China and Thailand. Also, Kazakhstan (as of recently).

I love Chinese, Japanese and Korean cultures, but as a history buff, i guess all cultures are all interesting. Each of them has distinct, and discrete aspects that makes them unique. Technically, English culture for me sounds great. :))

Japan& china and Korea.

Having lived in Korea and having a Korean girlfriend, I have to say Korean culture. As a foreigner and English teacher it was one thing, however once I was in a relationship it transformed into something completely different...Korea is particularly traditional, especially when it comes to family relationships. My girlfriends parents were particularly controlling and in the end we decided to leave the country for somewhere else. Her parents liked to dictate her life regardless of her age. Often the child will just remain at home until they get married. Another mentality that they had was that the child owed the parent something. As a result they would be required to look after the parents into their old age. There's nothing wrong with looking after your parents, it's a natural thing, however my Mum would certainly not force this on me...I could never imagine raising my own kids in Korea. The educational system is far too intensive and it seemed at times that children were in fact losing their childhoods. My girlfriend for example told me that she would wake up at 6am and go to bed well after midnight, this all when she was so young. Their lives are consumed with going to normal schools, going to private English language schools, Taekwondo, Music lessons, the list is endless...the kids that I taught were often like zombies and it wasn't that they didn't want to learn, it was that they didn't have the energy to do it! In terms of English language learning, it's a massive industry out there! Every parent seems to send their kids to private hagwons and pays a lot of money to do so. The trouble is, even though Korea is one of the biggest investors in the English language, they are also one of the worst in actual application. Maybe this is because the country hires under-qualified ESL teachers. For example, in Korea all I need to teach is a degree, that doesn't mean I can teach. Another problem is that Koreans are generally skilled in Reading and Writing, however conversational English is abysmal. A part of this is the fear of losing face and embarrassing themselves if they make a mistake. Korea is a country that is obsessed with image, this is something that I discovered over time. Korea is a very welcoming culture and as a guest you will be treated with a great deal of respect. I've spoken of some downsides to the culture, however there is an array of positives too! The food is wonderful and eating and drinking culture is one of sharing and togetherness. People work extremely hard and I believe that is something that needs to be respected. I suppose I could go on forever about it but long story short, once you visit South Korea, it will always remain in your heart in some way or another, that's for sure. It changed my life!

islamic culture