Cultural differences in relating with others

Good evening once again dear readers! Sadly, this is our fifth post and we have to say goodbye. But before that we are going to talk about relating with others in our cultures. The reason we pick this topic is that we have a subject named Relationships of the future, which is related to our future and we are learning how to relate with others and how can we transform relationships around us.

As we mentioned before, Spanish people are very close and it is easy for them start talking with a stranger, no matter the context: in a bus stop, waiting in a queue, in a bar, etc. For example, two weeks ago I was having lunch in Vapiano with some friends that visited me and next to us there were a big table with Spanish people. A woman of this group said that she wanted to drink the same beer as me so I answered her the name of the beer and we start to talk. They were in Eindhoven because they wanted to travel during the festivities in Spain. We talked about my studies and the terrible flooding that Málaga and Huelva suffered. In conclusion, it was very easy for me to start a conversation with them and continue talking because Spanish people are always talking with everyone. Specially if we are travelling and we meet other Spanish persons. However, in Korea, it will be rare to see that strangers or new people talk to each other. For example, if you visit Korea and try to start a conversation with a person next to you on a bus or train, you could be a weird person. Korean people are not that used to initiate a conversation with strangers. The main reason of is that people do not want to bother someone and they really mind it. People just do not want to be an obstacle because it can be connected to rudeness. You can also find this atmosphere at work. People do not say their complaints directly because they do not want to be rude. They just say it when they cannot ignore it more. Therefore, when you meet Koreans in your business, you should try to figure out their mind to communicate well. They do not express themselves directly. In Spain, it depends on the personality of the person.

On the other hand, we found a common characteristic while discussing these differences. We talked about why we act in different ways to relate to strangers. As a result, the reason was the same. We both want to give good impression to people. Nevertheless, we act differently, the basic reason of both cultures in relating with others is that the first impression is very important. To give good first impression, Spanish people tend to be very affectionate and kind, while Korean people care that they will disturb someone or not when they first meet someone.

Finally, we would like to add that despite the differences we have mentioned in this blog we have become very good friends and we encourage all to study abroad and travel to learn more about different cultures!

Ways of greeting in Spain and Korea

Good afternoon dear readers! Welcome once again. Today we are going to write about the typical way to greet in Spain and Korea. In our opinion, it is a very interesting topic because each culture has a different form of greeting. In a globalization world like now, it is highly probable that we will meet people from different places during our studies, at work or even when we travel. And both of us are studying abroad and want to work abroad in our future so, getting to know our own way of greeting will be important to understand other countries’ cultures. Therefore, this post can be very useful.

Korean and Spanish people are quite different in the way to greet and touch among relatives and friends. Spanish people are usually close, affectionate, and kind when they meet someone because they want to give a good impression. On the other hand, Korean people are not used to physical attachment at first even if they want to give a good impression.

In Spain, according to the context and the gender of the person there are different ways of greeting. If persons are meeting in a formal context, there is no difference between genders. Therefore both, men and women, shake hands. However, if it is an informal context, it depends. If they are two men, they will shake hands, and if they are two women or a man and a woman, they will kiss on the cheek. In this part, Spanish people differ from other Occidental countries because they start kissing the left cheek and then, they kiss the right one while, for example, in Italy they kiss twice but they start kissing the right cheek.

When there is familiarity between two persons or they have not seen each other for a long time they usually hug.

Finally, there is a special way of greeting members of the royal family. Men should shake hands and tilt their heads. On the other hand, women should shake hands and, at the same time, slide the left leg backwards while the right one remains flexed, and keep the body straight.

In Korea, people also shake their hands in formal situations regardless of sex. The difference with Spain is the way of greeting in close relationships. There is no physical attachment. Even if they are close and friendly to each other, people normally just wave their hands saying hello. Some people can hug each other but it is not common in Korea. If they have not seen each other for a long time, it could be possible. However, people still give light hug in those situations. And it is quite same for Asian countries, so you should be careful when you greet them. You might see their frustrating faces.

And as you know, people in Korea use different words and the end of a word depends on opponents’ age. It is same for greeting. When some people are older than the opposite, the younger person bow his or her head. It is normal way of greeting. In western cultures, people can be friend and close without regard to age but it is hard to be friends if they have difference between ages in Korea. Therefore, it is common to bow when they meet older people or people who are not close.

