Hello everyone!
Here are this week’s updates:
During the weekend, I went to Lotte World for the first time! It is Seoul’s famous amusement park, which is half indoors and half outdoors. I went on a Saturday, so it was super busy and the lines ended up being two hours long each… so I was only able to go on four rides before I left the park eight hours later. If you ever end up going, I suggest you plan to go on a weekday! It was a fun experience though, and I always enjoy an amusement park. But to break away from the heat and lines, my friend and I went to Seoul Forest on Sunday to take in the fresh air and chit chat. Seoul Forest is around an area called Seongsu, which has a lot of shops and restaurants down cute alleyways. We went to a matcha shop called Super Matcha and it was very good!
During this week, it has been incredibly rainy. The temperature has dropped a bit, sure, but it is still so hot and humid in Seoul. The rain comes down fast and is flooding the streets lately, so my commute to and from work is not a lot of fun. Once in the office, my work has picked up a little with a new client and I have been able to try out some of the office tasks I haven’t been assigned to yet, which is finding direct international work placements for my client. Since this is my first time working on this side of operations, I feel like my work is a little bit slow and I am still unsure at times, but all in all I am happy to switch up tasks, despite this internship experience coming to an end soon.
I’ve noticed that in South Korean business culture, the communication tends to be more high-context. There have been many times at work where my supervisor takes time to verbally discuss what he wants me to be doing or searching for, but the directions are repetitive and not usually direct. In the U.S., I found that when I am assigned a task in any job, the directions are clear and concise, with little room for misinterpretation. In Korea, however, I feel a bit lost in this role sometimes about what I am to do exactly. I have been able to adapt to my job and understand my tasks as my time here continues, however the communication style hasn’t shifted. What I find myself more confident in doing now is asking follow-up questions and clarifying with my supervisor immediately, so that I don’t feel as underprepared to take on the tasks at hand. But overall, I understand that this way of communicating is related to the respect culture in Korea—being less direct is more mature and sensitive to the culture and the person receiving the explanations and directions.
As for miscommunication, I haven’t had any bad situations. My boss does talk to me in Korean, though, so any difficulties with communication is mostly related to me not understanding words or phrases. But I try to make it clear that I don’t understand when that does happen, and my supervisor and I always come to a mutual understanding about what was being asked. I taught myself to not be too afraid of not getting it the first time and making sure to clarify anything that is fuzzy. But overall, our differences in communication seems to be more startling to my supervisor on the other hand. I have always been direct and, in the beginning of my internship, I could tell it was a little off putting for him. Speaking in Korean too, my words sound sharper and less delicate because I am just pulling from intermediate language skills. So now, I have become more conscious of my words when asking questions and answering inquiries in Korean and I believe I sound more neutral and softer-toned.
So, I suppose the biggest difference here is the level of directness. When I speak with my supervisor, the directions are very lengthy and stand to be more of an expressive and free conversation, instead of what I am used to in the U.S., which tend to be more bland and cut-to-the-chase. As my internship comes to an end, I feel as though I have adapted to the Korean communication style but wouldn’t necessarily say that I prefer one over the other. But, going back to the U.S. to reintegrate myself into its low-context business communication style may have me missing the kind and more artistic way of communicating in Korea. I will surely find out soon.
Catch you next week!