ISPM/ICC/GROUP/7

  Post 7   Language, for example, English, has an entirely opposite grammatical order from Korean. Therefore, it was a real challenge for me and still a challenge when it comes to mastering and communicating in English. Settling in the Netherlands was also a big culture shock for me in climate-wise because here, you barely get to see the sun throughout the year and had to consume vitamin D all the time, which was a supplement I never have took in my life. Moreover, unlike European countries, we don’t have a freedom of way we dress because it was considered impolite to wear achromatic colors in many circumstances. But here, there isn’t really a thing of being self-conscious and you can express your freedom because that is who you are. On the other hand, there is some downfalls of having too much freedom because I hear and see quite a lot of sexual harassment, where women get cat-called in the street, which was also a culture shock for me as it...

  Post 6 From the DMIS model, majority of South Koreans stand on defense stage, to which people perceive other cultures are threatening and inferior. It is fairly a Christian country, so strong ethnocentrism is rooted from historical origin. For myself as a South Korean, I personally believe that I belong to minimization stage at this point because I think cultural differences are superficial and people can share norms and values when they are willing to do so. I think I can move on to acceptance and adaptation stage if I become capable of digesting all other cultures without stereotyping. Oleksander from Ukraine, believes he is in the minimization stage, he knows that there always is a cultural difference and understands the concept, but not a strong eager to move on to any other stages and just happy with where he is right now.