Sophia Marzka, International Internship Program in Seoul, South Korea, Summer 2026
If I had to pick the one thing that has stood out the most during my time in Seoul, it would be the work culture. It is intense in a way I was not fully prepared for, even after reading about it beforehand.
Work here does not feel like something people do alongside their life. For a lot of people, it feels like the center of it. Long hours are not the exception, they are the expectation. Staying late is not something people complain about or try to avoid. It is simply built into what a normal workday looks like. Coming from a place where work life balance is talked about constantly, it has been a real adjustment to see a culture where the balance tips so heavily toward work.
At first, this was intimidating. I found myself wondering if I was doing something wrong if I finished a task and did not immediately look for something else to do, or if I left at a time that felt normal to me but early compared to everyone else. Over time, I started to understand that this is not really about any one person’s individual work ethic. It is a much bigger cultural expectation, tied to ideas about dedication, respect for the company, and being part of a team that
does not leave until the work is done.
It has made me think differently about my own habits and assumptions. In the U.S., I am used to treating work as one part of my life among several. Here, work often is the priority, and everything else gets built around it. I do not think one approach is automatically better than the other, but living inside this version of it, instead of just reading about it, has changed how I see the tradeoffs. I have gained a lot of respect for the discipline and commitment people show here, while also becoming more aware of how much I personally value having space outside of work.
This part of my host city and program has pushed me the most outside my comfort zone, but it has also taught me the most. Experiencing a completely different definition of a normal workday has made me more adaptable, and more thoughtful about what kind of work culture I want to build for myself in the future.
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