Episode 17: Hold The Onions (Culture)

Korean. American. Podcast

This week Jun and Daniel talk about something in Korean culture that Daniel still really struggles to understand, which is their commitment to obeying the letter of the law with no regard to the spirit of the law. Also, why restaurants rarely offer any ability to customize their menu options, and why Koreans are so inflexible and unwilling to make exceptions in general. Listen in as Daniel recounts various stories from his time in Korea that make him shake his American head. Will Jun’s explanations of the Korean perspective result in Daniel nodding his head in agreement? What staples of Costco and Ikea are not a thing in Korea? How do Koreans respond when they are forced to make many individualized choices? Why does everything in Korea have so many rules? And what food ingredient is so decisive that Koreans will accept your request to hold it?
If you're interested in any of these questions, tune in to hear Daniel and Jun discuss all this and more! Also in this episode, Jun comes up with a way to measure Daniel’s progress in speaking Korean, suggests a book idea, and reveals his second great mystery of Korea, while Daniel details the varied responses to his poor Korean speaking ability, calls out Jun’s ungrounded assertion of progress within Korean society, and has his mind blown repeatedly.

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1. [Ad] Edges and Echoes (00:16:53)

2. (Cont.) Episode 17: Hold The Onions (Culture) (00:16:54)