Keira CP #3

Keira CP #3

Date/Time: June 2, 2017 - 12:30 pm
Location: Hecht House (Student Lounge) 

My last meeting with Seongeun had to be rescheduled because she had family come into town, but we were able to meet up today. After some catching up, we worked on one of the activities that had been emailed to us. Although we did not get a chance to do the #3 activity the week before, we decided to skip ahead to the #4 activity, The Culture Iceberg. This activity lists features of culture and asks us to consider whether they belong at the top of the iceberg, where they are visible, or below the surface of the water, where they are not visible, or possibly in both.

Seongeun and I found that our first instinct was to put a number of these aspects of culture, such as gift-giving customs and clothing, under both categories. Our reasoning was one could observe these features in practice while not necessarily fully understanding the significance they bear on the culture in question, or why things are they way they are. As usual, this activity sparked a number of smaller conversations about each other's cultures. For example, when discussing holiday and gift-giving customs, we talked about the similarities and differences between the way South Korea and America celebrate Valentine's Day. We also discussed the way South Korea and other parts of Asia celebrate White Day, yet it is a literally foreign concept here. Seongeun told me that Korea has a holiday on the fourteenth of every month, which I found fascinating, and she explained that, just like with America's version of Valentine's Day, some Korean people view Valentine's Day and White Day as another way for companies to make money. In a way, it was nice to know that that kind of thing is somewhat universal. I explained that sometimes, single people in America skip Valentine's Day to celebrate "Singles Awareness Day," and when I pointed out that the acronym is "S.A.D.," she laughed.

We talked about a few other subjects, like graffiti and street art, and how common it is in the United States versus in South Korea. I try very hard when we meet not to monopolize the conversations, so I am always glad when we find a topic that we can really use each other's knowledge to better understand. I have also learned about the differences in owning pets here versus where Seongeun is from, in that here, it is very easy to own large dogs and more exotic pets. In Korea, in the city, people are more limited in the kinds of animals they can own. It was also nice to learn that, just like me, Seongeun is a pretty big fan of really large, fluffy dogs.