How I found the work culture in Korea..

I was married after graduation in 2004. It was a new beginning of my life. It was the new beginning both personally and professionally

Too scared to explore, I ventured through my first job as a Junior Software Engineer in Korea. Being a fresher, and a foreigner, I had noway of getting a job in Korea except through recommendations. I was very lucky that my hubby had a very good Korean colleague for his Korean friend. And so, I was at work....

Well, All I know for a start was "Anyunghaseyo".. and Volla, they are impressed. The first and basic requirement if you have to feel comfortable at work in Korea is, to...
1)Learn Korean; at least the basics...

And secondly,
2)Go out for dinners with them whenever possible. This makes them very happy. And ultimately, you become a very valuable person in the team.

Being an Indian, be it a veggie or a non-veggie, It is really a very big issue for us to get adjusted to their way of food. Even if we get used to their food, veggies will still have issues as there are hardly any Korean menu's without at-least egg or fish sauce in it. Once I heard from an veggie Indian friend ,about how he hadn't known for a long time, that KIMCHI(Korean marinated pickles), had fish sauce in it.

One really great thing that I noticed in them at work is that, If they are struck with some bugs.. they do not get off their seats without solving it.. They have tremendous dedication in anything they do. Not just in IT jobs, be it any field of work. Their milestone of completion is perfection. Be it a simple manicure or a Software company management.

They believe that work is the first priority as this is what feeds them and their family. I have seen most of them even getting their towels and a pillow to have a nap in the office itself whenever they are to meet some deadlines.

Their work-life dining culture is special to0...

Some of their official dinners stretch for 2-4 hours .They first have dinner...and then move to some kind of a bar for their traditional drink called "SOJU", and finally go to NOREBANG"--singing room.These are the studio-like sound-proof rooms. where they enjoy singing karaokes. This part is real fun.

I really admire the way they are dedicated in any issues that arise during the development...

Their focus towards work is amazing..

At the end of the day, I realized something.. "Indians are extremely smart and capable of doing anything, but Lazy"..

"Koreans are Hard-working.. very hardworking to an extent that they can out-perform our intelligence"..