During the July holidays, my whole family and I went to Korea for an eight-days vacation. When we were at the Korean Airport, I had a taste of how different Korea's culture is compared to Singapore. I was standing at the scan-the-bags belt there, waiting for my bag to come out when a Korean man who worked at the airport approached me from behind, jabbed me on my shoulder and told me to move along. No light taps on the shoulder and no "ëxcuse me" involved. I was quite surprised as I found it quite rude. I have never encountered such behaviour from the service industry.
However, after spending a few days in Korea, I realised that such behaviour is considered acceptable in their country. The scenario that I had encountered is just a reflection of their patriachal society. In fact, Leo, our tour guide told us that it is not uncommon to see husbands beating up their wives in public 10 or 15 years ago. Of course, with Korea becoming more influenced by western cultures, the Koreans have now realised that such behaviour is unacceptable in other cultures and now women are treated more respectfully. However, Leo mentioned that despite such improvements, there is still gender inequality. Women are still expected to be subservient to their male counterparts.
However, on the bight side, there seems to be a shift or a change role of women. Korean dramas these days show men being caring and supportive while women are successful in their career. Perhaps the mass media hopes that through them, people's mindset will be changed and gender inequality will be reduced. Or perhaps the drama shows are just a way for women to go against their oppression.
It is quite interesting to me that just a simple scenario or behaviour of a person can reveal so much about the society or social structure.
To practice a more effective communication, the Korean airport man should have lightly touched my arm or just muttered an "excuse me" with a smile on his face while asking me politely to stand to one side. After all, effective communication is a combination of verbal and non-verbal responses.
