So, I am given little writing assignments from time to time which most likely are never read.  Yet, if you are to stay home on a school day in which they have nothing for you to do you must do a page per day.  For a few extra days in Boracay why the hell not.  So my paper.

A Western Comparison of Filipino and Korean Cultures

In a comparison of two nations in where one relies much more on tourism it is expected to find the attitudes towards foreigners to be drastically different.  With foreign currency going a long way in the Philippines there is good reason for the locals to be as friendly as they are.  Yet even on a personal level, where there is no transaction to be made the people of the Philippians are generally much friendlier. This is also due to the high level of English fluency found there. The locals can satisfy their curiosity of the various foreigners for many of the visitors even if not from an English speaking nation are still fluent enough to communicate.  I had a beautiful blonde friend who just so happened to know Tagalong and this impressed the locals greatly. They had trouble fathoming a foreigner knowing their language.

In Korea the population is not as fluent and with a cultural tendency toward xenophobia. Foreigners are often looked at with more suspicion. Even with drastically different approaches to western culture both nations have a similar balance between their traditional culture and the modern world homogeny that is often incorrectly called in my opinion “western culture.”

Considering that one country is an island chain and the other a peninsula it comes to no surprise that both communities have an extensive fishing industry.  The Filipino prices are a bit cheaper.  A larger array of tropical fish is aligned in the market where as Korean fish markets have a larger array of mollusks, eel and invertebrates.

For a visitor Korean food is most likely safer considering the temperate climate and more modern sanitation standards.  Not insinuating Filipino food in unsafe but implying that Korean traditional food will be easier on a foreign stomach.

Also much more affordable are the prices of beef and pork.  Western style dishes are more prevalent than in Korea and unlike Korea they do not make and noticeable cultural mark on the foreign cuisine. For example, the corn and liquid cheese found in pizza. Yet, if you were to go the highly touted Mall of Asia in Manila and walk into their food court you will see that their cultural food is dominant even in a setting that one would think is primarily western. With in you seeing all sort of chain stores from all over the industrialized world.  Ads with whites, Filipino and also some Korean celebrities. It is designed for an international market even though 95% of the people with in are Pilipino.

The mall itself is much like a ritzy mall you could find in the west but once leaving it you are quickly reminded it’s a developing country with its haphazard traffic and urban area which resembles a mixture or post war and pre construction.  Getting around you can pick up a cab, (which nice locals will remind you to get a metered one) or jump on the back of very small, odd looking buses with several other people and pay only 15 pesos. There are also the trikes which are small motorcycles with an attached cart which is the norm if not only way to go in places like Boracay yet seem to be a bit risky in a city setting like Manila.

Transportation through a city or across country can seem adventurous at times and is not a comparison for an industrialized country like Korea with its subways, intricate taxi and bus systems not to mention the number one rated airport in the world two years running. Of course cabbies will be cabbies and one English speaking taxi driver tried to convince me that buses no longer went to Gunpo and I would have to pay him over a hundred thousand won to get home.

Both countries have a rainy and dry season yet Koreas dry season is can be quite cold while the Philippines which are closer to the equator can be hot to absolutely ideal by the sea.  The sea’s surrounding the Philippines, (Philippine, Mindanao, South China and Sulu) are again due to its location closer to the equator much warmer. There is a height salt content which makes the seas and attractive shade of blue green yet quite clear in the shallows.  You can feel the higher buoyancy one has when wading in the water.  Korea’s East and Yellow seas are a bit colder and not as much of attraction to tourists.

In general the Philippines seem like a generally happy people, hospitable and comfortable in their surroundings.  It’s another tough comparison because they would make a lot of other cultures seem a bit uptight and a little awkward.  On the beaches of Boracay the Europeans and Filipino tourist seemed the most relaxed. One because it is their home country and the second because they may never have been to such a place and are near giddy just being there.

The Chinese and Koreans, though seeming to have a good time were also found to be a bit more regimented and a little less relaxed.  That may also be a result of the many of the Koreans being on group tours.

Both countries have a strong racial homogeny.  Tourist aside there seem to be few representatives of another race. Here and there a white man from an interracial marriage.  Korea is much similar yet beside their cultural pride they have a population over 2% of there population made up of foreigners.  Most speak of the North Americans and Europeans that come over to teach yet there are immigrants from Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Thailand, Mongolia, Indonesia Japan and the Philippines themselves.  It is becoming more common to find south East Asian wives in the rural communities of Korea.  It is not a surprise for this to happen in a industrialized democracy just some are caught off guard that it is happening in the Eastern hemisphere.  Korea is in a balancing act between economic power and cultural identity.  With a greater democracy come greater influxes of cultures which will lead to small growing pains.

There is a comical difference between the acceptances of homosexuality in these two nations.  Similar to some other south East Asian countries the existence of “lady boys” is a common occurrence and often a point of humorous conversation for the tourists.  Transsexuals commonly roam the streets and night clubs of the heavily populated and or visited areas.  Mean while the Korean culture is in total denial of homosexuality.

Prostitution on the other hand in a lot more apparent in both countries than it is in the west.  In the Philippians they meander around their prey along with the lady boys in hope of deceiving their way to pay day weather through their normal business or through blackmail. They tend to be some of the biggest hazards for travelers.

In Korea no such people roam the streets but they do have red light districts in most cities which make little effort in appearing incognito as the Filipino hookers and lady boys do.

Gender roles also seem to be more relaxed in the Philippines but I believe that would show more in a more modern country and the sex trade they have going on isn’t exactly a success for gender equality.

Illicit drugs are bound to be more prevalent in Philippines and though illegal, the locals seem to have a market for them. Yet, they don’t seem to have the drinking culture that Korea does.

All in all, the Philippines are a better place to visit, especially for the adventurous but Korea most likely a better place to live.

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