Religion

Religion is always an interesting topic of conversation, no matter what country you're in. From what I've discussed and witnessed, South Koreans practice a dominating Buddhist faith incorporated with a strong Christian influence.

Many of my friends celebrate both the Christian view of Christmas and recognize Buddhist holidays- Buddha's birthday is a national holiday.
Throughout the hills and along foot trails you will come across many Buddhist temples. The symbol for a temple is the swastika.

I was utterly confused when I first saw this; it's a taboo in Western society based on its use during the Nazi Germany era. But I found out that the swastika means "luck object" and is a mark to denote good luck. It is a symbol commonly used in Buddhism and Hinduism religions. You will often see it stamped on the chest of Buddha statues.

I've also witnessed a secular influence in South Korea. Many of my coworkers have no religious preference. I find the older generation is more religious than the younger population.

There are a few Catholic churches in Jinju. I've been to the only one that offers an English mass. It is lead by a Filipino priest and most of the congregation is Filipino. It is in the basement of the church and somewhat dull. The main church is beautiful with stained glass windows, so a friend and I decided to attend the Korean mass instead of the English one Sunday. But as we sat down a Korean woman ushered us to the basement for the English mass. I'm sure the woman wanted us to be able to experience the mass in our language, but it was frustrating to feel that I couldn't just attend the Korean mass.
There are other English speaking churches in Jinju, but being raised Catholic I get more out of attending the mass. So I continue to attend the English Catholic church. But I sure miss DePaul's church.