|
Culture Shock! Korea | 
 enlarge | Authors: Sonja Vegdahl Hur, Ben Seunghwa Hur
Publisher: Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $2.74
You Save: $11.21 (80%)
New (2) Used (20) from $2.74
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 814774
Media: Paperback
Edition: Rev Exp
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 1558686215
Dewey Decimal Number: 951.95
EAN: 9781558686212
ASIN: 1558686215
Publication Date: March 28, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Trade Paperback. / Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company: 2004-03-28; Book, 256 pp / Condition: Very good condition., Stock#: 737545 (137-C) * * WE SHIP NEXT BUSINESS DAY * *
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
Whether you travel for business, pleasure, or a combination of the two, the ever-popular CULTURE SHOCK! series belongs in your backpack or briefcase. Get the nuts-and-bolts information you need to survive and thrive wherever you go. CULTURE SHOCK! country guides are easy-to-read, accurate, and entertaining crash courses in local customs and etiquette. CULTURE SHOCK! practical guides offer the inside information you need whether you're a student, a parent, a globetrotter, or a working traveler. CULTURE SHOCK! AT YOUR DOOR guides equip you for daily life in some of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. And CULTURE SHOCK! SUCCESS SECRETS guides offer relevant, practical information with the real-life insights and cultural know-how that can make the difference between business success and failure. Each CULTURE SHOCK! title is written by someone who's lived and worked in the country, and each book is packed with practical, accurate, and enjoyable information to help you find your way and feel at home.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
Shedding Light on the Korean Enigma March 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have a lot of Korean friends and I wanted to better understand them so my search for a more knowledge of their culture led me to this book. I was fascinated by it. However, since my copy of the book was last revised in 2000 I wondered if some of the material might be out of date. Some of it didn't seem to agree with the images shown in most Korean television soap operas and popular music shows I also watch. After finishing the book I decided to ask some of my Korean friends if the material I had questions about was indeed out of date. One such question was whether most of South Korea still has public restrooms shared by men and women at the same time. The book said women walk nonchalantly past the backs of men using the urinals on their way to use a stall with a door. Once inside a public restroom's bathroom stall there will often be no toilet, simply a hole in the tile floor over which to squat like I've often found in Paris and other regions of France.
I asked several of my Korean friends and was surprised to learn that the book is perfectly accurate on both those facts. Other of my doubts included the almost universal adherence to Korean shaman fortunetellers (Mudands) and their advice (kuts and kosas). And the fact that most dining is done in near silence with everyone paying close attention to just eating and not talking. That's still very much the case according to my friends from South Korea. Heavy drinking is also a universal fact among Korean men. It's part of all social and business dealings.
That said I found this book very, very helpful. It was more helpful than a couple of the travel guides I own that are more recent because it goes into depth about why things are done the way they are in modern Korea. People act differently and it often takes a lifetime to understand the proper ways Korea citizens treat each other and why. Business relationships are often permanent and based more on which grade school a person attended with his associates than skill at performing a certain job. Family, school and military connections are more important to business relationships than performance. Saving face is of major importance in Korea. Friendships are formal and a normal part of business and networking. Relationships between different social and business classes are very structured. One doesn't have to study much of the language to understand why the Korean word for "yes" sounds like "no" in most other languages and the method of saying "no" requires several phrases. Saying "no" in Korean is a major skill requiring much diplomacy and practice. We Americans would consider the way "no" is used in Korea as "beating around the bush" and avoiding answering the question.
For any Westerner who hopes to understand modern day Korea this book is a good primer. Just watching Korean television doesn't give a true picture of the nation. The Korean Soap Operas go out of their way to show the most modern, most perfect image of a booming Modern Korea. Korean television's popular music shows give no hint of the standard of living and are every bit as slick as the same kind of shows shown in the USA. The plots of the soap operas still reflect the history and cultural ways of Korea. Reading this book greatly increased my ability to understand much of what I watch on Korean television and why some of the plots and humor seem so convoluted.
Kipling said something to the effect that "East is east and west is West and Never Do The Two Meet." His advice is still right on the mark. You can take the Koreans out of Korea, but you can't take Korea out of the Koreans. Korea has a rich and fascinating history. It had invented and was using movable type to print more than two centuries before Guttenberg introduced his movable type printing press to the western world.
 fantastic February 26, 2008
This book makes me LOVE LIFE! Get it if you plan on going to Korea, or just find the ideals of other countries interesting.
Culture Shock Korea style August 19, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Very interesting book about the differences in Korean culture and how to fit in in a new culture. Some editing mistakes, but a good read.
 Korean Culture Awareness October 6, 2005
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
Excellent book on Korea. Gives details on what to expect and how to react. Many things that I did not know....
VERY HELPFUL!!!
 An OK book, but a good travel guide is more useful July 6, 2004
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book was OK, but I wish that I had just spent my money on a good travel guide (Moon Handbook Guide to S. Korea by Robert Nilsen) because most of the information was superficial. Worth a look into if you are in a bookstore or library, but otherwise I would just save my money.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
