South Korean Assignment 1

MATERIAL CULTURE FOODS Like most ethnic groups throughout the world, South Korea has developed their own food culture to suit their unique history and climate. Their traditional foods are arranged beautifully on either high or low tables and they use spoon and chopsticks to help themselves to those side dishes which are up from 15-20 side dishes. The spoon was use for scooping steamed rice, soup and stew, while chopsticks were to eat a variety of prepared side dishes.

And not only has the geographical boundaries which separate it from its neighbours impacted on food culture of the nation, but the four distinct seasons have also influenced what South Koreans eat. Koreans feel strongly that food should be harmonized with natural species and the balanced meals during the day are good for the health. Most also think that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Because of their agriculture background and Confucian tradition, Koreans place great important on proper table settings and table etiquette, and they have special foods for different seasons and for seasonal festivals which will be briefly describe as bellow:

- Lunar New Year or Chonwol Ch’oharu/Sollal: the most common food eaten on this day is ttok kuk, or rice kuk and other popular foods are ttok-mandu kuk, chapchaáe(noodles with meat and vegetables), yakshik(sweet rice), pindaettok(mung bean pancakes)….

- First Full Moon Day or Chonwol Taeborum: the typical dishes eaten at this festival include ogok-bap (five grain rice- a mixture of steamed rice, Indian millet, red beans, millet and black beans), yakshik ( sweet rice- sticky rice often mixed with Chinese dates, chestnuts, honey….

- The 105 day after the Winter Solstice: Ssuk Tang or Mugwort soup is the traditional dish of this occasion.

- Tano(is the day when heat of summer begins and people would traditionally wash their hair and faces in water in which iris plants have been boiled. Some typical foods eaten on this occasion would be surichií-ttok(rice cake), churnchi-gik (fish soup), aengdu-hwachae (puch) and aheho-t’ang.

- Beside some foods for special occasion South Koreans most famous one is kimchi. Because of Korea has four distinct seasons, fresh vegetables are not always readily available, especially during the winter months. It is this reason that led to the development of kimchi. Kimchi is a fermented vegetable dish which complimented by sated fish and other seasonings that gives it a very unique flavour. It has a hot and spicy taste, but also provide vitamin, lactic acid, and mineral. There over 100 types of kimchi and the most common types are shown bellow:

Apart from this South Korean do have a lot of delicious foods which is going to take hundreds of pages to be described so in order to make it fast, here is just a quick brief of them:

- Rice beef noodles soup (sollongtang): it’s seasoned with sesame seeds, salt pepper, scallions, and sesame oil. It is served with rice as the main meal and is accompanied by side dishes and radish kimchi called kaktugi.

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- Pork and kimchi is a kind of soup but more saltier than general soup.

- Mustard salad (kyujachae): is cold vegetable salad and the hot mustard makes the main taste particular.

- Barbequed beef (pulgoki): thin, tender slice of beef are marinated in a sauce and cooked over a hot charcoal grill at table.

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Broiled beef rib ( sokalbigui): the recipe is very close to that of barbequed bee, however the taste is quite different.

-DRINKS

- Traditional Korean drinks are made chiefly from rice, sweet potatoes and other grains, usually along with kneaded wheat malt. There are widely five types: yakju (refined pure liquor fermented from rice), soju (distilled liquor), takju (thick, unrefined pure fermented from grains), fruit wines, and medicinal wines from various seeds and roots. Each type has dozen of variety.

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-Soju: comparable to vodka but less potent, soju is the most popular traditional Korean liquor among the general public. Soju was originally brewed from grain, today it is massproduced from sweet potatoes and also taste like a three day old pair of shocks.

- Makgulli and dogdongju: a milky liquor with low alcohol content, this traditional commoner’s beverage is enjoyed by farmers and laborers, but by business peoples as well.

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Also green tea was first introduced to korea during the reign of Queen Sundeok (632647) of silla kingdom (57 b.c – ad. 935). Grain fruits and medicinal foods are also used in making tea. Popular Korean tea of today are insamcha (ginseng tea), nokcha (green tea), yujacha (citron tea), daechucha (jujube tea), sangangch(ginger tea) and yulmucha (job’s tears tea)

-TECHNOLOGY The automotive industry designs, develop, markets, and sell the world’s motor vehicles. In 2007, more than 73 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide. But in 2008, with rapidly rising oil prices, industries such as the automotive industry are experiencing a combination of pricing pressure from raw material costs and changes in consumer buying habits.

-A robot is virtual or mechanical artificial agent. It is usually an electro-mechanical system which, by its appearance or movement, conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own. The word robot can refer to both physical robots and virtual software agents, but the latter are usually referred to as bots. Here are some robots in South Korea:

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A pick and place robot in a factory

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ASIMO, a humanoid robot manufactured By honda

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KTT is mentally anthropomorphic.

 Another great technology of South Korea is that the Korean Aerospace Research Institute, KARI, currently has satellites circling the globe which help provide weather data for Korea and other country in the region.

 South Korea is the world most connected “information society” leading or tied for the top rankings in each of internet use, internet penetration, broadband penetration, mobile phone ownership, 3 G mobile telecoms, WiFi hotspot and WiBro ( mobile WiMax) coverage.

EFFECT OF PEOPLE ECONOMY TO ENVIRONMENT With 8.4 tons of carbon dioxide emission, air pollution is a serious concern, particularly in some major cities, because more than 80 percents of all South Koreans live in urban areas. Although, far behind first place united state, South Korea’s much smaller population is the ninth largest consumer of ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons.

