sociocultural differences between the united states and South Korea?

Answer 1

a big difference i saw was the difference in how family was treated in the US and Korea. koreans have more of an emphasis on family and dont really want to shame the name. many people still live at home in their mid to late 20's if theyre not married. hell, a male korean co-worker of mine who was living at home at age 28, told me he was locked out of the house for missing curfew! and i also believe co-habitation (at least among the people i met) was rare and/or looked down upon. koreans that i met there also were very envious that us as americans would speak our minds on just about anything. i taught there for a year and was called crazy or 'bing bing' by quite a few of my students. i think they enjoy that kind of behavior since its so different from the 'proper' behavior they are so used to.

Answer 2

One of the main differences is that the food in korea is much spicier than food available in the US.
Also, Koreans are much much more immersed in techonology than Americans. As a result of high bandwidth-to-user ratios the average Korean uses the internet much more than the average American and more intensely. Gamers form a wider percentage of Korean society than American.
In terms of social aspects the korean people and the American people are very similar except that people living in rural backwaters of Korea are highly educated.
Seoul and Busan/Pusan are megacities in Korea which provide an urbanized atmosphere to live in.
Be warned: using an American cellphone in South Korea may cause you to be looked down upon among people your age. Getting a Korean cellphone when in Korea is recommended as vending machines in Korea are capable of accepting payments from your cellphone. You can also pay for transportation in korea using smart cards.
If going as a english instructor, do not be alarmed by signs of respect from your pupils. For example, they may all stand when you enter and leave the room. If they are late, they will face towards you when entering the room, possibly holding their hand with palm facing you and bowing gently as a sign of respect.
Do not expect the majority of koreans to speak English. It would be great to learn the language, the Hangul character system is easy to pick up, but vocabulary may not be. Google learn korean language and you will find some sites to teach you basic korean.
Korean people are genereally reserved when they initially meet non-Korean strangers. It may take a while to get a Korean person to talk comfortably with you so be patient.