Fuzzy Culture

Korean culture seems to be fuzzy. It is not easy to describe this in English - an analaytic language. You'd better depend on your insight and intuition rather than on your intellect or reason when you try to understand Korean culture and their mentality. You should feel rather than think. The fuzziness is expressed in almost every aspect of Korean culture - architecture, food, clothing, life style and language.

In Korea clear cutting is not respected. Instead generous and absorptive attitude is repected. You can find the generocity and fuzziness of Korea and its people in many aspects of the culture and life styles.

You may have seen Korean traditinal clothings- Hanbok. It covers the whole body but the quality of the clothes makes the body interact with the outside. It is designed to block the sunligh and heat while the air permeates inside so that skin can breathe well. When it is cold you can wear some underwears and feel comfortable because of the loose space between the body and Hanbok. It is very adaptive to the environment.

Koreans enjoy fermented foods such as Kimchi, Toenjang(fermented soy bean), kanjang(essential elemetn distilled from soy bean0. Kimchi is the most favored food. It is spicy and gives us some remainging taste as otehr fermented foods. Most of the fermented or pasteurized foods should be reserved for quite long period to be served on the table. The food absorb natural energy during the process of the fermentation, People have to wait. The taste is hard to say in clear words. It's a kind of mixed taste with different flavors.

Some say that the taste of Korean food is like the personality or mentality of Koreans. Koreans express their inner feeling after some period of reservation. Their emotion is expressed incrementally. Hasty and clear expression is never a virtue in Korea though it is changing with the influence of many different cultures in this globalized society.

The fuzziness is also found in the use of language. Korean language is very symbolic and illogical. It is also kind of consolidating and ambiguous. Most English words have negative or positive connotations but Korean words are more value-free and have containing meanings. While English language is rectangular and logical, Korean language is trans-logical and round. One word can mean the opposite in different situations. You may need intuition and telepathic power to understand Korean conversation. 'Siwon hada' means literally 'cold' or 'cool'. When you are out in the cool area, You say this espression. But some Koreans say "Siwon hada" when eating hot soup, which means she feels fresh with the soup. They also say this when they feel free or some troube has gone.

Expressed language is not so much important as the shared information or the exchange of sympathetic feelings. So if you have any chance to express your mind to a real Korean, use connoting poetic expression rather than clear-cutting logical