April 28, 2018
Welcome to my new series, Cultures Connect. The purpose of this series is to explore how culture changes over time and across space as people learn, share and create new traditions and memories. To understand changes in culture, this series seeks out the stories and viewpoints of members of the international community in the US, especially the DC area. As the nation’s capital, DC attracts people from all over the world to live, work, and enjoy life. These people bring with them pieces of their home culture to the US and contribute to the diversifying nature of US culture. It is the stories of these people that I hope to share their stories. I hope to use this platform to also provide visual representations of the diversity of the people that I meet.
Since South Korea is a country close to my heart, I decided to begin this series by interviewing three individuals, Ms. J, Ms. H, and Mr. S, born in South Korea, but live in DC. During our discussions, we covered topics of South Korean society and culture including but not limited to food, language, and American-Korean life. While all three were born in South Korea, they all have different backgrounds came to the US and DC for different reasons and at different times. This project is still a work in progress and I hope that you will enjoy reading as I enjoyed engaging with these three individuals.
Food
In recent years, Korean food has become a trendy cuisine in the US. However, the South Korean identity is inseparable from its cuisine throughout the country’s history. From more traditional foods, such as Samgyetang (Chicken-ginseng soup), to foods as a representation of Korea’s struggles, such as Buddaejjigae (army meat stew), and to even modern fusion food, such as KFC (Korean Fried Chicken). Ms. H, who came to DC to study Korean food culture, identified that people experience culture as a small and affordable luxury through food in recent years. These days, people are valuing consumption in culture and use food as a means to experience culture.
Although my interviewers viewed Korean food differently, all three identified Korean food as significant to the culture. Ms. J, for example, grew up in the US, but she finds community in a shared love of Korean food in her neighborhood. She has fond memories of enjoying Kimchijjigae, her soul food. Mr. S, who moved to Washington DC within the past five years, said he missed Korean food that is not as easily accessible in the US, such as Korean street food. However, Mr. S noted the prevalence of one Korean dish in DC — Bibimbap. Ms. H provided a unique view on Korean food. She identified KFC as a modern cultural representation of Korean culture. According to Ms. H, KFC is not considered Korean due to its foreign influence. Yet, the dish is still widely consumed in South Korea and even gaining a following in the US. To her, this dish reflects a cosmopolitan and contemporary Korea, separate from its history of war, as represented by Buddaejjigae.
Language
The Korean language is distinct as representative of the country’s history and where the country is today. Similar to KFC, the Korean language is a global language with words from all over the world, including Chinese, English, and many more. The synthesis of new words into the Korean lexicon leaves an impression on the interactions of South Korea and the international community.
However, the Korean language in itself is unique from any other. Korean is considered a language isolate, meaning it is a language “that have no known historical or linguistic relationship to any other languages”. According to Ms. J, one word, Han, epitomizes Korean culture. Although Han cannot be translated directly into English, the Los Angeles Times describes it as an “amorphous a notion as love or hate: intensely personal, yet carried around collectively, a national torch, a badge of suffering tempered by a sense of resiliency”. Ms. J believes that Korean society places the concept of ‘han’ on women’s shoulders. She said, Korean women “are supposed to have han in their heart like that they have a sad story that never could be shared.” From the name of the country, the name of the primary river in the country, and the name of the language, Han represents the history and the struggles the country has faced in one word and permeates the language. Yet, Ms. J has noticed some changes in the ‘han’ of the Korean people. Protests against the former president of South Korea, Park Geun Hye, indicates a radical explosion of emotion in recent years. South Korea is changing rapidly as society strives to express themselves.
American-Korean Life
“They will serve you food, instead of telling you what to cook. They will make the food and feed you. So I kind of miss that.”
In every country, the shared norms and values of a culture could be both positive and negative. It is up to us who are shaping the future of a culture to identify how those norms affect us. Ms. H found that, while living in the US, she missed loved ones meddling in her life. While meddlesome family members can be a burden, to her the interest that family members show is an indicator of care. To illustrate this care, Ms. H said “they will serve you food, instead of telling you what to cook. They will make the food and feed you.”
Yet, Mr. S interpreted this aspect of Korean society a little differently. He found that he could relax more in the US because the US community does place the same expectations on individuals. He found Americans to be more approachable and friendlier especially regardless of age. He said that although he has the same concerns in the US as he would in South Korea, he feels freer in the US. “Not only in terms of things that I can do, but in terms of my thinking.” He also finds that the US society allows more leeway and negotiation for its people than in South Korea. For example, When Mr. S came to the US for graduate school US schools were willing to negotiate his scholarship with him. However, “Korean college or Korean grad schools, there is no room for negotiation when it comes to scholarship. They say yes to a certain amount and that is it. You take it or leave it.”
Culture, whether American or Korean, contains so many layers and varies between members of a community. While one person may find comfort in a traditional Korean while growing up in the US, another person finds the fusion of modernization with traditionalism in Korean cuisine to be fascinating. As global interaction drastically increases, understanding what culture means to us and others becomes more important than ever.
Until next time,
ㅅ_ㅅ