Before traveling to any country, you would want to do some research on the culture, currency and etiquette. When traveling to Korea, there were a few amazing website that helped me:
VisitSeoul.Net
Blog.Korea.Net
EatYourKimchi.com
Seoulistic.com
TalkToMeInKorean.com
I also talked with a lot of people such as my Korean Language teachers, friends who went there and asked a lot of questions online.
So let’s begin…
Culture
To pretty much sum it up, the Korean culture, like most other Asian culture the value is Family. I am Hmong and when I was in Korea and Japan, I noticed that they value family more than anything else, just like the Hmong culture. The culture wasn’t too much of a big “change” for me as we also followed some of the same customs. One thing to notice is that most Asian culture follows a hierarchy rule where the younger ones (the juniors) respect & obey our seniors (parents, older siblings, teachers, etc.). You will see this in Korea.
Basic Phrases: You will use these A LOT
안녕하세요 : An-Neyong-Ha-Se-Yo : Hello
안녕히 계세요. An-Nyeong-Hi-Gye-Se-Yo : GoodBye
**NOTE: This is for when you are leaving, and the other person is (or the other people are) staying
안녕히 가세요 : An-Nyeong-Hi-Ga-Se-Yo: GoodBye
**NOTE: This is for when you are staying, and the other person is (or the other people are) leaving
감사합니다 : Gam-Sa-Hab-Ni-Da : Thank you
죄송합니다 : Choé-Song-Hab-Ni-Da: I’m Sorry
**NOTE: This is when you are at fault – not “I’m sorry to hear that”
실례합니다. shil·le·hab·ni·da : Excuse me
**NOTE: This is when you are trying to pass through or excuse yourself out of the room. Not to get someone’s attention.
네 : Ne : Yes
아니요 : A-Ni-Yo : No
얼마예요? : Ol-Ma·-Ye-Yo : How much is it?
괜찮아요 : Gwaen-Chan-Ah-Yo : It’s Okay
몰라요 : Mol-La-Yo : I Don’t Know
xoxo..thanks for stopping by