Korean Culture

Knowing about the culture of a country can help give you a better understanding of its people. So long you remember that what you read about a culture is not an iron-cast definition. People, wherever they are from, are individuals first with their own particular personalities and quirks, despite everything are underneath no different from you really, and expecting someone to behave in a certain 'exotic' manner because that's what you read in a guidebook is the height of absurdity.
Anyway, here's a brief list about the culture of Korea -
1. Korean civilization is over 5000 years old.
2. Religious systems followed in Korea are - Buddhism - Mahayana and Son (Zen) Christianity (Roman Catholic and Protestant) Shamanism Confucianism 3. Korean people, like most Asian people, place a great emphasis on the family institution and on respecting parents and elders. The family elders are always addressed with respect, greeted with the traditional bow and served first at meals. Behaving with decorum in public, so as not to shame your family is important. Non-family members are usually addressed with formal titles.
4. Traditionally Koreans followed a patriarchal system, but the married women always kept their own name. Women, in olden times, were responsible for managing an extended family household and rearing the children; they also worked in the fields in addition, and had to obey the head of the family and their husbands. Modern Korean women are no longer 'bound to the hearth' and hold posts in practically every industry now, but, on the social front, the patriarchal habit still lingers, with many parents preferring boys over girls.
5. Korean family celebrations are held - When an infant becomes 100 days old When a child reaches its first birthday When a person reaches their sixtieth birthday When a couple marries 6. Many Korean families have a very long and detailed records of their genealogical clan history that date back to several hundred years. People from the same clan usually do not intermarry.
7. Korean marriages are traditionally arranged by the family elders and parents of the bride and groom, in consultation with a matchmaker. The bride's family receive the groom's Sajupalja (like a horoscope) , set the marriage date and then organize the wedding ceremony at their place. The groom's family sends the bride the wedding dress along with gifts and show up for the wedding.
8. Apart from the importance on family, most Koreans also believe in maintaining good ties with neighbors and participating in community events and activities.
9. The important Korean festivals are Seollal, which is the the traditional Korean New Year, and Daeboreum, which celebrates the first full moon, Dano, which celebrates spring, and Chuseok, which is the harvest festival and also an event to honor one's ancestors. There are also several regional festivals based on the lunar calendar.
10. In olden, more agrarian days, Koreans followed a lunar calendar that was divided into 24 turning points, each lasting about 15 days. Most traditional Korean festivities and birthdays are still based on the lunar calendar, although the Gregorian Calendar was officially adopted in 1895.