From Oregon, with love

Here's another report from Eugene, Oregon. Do write back to him. He's been there long enough to miss you guys. (UG)
Korean culture
Shohei
Korea is like a sister country to Japan. I see lots of Korean exchange students in the University of Oregon. I found some similarities and difference between Japan and Korea. The similarities are some words and the manner for older people, and the difference is the manner of meal.
The first similarity between Japan and Korea is some words. I learned Korean when I was in Japan, and I found some Korean words which is very similar to Japanese in pronunciation. For example, an English word “library” means “図書館” in Japanese and “도서관” in Korean. They look completely different, but the pronunciation is pretty much the same. We pronounce the word “toshokan” in Japanese and “tosoguan” in Korean. Other similar words are “arrive”, “prepare” and “toothpick”. The Japanese and Korean pronunciation of these words sounds almost the same, and this is interesting for me because sometime I can understand Korean people’s conversation based on those words. Even though I cannot speak Korean well, I can guess what they talk about in Korean.
Second similarity is the manner to older people. In Japan, when someone talks to older people, the person would call the people’s name with “san” at the end of their name. “San” is like “Mr.” or “Ms.” in English. People in Japan put “san” at the end of elderly people’s name to express their feeling of respect. Korean people also do the similar thing. If a Korean guy, for instance, call a woman who is a little older than him, he has to call her ”누나,” which is pronounced “nuna”. “누나” means older sister for young guys. Only younger guys can say it to older women. If older men or women say “누나” to younger girls, it sounds so wired to native Korean speakers. It depends on people’s age and gender how Koreans talk to other people.
Finally, the difference between Japan and Korea is the manner of meal. My Korean friends taught me how to eat food in a traditional Korean way when we went to a Korean restaurant. They said they usually use a bowl and a pair of chopsticks which is made of metal, and they eat rice or soup without grabbing the bowl and raising it toward their face. It means they just pick up food by chopstick or a spoon from a bowl and put the food into their mouth. It looks strange to Japanese people. It is a traditional manner for Japanese to grab a bowl and approach it to their mouth when they eat something. I was a little surprised at the difference when I heard it from my Korean friends.
I know two similarities and one difference between Japan and Korea. The similarities are that some Korean words sound totally like Japanese and Korean people call other people based on their age and gender, and the difference is whether grabbing a bowl when people eat something. Korea is a close country to Japan, but there might be lots of things I still do not know. However, I realized learning another culture is very interesting.