A Quick Tour on South Korean Culture

Visit South Korea and Discover their Extraordinary Culture

Have you ever traveled to Asia?

Have you been to South Korea?

If your response to either of these is no, then you have to read this article, because South Korea has many interesting cities to visit, a whole culture to discover and many cheap stays to be taken advantage of!

Here are some quick facts about South Korea:

What language is spoken in Korea?

Korean. However, the Korean language, like Hungarian, Turkish and Mongolian are of a class all their own. They are part of the Altaic language family. The Korean alphabet is called 'Hangeul' and consists of ten simple vowels (ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅡ, ㅣ, ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ ) and 14 consonants (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ). By arranging these vowels and consonants, Korean words are formed.

This system was invented in 1443 by a group of scholars under the reign of King Sejong. The Korean alphabet is considered to be an ingenious system according to linguists from around the world. The transcription is based on the new system adopted in 2000 by the Korean government. These are the main variations for the composition of the language: when the sounds ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ, and ㅈ appear before a vowel, they can be written as 'g,d,b,j' (respectively). However, they can also be written as 'k,t,p,t' when they are followed by a consonant or when they make the ending sound of a word. For some practice, here is how the city name looks in Korean: 부산 (Busan, 광주 (Gwangju,제주 (Jeju),안동 (Andong), and 경주 (Gyeong ju).

This type of transcription received such amazing results, in 2009 there was yet one more population in Indonesia that decided to adopt the Korean language 'Hangul', so it's growing in popularity as we speak!

What does 'L'Hanbok' mean?

L'Hanbok was a traditional Korean outfit for thousands of years. The beauty and grace of the Korean culture comes through pictures of Korean men and women who wore l'hanbok. Before the Western style of clothing hit, the l'hanbok was the most popular outfit worn in South Korea. The men would wear 'jeogori' (a Korean jacket) con 'i baji' (special pants), while women would wear their 'jeogori' with skirts called 'chiama'. Today l'hanbok is only worn on special occassions such as weddings, ceremonies, on the lunar new year called 'Seollal' or for 'Chuseok' (the day of thanks to your ancestors).

Heating: Also known as 'Ondol'

Korean houses have multiple functions. For example, there is no particular room to host guests. Instead, tables and mattresses can be moved to the internal part of the house if need be. The majority of people sit and sleep directly on the floor. The floor is usually made of stone or cement and has hot air tubing underneath which provides the heat. The stones are covered in clay to impede the vapor coming into the room. This effective underground heating system is known as 'Ondol'.

Where to sleep in South Korea?

If you're looking for a cheap hotel, a guest house or a hostel in South Korea, you will usually find one that meets your needs near the metro stops 'Hondae' and 'Jongro'. For example, Bong House, is a guesthouse with new management, comfortable and clean rooms, Wifi, which is safe and ideally located to move easily around Seoul.

Instead if you are interested in visiting the island of Jeju, Noblet Youth hostel is located near the Halla Mountain which has a breathtaking panoramic view. They have clean and inexpensive rooms. Basically, the luxury of a five star hotel at hostel prices!

If you're looking for hostels in South Korea, good luck and enjoy looking at the various hostels on HostelsClub.