Hi everyone ✨
It’s Eva again, the French international trade student doing an internship at Enkostay in Seoul.
I hope you enjoyed my first blog post!
In this second one, I’m going to share my first impressions of the work culture in Korea, based on what I’ve observed and experienced since I started at the company. Between the pace of the workday, the way people organize themselves, and office habits, I’ve begun to discover an environment quite different from what I was used to in France.
The work culture in Korea has always felt quite foreign to me. All I had to go on were K-dramas to get an idea of what an office might look like and what a typical workday was like. And that’s exactly what made me a little nervous at first: stepping into the unknown, discovering a new country, new people, a new language… everything seemed different to me.
I quickly began to understand and notice the differences between French and Korean work cultures. Even though I didn’t have much professional experience beforehand, it was mainly the communication style and the little daily habits that struck me.
As an intern at Enkostay, I’ve noticed that even though the work environment is fairly structured and organized, it’s also very pleasant and relaxed in some ways. There’s a kind of supervised freedom: eating snacks while working, listening to music, keeping your phone within reach, or even messaging each other frequently even when colleagues are in the same room. This really struck me at first because in France, Korea is seen as very strict when it comes to work, so I didn’t expect to be so “free.”
One of the first things I noticed was the pace of the workday. People are very focused on what they’re doing, and tasks move forward steadily. During my first few days, I took notes and tried to understand how things worked without disrupting the established rhythm too much. You can clearly sense that time is used quite precisely during working hours, and that every moment is devoted to a specific task, whether it’s work or even breaks. Time is strictly respected.
In South Korea, work is often described as highly structured and hierarchical. Respect for age and professional status plays an important role in daily interactions. But I still noticed the importance of teamwork and the friendly relationships people share with one another. This kind of relationship creates true harmony within the team. It’s the kind of aspect that, as a foreigner, I didn’t expect to experience during my internship before I went there.
Since I’m still in my first few days at Enkostay, I’m mainly in an observation and adjustment phase. I’m getting used to the routines, trying to understand how information flows, and gradually finding my place in the daily workflow. I feel like I’m learning just as much by observing as by doing.
Overall, I’m starting to see a real contrast with what I was used to in France, but also some similarities in the way people adapt, work together, and create their own sense of comfort within a structured environment.
I think I’m going to miss this kind of routine when I go back to France because, even though it’s only the beginning, you can already feel how much everyone enjoys working together.
Thank you for your interest
Best regards,
Eva Glanger !!