Culture And Misunderstandings Of The Korean Food Culture

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Recommended: Introduction about korean food

Having difficulties picking what to eat for dinner tonight? Korean Food just might be what you’re looking for. Korean Food not only contains its history, religion, and tradition, but also the way of thinking, lifestyle and sentiment of Korean people. However, We also warn that upon visiting Korea, there are a few cautions that we have to be aware of. An article by Laray M Barnes talks about stumbling blocks that may occur during Intercultural communication. Especially in the case of Korea, many Japanese tend to assume that the two cultures are more similar than it really is. This misunderstanding is present when experiencing the Korean Food Culture. The stumbling blocks might prevent one from having a wholly Korean Experience and create a misunderstanding …show more content…

This is a common issue amongst countries that have similar traditions. For Example, Both Cultures have a bowl of soup as a basic component in a meal. However, in the korean culture, one must not hold the bowl while having soup. This might be confusing for a Japanese because in Japan, it is the opposite and it is considered polite to pick up the bowl and sip directly from it. This can create misunderstanding between the two cultures. The consequences of these misunderstandings are that one can be confused or maybe even offended. We advise that you keep the basic table manners in Korean food in mind before visiting the country. One must be careful when traveling to Korea because the korean food culture is not as similar to the Japanese food cultures as one might …show more content…

The gestures, postures, eye contact, voice modulation and body movements of Korean people is really similar to the Japanese, which is also connected to assumption of similarity mentioned in the first paragraph. For example, it is polite to eat rice and soup with your spoon, and eat the side dishes with your chopsticks in Korea. On the other hand, there are no rules like this in Japan, so we Japanese have to be careful when we eat meals at Korea. Japan and Korea both uses chopsticks so we assume that the manners are the same. This causes nonverbal misinterpretation, because the table manners are not exactly the same as I explained in the example. You might be shocked at the different manners and the meaning of them, but be open minded to learn new cultures, so that it is easier to accept unfamiliar

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