As we mentioned, we have quite different cultures in greeting. Knowing how to greet is very important to meet new people and it can affect impression about ourselves. We know we will meet diverse people from different countries in our future job situations and that is why we want to share our way of greeting. We hope you enjoy them.

Typical dishes from Korea and Spain

Welcome to our blog again! Today we are going to talk about our culinary culture and introduce our typical dishes. The reason we pick this subject is that both of us feel happiness when we eat delicious food. Also, we can relax stress from hard working by eating what we like. Therefore, for us, food is very important in our lives and sometimes it affects even our productivity at work. That’s why we choose this topic and we will talk about characteristics of food in our countries.

At first, in Korea, most of the people like to eat spicy food with Korean peppers so you can see red, red color in your Korean dish. The features of dishes are different and it depends on regions. In the north, people eat a little bland food. It means less salty. On the other hand, in south, people eat dishes seasoned with more salt than in the north. Even though they have different levels of seasoning, it is same that typical dishes in Korea are made with ‘Kimchi’. Se young will introduce this later. Spain is characterized by the Mediterranean diet, in which some of the typical ingredients are tomato, oil, vinegar, and bread. Patricia will explain more about the typical dishes of Spain.

In Korea, like Se young mentioned, there is lots of spicy food. Most of the people are extremely excited about a spicy taste because they relieve their stress through eating. If it were really spicy, they could forget their concerns or distracting thoughts from their work because they just concentrate on food while sweating.

And most Korean typical dishes are made with ‘Kimchi’. Kimchi is also made with Korean pepper. In the right picture, you can see various kinds of soup with Kimchi. It is a very common dish in Korea. It is called ‘Kimchi stew’. We put pork or tuna, kimchi, onion, garlic, water and just boil them together for a while.

However, there are also not spicy foods. The left one is ‘Bulgogi’ and the right one is ‘Bibimbab’. ‘Bulgogi’ is made with beef and soy sauce. Actually, soy sauce is a very commonly used ingredient in Korean dishes. People use it in most dishes and sometimes use it instead of salt. ‘Bibimbab’ is well-known dish in Korea. It needs lots of ingredients. The difference depends on regions or people who make it. People cook vegetables and season them with soy sauce, pepper powder, salt and sesame oil. And put them above rice. You can also put a fried egg or a raw egg yolk in the middle. The way to eat ‘Bibimbab’ is mixing everything together and the taste will be amazing.

In Spain the weather is very hot during summer. For that reason, we eat cold soup like gazpacho (made with tomato, pepper, cucumber, garlic, cumin, water, and oil), ajo blanco (made with garlic, almonds, water, and oil) or salmorejo (made with tomato, garlic, oil, vinegar and bread). On the top of gazpacho you can add parsley, while on the top of ajo blanco the typical accompaniment are grapes. Finally, on the top of salmorejo we usually add boiled egg and ham, which is another food typical from Spain.

Other typical dish from Spain is called paella and its main ingredient is rice. There are different types: with vegetables, with meat, with fish, black rice, etc.

Finally, we could not end this post without talking about the Spanish omelette, which is made with 3 simple ingredients: potatoes, eggs, and oil. The result is great.

Comparison between Spain and South Korea based on 6D Model

Good morning dear readers! We are back to write about some differences and similarities between Spain and South Korean cultures. In order to do that, we have compared our countries using the Hofstede’s 6D Model suggested by professor Hofstede. Hofstede has studied national values and he has introduced the dimension concept. This model consists of 6 cultural dimensions that represent preferences for one country (rather tan individuals) over another.

In the following picture you can observe the comparison between Spain and South Korea.

Power Distance

It expresses the degree to which the less powerful members accept and expect an unequally distribution of power. A high power distance index means that society accepts a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place without justification. Spain and South Korea have a similar Power Distance, which means that individuals are not equal and they accept it. We both agree with this result. However, in our opinion there exists some movements against inequality in both countries.

Individualism versus Collectivism

Individualism is the preference for a loosely-knot social framework. People in an individualistic culture are expected to take care of only themselves and their closer relatives. However, collectivism expresses a preference for a tightly-knit framework and members of a collectivistic culture expect their families or members of a particular in-group to look after them. Furthermore, they are more loyal. South Korea has a more collectivistic culture than Spain because they are used to be close with their family. In Korea, people are raised to take care of their family before themselves. In contrast, despite the fact that Spanish people tend to be close with their relatives, the society does not expect them to dedicate.

