Difference in Culture and Awkwardness

Not sure if anyone here has the knowledge or the experience to answer my question, but I will give it a shot. So I have been living in the States since I was 7, and I just moved back to South Korea last year, my country of birth. Here, a large majority of the community is reserved. Let me elaborate what I mean by that by giving a few examples. In many western countries, throwing out a "Hello" as a simple greeting to a person you have never met before is nothing out of extraordinary. Another example would be when you walk out of your house and meet your next door neighbor. Many people would have a small chat with them, probably along the lines of, "Good morning, what a beautiful day outside," or "Good evening, how was your day." In many Eastern countries, including Korea, it is often rare to see people act friendly or show a sign of interest to people that they are not affiliated with. Let me give some of my experience. One night, I was walking to a convenience store that is right behind my apartment, and there was a lady that was following behind me, going to the same convenience store. When I got to the entrance of the store, I opened the door for the lady so that she could enter first. I was completely embarrassed and dumbfounded when the lady took a couple steps backwards and walked away from the convenience store. (Awkward...) Another instance was when I was at a bookstore. I was reading a book about modern art for about 2 hours, and so was the girl that was right next to me. When she finally closed the book, I asked "Do you like modern art too?" and she jumped in surprise. She gave me a tiny nod and left the Art section of the bookstore in a hurry. (Awkwardness strikes again~...) In case you are wondering, I look and sound like a completely normal guy. Hopefully that gave you some idea of what the culture is like in Korea.

Now to my question: How can/should I talk to people here, let alone make friends/be in a relationship?

In the near future, I will be going to several places for the first time that I will be visiting frequently, such as Church, Barista Academy, and Art School. I want my first impression to be good, and hopefully avoid being awkward with the people there. Or perhaps that was unnecessary; I want all my impression to be good, and never have to feel awkward wherever I go. Maybe I am asking for the impossible, but the sky is the limit right? By the way, some people might be wondering why this is in Love, Romance, and Relationships section, and that is because I want to get myself a girlfriend by stepping on the starting line first. Sorry for being unclear!

Last time I went to Korea, strangers didn't really talk to me. I would be startled too if some Korean guy went up and started talking to me, though when you are in the right circles and situations it is completely okay to talk to strangers. Like I walked around the shopping street with my friend and then some guys came up to us (just asking for directions) and it sure was awkward because we weren't prepared or used to strangers talking to us casually. But when we went to my friend's school a lot of people spoke to us and it felt more natural. I spoke to a lot of strangers without it being awkward. Because it was like we had to talk at some point.

What I'm trying to say is I'm sure you should be able to talk to people at your school and such because it is people you might meet frequently while strangers on the street might be once in a lifetime meeting. Just be formal and start out simple without throwing too many questions! Especially if you speak Korean then you should be good to go (Koreans in Korea prefer dating Koreans who speak Korean. My cousin always complains about how some non Korean speakers hit on her lol)

I don't know Korean culture very well and the closest thing would be my neighbors back home (they're more or less assimilated to the States culture as of now). So the best bet would be to either do some research by asking a family member about proper etiquette, look around discreetly at how people interact in various situations to get a better feel on how you should act, and maybe try doing some online research.

You are who you are at the end of the day so make sure you never loose site of that. Even if it is awkward or frowned upon there will be some things you won't be able to change about yourself and all you can do is your best to fit in. At the very most, don't be too hard on yourself if you are having a hard time assimilating to the culture, it's tough for any person to go from one to the next so just take it one step at a time.

Other than that, I can't offer too much more on this question since I have never personally traveled outside of the States as of yet.

Make sure to grab the persons ass before you attempt to make a conversation, so that you have something to talk about straight off the bat.

Hahaha thank you for the suggestion, I will make sure to try it out. Would you like to come to my trial once I get arrested?

At least you didn't take that remark seriously. XD

In any case, culture difference is always hard, because of how different they can be from your own. Personally, I am very interested in the Japanese culture myself, almost everything they do is so unique compared to what I see here in the US.

Of course this doesn't stop me from trying to understand them. In fact, a while back when I was playing Phantasy Star Online 2 I was partied up with a very nice Japanese player. He didn't know much English, so I went out of my way to try to translate my text for him (thank you Google Translate). It turned out he was almost as interested in the "Western" culture as I was interested in his!

It did seem a little awkward, but I'd love to learn more about stuff like that. I'll probably study the language eventually too. I was always interested in it. :P

Can i be your defending attorney? I may not be qualified, but please take care of me (water once a day and pet plenty)

*Places a bowl of water and pets*