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ON CULTURE
Language ★ While I'm not going to abuse it, I think it's natural to throw in some Korean every now and then. This is the list I use for some daily expressions. This generator is the God of romanizing and I'd almost be nowhere without it! And for basics, this is a good place to start. :3
Slang ★ I know next to nothing so here is where I ask you to really help! I don't even know which slang words are commonly accepted, as I don't really think you can just pick up a slang site and copy paste it in. As far as chatspeak, Wiki has some very basic Korean emotes though I hope to expand on this. These lists are good for simple phrases. There's really cute fighting words of encouragement!
Onomatopoeia ★ There's a lot! I tend to use it quite often in little side remarks. Actually, I think Korean onomatopoeia is really adorable so I suggest checking it out!
Addressing ★ As always, wiki has a fine article for Korean honorifics. This is what I consult for addressing siblings, particularly younger siblings. So "-ya" or "-nee" is added to younger sisters.
Gestures ★ Korea strikes me as the touchy-feely kind and there are some specific Korean gestures to be aware about.
Pepero Day ★ On 11 November, it is a custom to give others Pepero "cookies", which are chocolate biscuit sticks. 11/11 is supposed to look like four pepero sticks... Incidentally, pepero is similar to pocky and is thus inspired by the Japanese produce.
StarCraft ★ StarCrafts is HUGE in Korea, as I'm sure you've seen floating around in other Korea RP journals. The references are many and not too far off. There's even StarCraft Professional Competition which has Koreans at the top of the list. These players even make contracts to live on depending on the skill level! Lee Yun-Yeol made $830,000 for a three year contract. Starleague is the body in charge of organizing brackets and all that, whose battles are aired on two Korean cable channels. StarCraft and StarCraft II are available, the first one having three expansion packs. StarCraft can be played on a computer both online and offline and on older stationary consoles. StarCraft has a boardgame, also with an expansion pack. A Dungeons and Dragons table-top RPG exists on StarCraft called StarCraft Adventures. StarCraft's future in Korea is uncertain due to falling popularity.
Fan Death Syndrome ★ The government even takes precautions against fan death! Apparently there's even "scientific" evidence on the matter, which is embedded in the laws and media. A nice blog article about fan death is here. This blog offers two different urban legends: "if a girl goes to sleep with her hair hanging over the edge of the bed then there's a ghost that can come and count the hair fastfastfast and if it counts them all, you die. . . . Another really popular Korean urban legend has to do with a ghost that visits you while you're at the outhouse and says 'Would you like a red tissue or a blue tissue?'".
Holidays ★ Korea has fixed date and lunar holidays. There are three main lunar holidays: Korean New Year's which is the first day of the first month, plus the day before and after, Buddha's birthday which is the eighth day of the fourth month, and the Harvest Moon Festival which is the fourteenth through sixteenth days of the eighth month. In addition to the above holidays, important there are a few important dates to keep in mind:
- New Year's ☆ 1 January
- Independence Movement Day ☆ 1 March
- Arbor Day ☆ 5 April
- Children's Day ☆ 5 May
- Memorial Day ☆ 6 June
- Constitution Day ☆ 17 July
- Liberation Day ☆ 15 August
- Foundation Day ☆ 3 October
- Hangul Day ☆ 9 October
- Christmas Day ☆ 25 December
Creation Story ★ Dangun is basically a myth telling the creation of humans. A diety allows a tiger and bear to become human if they eat a specific diet and stay out of the sunlight for one hundred days. Only the bear is able to fulfill the instructions and is transformed into a woman. She eventually marries the diety who granted her transformation. Coincidentally, bears and tigers are important animals in Korea. Moon bears are of special concern. Since China is a demi-God in the canon, I don't see why Korea can't claim to be from divine decent. (Doesn't mean he is, of course.)
Food ★ SPCIY! There's a lot to the cuisine and cooking. More recently, Western fast food has become popular, namely pizza and hamburgers. Western food in Korea is becoming more abundant.
Kimchi ★ Kimchi is a huge part of the society and has historical significance. It's played quite a vital role in history and culture! Even today, it's eaten practically all day. There's many different varieties...
Fast Food ★ MacDonald's serves kimchi and bulgogi burgers in Korea and Pizza Hut also offers bulgogi as a topping. Custom orders at Mickey D's can be made through cell phone at certain locations, hoping to catch on! Lotte, a popular Korean company, has a fast food chain called Lotteria which can be found throughout Asia. He loves corn dogs.
