Korean Vs American Culture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Korean Vs American Culture - Assignment Example Thus, they call them teacher (Sang-Hun 1). On the other hand, Americans greet their elders with either a handshake or a hug. It is also the same greeting between people of the same age since elderly base more on handshakes while the youths give many hugs. There is no particular tradition in America concerning greetings during New Year celebrations though most spend it together as a family. In America, the young address elders by their names and not considered offensive (Kim and Hong 63). The second difference of culture is that Korean students in elementary school go to school from 8 am to 3 pm. This is also the same for students in middle school. It changes when a student joins the high school where school starts at 6 am and ends at 6 pm. The students take a one-hour lunch break with a 20-30-minute break between one-hour classes. It is because one has to work extra hard to make it to college in Korea. There is much competition from people who want to join college. In America, school is strictly from 8 am to 4 pm. Americans have shorter breaks between classes compared to Koreans. Americans have greater opportunities to choose from so there is no pressure studying in order to go to college (Ford et al. 730). Food and type of meal are another cultural difference between Koreans and Americans. The Korean’s main dish is rice with a couple of side dishes. However, the most popular is Kimchi. This is a dish comprising a mixture of cabbage, fish, onions and much pepper. Koreans eat a lot of pepper in their food. There is another popular side dish Chopchae made of spinach, sweet potato, carrots, beef and different kind of spices. They also eat meat and pork covered with a lot of onions as a side dish. Americans, however, rarely have home cooked meals due to their busy schedules. It is easier for them to just eat out from fast food restaurants. Most Americans eat from McDonald's, Burger King and Domino.  The main kinds of food served in these places are burgers, chips and pizza (Ford et al. 730).  Ã‚