Other issue include water pollution from sewer discharge and industrial effluents, acid rain, drift net fishing, and wasteful packaging of consumer goods. Bellows are some ways that cause water pollution;

 Pollution from ship: ship can pollute waterways and oceans in many ways. Oil spills can have devastating effects while being toxic to marine life. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the components in crude oil, are very difficult to clean up, and last for years in the sediment and marine environment. Discharge of cargo residues from bulk carries can pollute ports, waterways and oceans. Ship creates noise pollution that disturbs natural wildlife, and water from ballast tanks can spread harmful algae and other invasive species.

 Plastic debris: discard plastic bags, six pack rings and other forms of plastic waste which finish up in the ocean present dangers to wildlife and fisheries. Aquatic life can be threatened through entanglement, suffocation, and ingestion. Fishing net usually made of plastic, can be left or lost in the ocean by fisherman. Known as ghost net, these entangle fish, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs, and other creature.

A mute swan builds a nest using plastic garbage.

 Forest and erosion: over the centuries, Korea’s inhabitants have cut down most of the ancient Korean forests, with the exception of a few remote, mountainous areas. The disappearance of the forests has been a major cause of soil erosion and flooding. Because of successful reforestation programs and the declining use of firewood as a source of energy since the 1960s, most of south Korea’s hills in the 1980s were amply covered with foliage.

II SOCIAL CULTURE 1, KINSHIP The traditional Korean kinship system, defined by different obligation in relation to ancestor, was complex. Anthropologist generally view it in terms four separate levels, beginning with the household on the lowest level and reaching to the clan, which include a large number of people often spread over and extensive geographical area.

 The house hold jib or chip in Korean consisted of husband and wife, their children. The eldest son’s household, the stem family, was known as the big house, and the youngest son was called little house.

 The second level of the kinship was the mourning group (tangnae), which consisted of all those descendants of a common matrilineal forbearer up to four generations back. Its role was to organize the ceremony at the grave site.

 The third level of kinship is lineage. A lineage might comprise of a handful of households, but in some cases included hundreds or even thousands of household. The lineage was responsible for the rites to ancestors of the fifth generation or above, performed at a common grave site.

 The fourth and most inclusive kinship organization was the clan or more accurately, the tongjok (surname origin group). Among ordinary South Koreans, this was commonly known as the pongwan or “clan seat”. Members of the same tongjok shared both a surname and origins in the generally remote past. Unlike members of the smaller kinship group, however, they often lacked strong feelings of solidarity. Approximately 249 surnames were used by South Koreans in the late 1980s. the most common one was kim ( about 22 percent ), li or yi ( 15 percent) , pak or park ( 8.5 perecent) FAMILY Korean life is defined by family relationships. Confucian beliefs influence family roles and relationships between the government and people, men and women, parents and children, and also between seniors and young people. Some customs based on Confucian beliefs are still practice today. Parents place grate important on teaching children to respect their elders and to fulfil family duties. Korean lowers their eyes when talking to an older person as it is considered disrespectful to make direct eye contact. Koreans never address an older person by his or her first name, but use the older person’s last name with a title. Extended family lived together and one household might contain a dozen people. Today more people are moving into their own apartments in urban centre and smaller families are becoming common. Koreans still believe in looking after their elderly parents. Because of the importance placed on the family in Korean society, people keep track of their family trees and can trace their roots back several generations. Family

documents such as family census registers, also known as family certificates, are more important than birth or marriage certificates. MARRIAGE Traditional marriage

 In ancient times, weddings were held in the bride’s yard or house. The groom travelled by horse to the bride’s house and after the wedding took his wife in a palanquin (cart) to his parent’s house to live. The bride and groom wore formal court costumes for the wedding ceremony. Ordinary people were permitted to wear luxurious clothes only on their wedding day. Hand lanterns are used to lighting the way from the groom’s home to the bride’s home on night before the wedding. Traditionally, the groom family would carry a wedding chest filled with gifts for the bride’s family. Wedding ducks are symbol for a long and happy marriage. Cranes are a symbol of long life and may be represented on the woman’s sash. These customs are still in practice today.

Modern style marriage In large cities, luxury hotels will have wedding halls or ballrooms used specifically for wedding ceremonies. These rooms are decorated a wedding motif and are rented to couples. Other wedding halls are independent facilities that can accommodate several different weddings at once. For wedding gift, it is not expected to be opened immediately. The Korean custom is to open gifts in private. TYPE OF MARRIAGE Arrange marriage

 Arrange marriage is popular in South Korea. Koreans usually refer to this type of marriage as seon. Generally, parents arrange a meeting. The reason why this type of marriage is prevalent in Korea is that marriage in Korea is not just a matter of a bride and groom but a merging of two families. Because the potential spouses are pre-screened by the family, there is much less of a chance of family opposition the marriage. It is extremely rare that a single seon leads to a marriage; many succeed in finding a suitable spouse only after dozens of seon meetings with different individuals. Love marriage

 Loved marriage as it is often called in South Korea has become common in the past few decades. The expression refers to the marriage of two people who meet and fall in love without going through matchmakers or family arranged meetings. Most often, the bride and groom first met on a blind date arranged by friends, on a group date, at their workplace, or while in college or university. South Korean family accept this type of marriage more readily than they used to, although it is not uncommon for romantic relationships to end without resulting in a marriage of family opposition. Survey indicates that the majority of young Koreans would rather end a relationship than to marry despite parental opposition. Matchmakers

 Matchmakers are common in South Korea. Families present their son or daughter to a matchmaker, or a single man or woman arranges a meeting with a matchmaker, to analyze their resume and family history for the purpose of finding a marriage partner who is compatible in social status and earning potential. Today, almost all single people meet their matched partner prior to the marriage and have more say about the match than was previously allowed. Matchmaker earns a fee for their services. Marriage agencies: the top three marriage agencies in South Korea are dou, sunoo and piery.