Meat ★ Beef is EXTREMELY expensive compared to other meat prices! Korea is one of the most expensive places to buy beef. Given his frugal factor, it's a delicacy to him. Pork is really common, though. Korea imports a lot of pork from Poland, so. Dog meat is still eaten -- along with other bizarre things you can fit into your mouth.
Sweet Tooth ★ Korean desserts aren't too sweet but the detail invested in these desserts are so elaborate. The small portions are almost reminescient of Japanese sushi. On the other hand, I've seen a share of HUGE desserts so it seems like there is no middle ground; you either get sushi portions or biggie size. Take a look at some pictures if you don't believe me. Here are three Korean desserts you can probably make at home. I'm going to them it out~ I'm assuming sugar rushes at night are common for his character and I personally get the impression that he'd go against the grain and really love sweet stuff. Takenokoyama is featured in the canon where Korea claims to have something similar back home. (AND IT'S A PERSONAL THEORY THAT THE GUY NEXT TO HIM IS NORTH KOREA as much as I really hope not to ever see a North Korea in the canon.)
Drink ★ When my uncle was in Korea, he said that was drank with practically everything. It's served in shot glasses and your drink must be filled by somebody else. Pouring your drink is a no-no. Soju's taste is similar to vodka but a bit sweeter, so Russia and other vodka-drinking nations are potential drinking buddies. Chicken is a common dish to accompany soju. Soju ads in Korea are ridiculous like any other ad for a product. (Idols, idols, idols!) Drinking games are common, especially Baskin Robbins 21.
Sports ★ SRS BOUT THIS. Don't go there. Soccer and baseball are his favorites. 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in Seoul, but there's controversy regarding the success of the Korean team. The South Korea National Soccer Team is held under tight eye. In fact, this has led to Koreaphobia in China, which is the idea that Korea will defeat China in soccer. Out of 37 games, Korea has won 26 and tied 11. Baseball is also a big sport, ranked second behind Cuba. They speak through thier baseball bats, apparently. South Korea was a finalist at the World Baseball Classic 2009 In 1988, the Olympic Games were held in Seoul. Badminton is fairly widespread.
Manners ★ Put bluntly, he's rude! He doesn't cover his mouth when sneezing or coughing. On the other hand, it also means that he has no expectations. This leads to not appreciating the "God bless you" when he sneezes, though. Politeness was just something he didn't pick up at all from Japan; unlike the other nation, he doesn't say "excuse me" if he bumps into somebody on the street. If he needs to get something out of his mouth during a meal, he'll just spit it out. Double dipping is common for him during meals, even when dining with strangers. However, he will never blow his nose at the table! He has no problem spitting in streets, either. He has a few exceptions and he's polite to his elders and superiors, though.
Internet ★ Internet in Korea is huge. Korea was the first country to switch from dial-up to broadband completely and recently there have been 1GB/second "experiments". Internet in Korea is the cheapest and fastest broadband in the world. "96.8% of South Korean mobiles had internet access" by 2005. Korean web culture is very much like anywhere else, really... Blogs, messengers, and search engines are really popular. CyWorld is the big Korean site, much like MySpace which originated in Korea is for America. If you're interested in making your own, look at the tutorial here! Internet Cafés in Korea are called PC Bangs, though I don't understand it...
Cloning ★ The first dog in the world to successfully be cloned was by a Korean team in America. (It was an Afghan hound called Snuppy.) Hwang Woo Suk, who led the team to clone the dog, stepped down from his position when fake cloning of a human embryo was announced. Korea has mixed feelings about Hwang now, not wanting to admit he was wrong but not recognizing him. Hwang never said his research was false, so who knows! By the way, pet cloning has finally gone commercial in South Korea, but it's really expensive. Apparently, some of these dogs even glow in the dark! There are many estimated reasons why Korea is the cloning capital of the world, so I highly suggest you read this article if you're interested. It has a lot of possibilities, but one of the most amusing is "The Chopstick Theory of Scientific Supremacy"! Basically, Korean chopsticks are metal and thin which supposedly builds dexterity for doctors.
Androids ★ Korea has two female androids, artificial intelligent robots in the form of humans. The first is EveR-1 which was the second female android in the world. It was inspired by the Japanese female android, Actroid, which was the first in the world. Since then, a second model, EveR-2, has been made which has the ability to sing. You can see video footage of EveR-1 here. Korea also invented HUBO which is a bipedal robot.