Masculinity versus Femininity

Masculinity represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success. As result, masculinity cultures are more competitive. In contrast, femininity expresses a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring and quality of life. Consequently, femininity cultures are more consensus-oriented. We do not agree with the result because South Korea has a more competitive culture than Spain. They work almost 12 hours per day and they study hard to get good marks and be able to find job in big companies.

Uncertainty Avoidance

It is connected to people’s attitude on the unpredictability of future. There are two ways to deal with it: try to predict the future or just let it go? Like this, the ways to treat anxious and uncertain future are different depending on nations because of their culture. The higher the score is, the higher people’s fear is. Spain and South Korea have a similar score in this dimension and we agree with the result because Spanish and Koreans try to avoid uncertainty and be sure about the future.

Long Term Orientation

It shows how societies keep their own past handling with their challenges of the current and future situations. For example, the score will be low in normative cultures that want to maintain traditions. In this dimension, there is a huge difference between the two countries and we agree with the result. Spanish people prefer to live by the moment without a great concern about the future and they look for quick results without delays. On the other hand, in Korea, people try to focus on future and prepare it. Unfortunately, they tend to ignore the importance of traditions and cultures from ancestors and just want to develop.

Indulgence

It describes how people deal with their desires and impulses that are based on socialization in countries. The lower score of this dimension means people have weak control about them called ‘Indulgence’ and the higher score of it means people have relatively strong control called ‘Restraint’. South Korea has a more restrained culture than Spain. However, we think that Spain should have a higher score since Spanish people are not restrained and they emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. In contrasts, Koreans are raised to follow society like parents and other people, not themselves. Finally, we hope both countries will have higher scores in the future.

Traditional costumes of our countries

Welcome to our Blog! We are Patricia and Se young, two students of the Minor Your Future Work at Fontys University of Applied Sciences. In this blog we would like to write about our cultures. 

There are different definitions of culture. For example, the Cambridge English Dictionary defines culture as “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time”. All cultures have a traditional costume. It is a very important part of eachother's culture because it is a sign of social identity (Hendrickson, 1997). Particularly, in this first post we are going to write about the traditional costumes of our countries.

One of the most traditional Spanish costumes is called traje de gitana. It can be a dress or a skirt and a shirt. In the following pictures you can see the difference between the dress (left) and the two pieces outfit (right).

As you can notice, in both pictures the outfits are long-sleeved. However, there are others that are sleeveless. The dress or skirt is usually long, but there are also short versions. 

The dress is usually brightly colored and it can be plain or patterned. A common characteristic in all of these versions is the layers of ruffles on the skirt and sleeves. Finally, the outfit can be completed with a shawl over the shoulders and a flower and a comb in the hair.

Nowadays, there are important fashion shows in which models wear the colors, patterns and forms that are going to be in. Consequently, new styles of this costume are created every year.

Furthermore, this is the traditional costume to dance sevillanas, the typical dance of Andalusia. An essential element to dance sevillanas properly is the ruffled skirt. This dance is usually trained with a body and a skirt.

The traditional Korean costume is called ‘Hanbok’. The name applies for both sexes. When you wear ‘Hanbok’, there are many steps and accessories. Furthermore, they are different according to people’s status and age. The higher their status is, the more complex clothes are. They also affect materials of clothes. People who are rich or in a high position wear dresses made of luxurious textiles like silk, gold and fur. On the other hand, ordinary people or the poor wear dresses made of cotton or linen.

The first ‘hanbok’ is for a little girl. The top called ‘saekdong jogory’. It is very colourful and the sleeve is the most colourful part of clothing.

The second dress if for a bride. They wear various hair accessories and fancy dress compared to daily look. The cloth which is above a bride’s hands is used to get something from her parents in her wedding.

The third example is for ordinary people. Actually this is for middle-class women not for the poor. The textile of cloth is different in ordinary people.

The last example is for a queen. Like you can see, it looks really fancy and luxurious. Those patterns are all made of real gold. Accessories are also gold and silver. The big difference of design between other status’s cloths is a ‘dragon’. On her dress, the dragon patterns are embroidered.

According to the examples, there are various kinds of Hanbok for women. The type of dress is changed depending on status, age and situation. Except what I introduced, there are lots of Hanbok in Korea and people try to make it simple these days to wear it in our daily lives.

Thank you for reading! Do you know the traditional custom of your country?