Unlike the western heating system, “Ondol” is a heating system that warms the floor. In the past people heated the floor by having a fire in the kitchen. This is also different from Japanese and Chinese heating systems. Even though this heating system has been changed by technologies, the principle is same. And still most people sleep on the floor thanks to this heating system. By it’sboiled water flows through the pipes, the floor is warmed.

Secondly, Korean food is also different from foreign food. There are many kinds of fermented food. “Kimchi” is the representative example. Kimchi is salted cabbage with red ground pepper and some sauces. Koreans eat Kimchi at every meal. And there are several fermented sauces. Fermented bean sauces are also very common in Korea. There are two kinds of bean sauces. One is liquid and the other is very sticky paste. The liquid sauce is named “Ganjang,” and the sticky paste is named “Daenjang.” China and Japan have Ganjang, but only Korea has Daenjang. These are widely used in Korean food. And there are also some fermented sauces made of seafood.

Finally, “Hanbok”, traditional clothing, represents Korean clothing culture. Hanbok means the clothing that Korean people wear. It basically consists of two pieces. One is a jacket and the other is a trouser or skirt. And there are some additional light and thin outerwear. Women’s clothing is usually splendid and bright and multi-colored. Men’s clothing is darker than women’s, but these days many young men wear bright-colored Hanbok. This clothing is not for daily life, so people wear this clothing only on special days such as New Year day, Chusuk(Korean Thanksgiving day), and for weddings.

These days the influx of foreign cultures has made our culture changed. But we still have our own culture in our lives. We use our own heating system ‘Ondol’ even though we live in an apartment. We eat ‘Kimchi’ at every meal. Onspecial days, we wear our traditional clothing ‘Hanbok.’ Thanks to these traditional items, I feel I’m Korean.

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