Currency ★ Korea's official currency is the won, which is separated by North and South economies. The word is a product of the Chinese yuan and the Japanese yen. You can definitely see how much influence these two countries have had on Korea! Money in Korea has a long history, so I'll just stick with what's used today. Won coins come in ten, fifty, one hundred, and five hundred. Bills come in one thousand, five thousand, and ten thousand. As of June 2009, fifty thousand dollar won bills will be put into circulation. Pretty exciting news, huh? The money comes in various shapes and has historical figures and landscapes on it For visuals, please look at this image! In 2006, there was a big case with the won being duplicated so now there are new security measures taken. The Bank of Korea is abbreviated as BOK. In contemporary times, payments by phone are used a lot! Paying mortgage and utilities by phone are quite common.
Emigration ★ One of the highest emigration rates in the world used to be Korea's... Apparently Koreans didn't like living in Korea! The top three nations Koreans emigrated to are China, Japan, and Canada. America and the former USSR nations have large amounts of Korean immigrants, and I speculate this is due to the Korean War. Nowadays, emmigration rates have really dropped!
Ships ★ Korea makes the most ships in the world! The Koreans are so effiCient that an 80 million dollar ship is built every four days. Thus, he likes water and sailing, even though he doesn't get the time to do so since he's always building the ships for other people. Samsung, Hyundai, and Daweoo are all successful ship makers. Korea even has the world's largest shipyard. A really thorough article on the subject speculates that China will surpass Korea ship building in the near future.
Life Expectancy ★ In Korea, the average male has a lifespan of 67 and the average female has a lifespan of 73. This is relatively young for the modern era, and thus my impression is that his outlook on life is "live hard, party hard", everything at full blast! I mean, you'd party it up if you knew you'd die young anyway, right?
DDR ★ Korea has a similar game called "Pump it up!" which is popular... Another example of anti-Japanism. Sorta.
Jeju ★ A small island off Korea's coast, this island is Korea's honeymoon capital. The island also has some of the lowest crime rates in the country.
Tupperware ★ For some reason, Korea is becoming one of the fastest sellers of this item... "In Korea, Tupperware provides financial support to an organization called Good Neighbors Inc. in Seoul, Korea. The organization concentrates on funding projects including orphanages, handicapped children programs, locating homes for disadvantaged children and their families and enabling disadvantaged young people to become self-reliant." (Tupperware). Kimchi Keeper is a unique Tupperware product sold in Korea.
Movies ★ "According to legend, the movie The Sound of Music was extremely popular in South Korea that in an attempt to get more show times per day, a South Korean theater shortened the run time of the movie by removing all the songs!" In the same account: "North Korean director Jong-il Kim was a huge fan of South Korean director San-ok Shin, that he had Shin kidnapped and forced him to make movies. Shin made Pulgasari (1985) before he managed to escape". A detailed description of the bizarre account here.
Dramas ★ Television dramas are very popular in South Korea. You can gain "wisdom" from them...! They're a big deal. Dramas go beyond daytime soap operas so don't even compare them. It's a cultural phenomena, sorta.
Crazy Laws ★ Traffic police are required to report all bribes that they receive from motorists.
Contemporary Culture ★ See this if you're interested? One of the descriptions that was interesting was the fact Korea has to beautify everything. With the combination of the canon, I'm assuming his main concern is coolness or looking good, but it's something I'd like to incorporate. Indeed, Koreans are very concerned with appearances, just as any other type of rich nationality, though... An interesting quote from the source: "Approximately half of all Asian people are born with an upper eyelid crease. There are also many Asians born with a very low or weak crease who seek double eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, to make their eyes appear "bigger." Did you know that the first published account of Asian eyelid surgery was in Japan in 1800? Wow it's been over 200 years already!"
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Hetalia Wiki on Korea / Wiki on Korea / Wiki on South Korea / Korea.net / CIA South Korea Factbook / The Korea Herald / Life in Korea / Wiki on Korean Culture / Korean Culture.org / PBS "Hidden Korea" / Wiki on Korean Cuisine / ZenKimchi, a Korean Food Blog / The Secret of Korean Food / Wiki on Korean History / Wiki on Korean Timeline / Wiki Korea stubs / Asian Info.net on Korean History / History of Korea / Wiki on Korean War / Korean-War.com / SeoulPodcast / The Mammot's Hole
