One of the first things that stuck out to me in the
differences between Korea and the USA is that in Korea you only have friends
your own age. In the USA you may only have a few friends if any that are the
same age as you. I know for myself personally I have very few friends that are
my age. Most of my friends are either older than I am or younger than I am. The
next point that stuck out to me majorly are the lack of what we consider
politeness in the USA. In Korea you rarely would say thank you for things you
have asked for or small gifts. Here in the USA someone who chooses not to say
thank you for gifts or things that have been done for you would be considered
very rude. Even at young ages when our children start talking we install in
them saying please, thank you, and your welcome. There is a huge difference in
the way we talk and communicate with each other between the two places. The
third thing that stuck out to me was the differences in someone in charge. It
is normal for someone who is younger than us to be in a higher position then we
hold here in the USA. In Korea you would never see a younger person in a higher
position than an older employee. This would create major problems in Korea for
communication. It is normal there for a higher position to talk down to someone
in a lower position or the same goes to an older person talking down to younger
person. Also there people are addressed by their job titles. Here even our
managers are referred to as Mrs., Mr., or Ms. Followed by their last names.
Sometimes we even refer to these people by their first names, where as in Korea
you would never see that done. Knowing how a culture that you may be working in
works may help you succeed at your job. I would not want to go work in a
culture and not understand how that particular culture works. If you did this
you may be considered very rude or may even loose a job because of it. Where I
live we do not have many cultures that I would find that I would need to do
cultural research. If I was to move somewhere else where there is a more diverse
cultural difference then yes I may need to do some cultural research.