Bballi Bballi--Hurry Hurry Culture

A characteristic of Korean business is its rapid pace. Like below one of the first Korean words, I too, remember is bbali bbali.


Korea Times...
Most office workers suffer from the so-called ``bbali bbali (hurry hurry) syndrome'' and think it has negative effects on them.

Hastiness, or ``bbali bbali'' is one of the most widely known Korean characteristics. Guus Hiddink, former head coach of the Korean national football team, once said, ``The first Korean words I learned were 'bbali bbali.' ''

It works well in Korea, where economic growth is the top priority in many cases. John Walker, the head of the Macquarie Group, Korea, told The Economist magazine that ``bbali bbali'' is good for the kaleidoscopic global financial market. Michael Roman, president of 3M Korea, also said the culture is very competitive because there is more diversity and flexibility in it.

However, a survey conducted by online recruitment company jobkorea and bizmon on 1,042 office workers in their 20s- 40s showed that their hurrying lifestyle brings them enormous stress.

About 78.2 percent of respondents said they act hastily all the time. They said they feel insecure when things aren't done in a speedy way.

Women tend to feel it more as 81.5 percent of females surveyed said they suffer from the syndrome while 75 percent of men said so. The younger they are, the more they felt the need for haste. They said they can't focus on one thing because they are always in a hurry, can't stand waiting for something and often interrupt others while they are talking.

Sixty-three percent said that hastiness has had a negative effect on their job. They feel much more stressed while working. For instance, they make lots of mistakes because they feel like they're fighting against the clock all the time, always feel insecure and anxious when working, and have trouble relating to co-workers.

`` It almost became a habit for people to say 'bbali bbali' but they should refrain from using the words,'' Kim Hwa-soo, the head of the online recruiting company, said. ``Having regular exercise and meditation to calm down the mind will be a good way to get over hastiness and its side effects,'' he said.