Author Archives: pbenedek

Birthday Soup

Main Text: 

Birthday Soup 

Background on Informant: 

Currently a student, my informant grew up in a Korean household and has shared with me the many traditions she grew up practicing and experienced throughout her life. 

Context: 

She explains

“I’m not really sure what the history behind it is but every year on your birthday, you need to eat seaweed soup or Miyeokguk (미역국) It’s a tradition that I’m pretty sure every Korean has practiced or at least heard about.

Some typical ingredients include: beef, oysters or clam, sesame seeds, scallions, sometimes shrimp, soy sauce, broth, and many others. 

It is meant to symbolize or rather it means that by eating it you will live another year healthy and prosperous. 

I know that traditionally this type of soup also helps with metabolism, purifying blood, and detoxing which is probably why when you eat it, it’s supposed to increase your health. 

My mom usually prepares it for me but my parents will prepare it for themselves on their birthdays to show gratitude to their mothers. 

Although there is one exception to this — you can’t eat it on a day of a big exam or it mean you will fail.” 

Analysis/Thoughts: 

Food is a great way of preserving cultural identity and tradition. I loved learning about the tradition of Miyeokguk (미역국) and the history behind it. I loved how it serves as a connection to the mother and how much it is valued. I love how it serves to honor mothers and the wisdom behind the prosperous life is one that a lot of other birthday traditions also practice. Overall, I enjoyed learning more about a small part of Korean culture and the importance it places on birthdays, mothers, and prosperous living. 

Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving

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Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving 

Background on Informant: 

Currently a student, my informant grew up in a Korean household and has shared with me the many traditions she grew up practicing and experienced throughout her life. 

Context: 

She explains:

“In Korea we have this ‘holiday’ called Chuseok, which translates to ‘Autumn eve’.  It is celebrated on August 15th as it usually is a full moon on the lunar calendar and goes on for three days. It is kind of like a harvest festival and can be said to be an equivalent to the American Thanksgiving. 

Because we live in the USA and not Korea, we don’t follow the tradition to a tee, as it would require us to go to our hometown to visit our ancestors. 

Instead we hang up pictures of our dead relatives and bow down to their pictures as a sign of respect and ask them for guidance or luck. 

After our version of this ‘ancestral worship’ we have a huge feast  which includes: Songpyeon (rice cake), Jeon (Korean pancake), Japchae (noodle dish), and many others. 

Sometimes we have relatives or family friends who give us gifts but this one is more of a modern custom that hasn’t been around for that long. 

I love celebrating it, I think it really helps implement my Korean identity, and it’s a really fun tradition.”

Analysis/Thoughts: 

Before this interview, I did not know much about the Chuseok celebration, but was indeed intrigued after hearing my informant tell me about her experiences. As a first generation American myself, I know firsthand the struggle of trying to retain your cultural identity, and how typical traditions have had to morph somewhat into the American ideals. I love how even though her family can’t be in Korea they have developed their own version on how to celebrate that I find beautiful and heart-warming. I like how they continue to practice this in order to preserve their heritage and customs and how it has played an important part in my informants’ life and her connection to her culture. Overall, I love this tradition and how even though it has a long past, it continues to be practiced and the honor that is given to ancestors as a means of wisdom and remembrance. 

Doljanchi

Main Text: 

Doljanchi

Background on Informant: 

Currently a student, my informant grew up in a Korean household and has shared with me the many traditions she grew up practicing and experienced throughout her life. 

Context: 

She explains: 

“In Korea, a baby’s first birthday is one of the most important birthdays they will ever celebrate. The first birthday party is called Doljanchi.

During this tradition, a child is placed in front of a various amount of objects which could include anything from: a soccer ball, stethoscope, money, wool, rice, a pencil, and others. These are objects that symbolize something about your destiny, career, and lifestyle. 

On my first birthday, I picked the money (hehe) which means that I’ll be rich in the profession I pursue. 

Children are also dressed in traditional Korean clothing, I wore a hanbok for mine. 

It’s a very important milestone in in childhood. It’s a tradition that I’ve appreciated and have watched my siblings have and family friends, so it is an integral part of Korean culture.”

Analysis/Thoughts: 

Learning about doljanchi, I was intrigued by the emphasis of identity and childhood placed upon it. I love how important it is for children to be celebrated and the emphasis on pre-destination of where the future is headed. Korean folklore and customs tie into family honor and bond and it is apparent in nearly every tradition that Koreans celebrate. I think it’s really cool how they make the first birthday special and valued and after researching brief history, I learned that it began as a major celebration due to infant mortality, the importance behind its’ legacy. The tradition stems from a long history of tragedy, yet in today’s modern day it has grown into a tradition of celebrating childhood. 

Annotations 

For more information visit: 

https://bestofkorea.com/doljanchi-korean-first-birthday/

Korean New Year

Main Text: 

Korean New Year 

Background on Informant: 

Currently a student, my informant grew up in a Korean household and has shared with me the many traditions she grew up practicing and experienced throughout her life. 

Context: 

She explains:

“Korean New Year is based off the Korean calendar, and it is one of most important holidays we celebrate. 

It usually lasts for three days, the day before, the day itself, and the day after and begins either in January or February.

I know in South Korea it is of major importance to the point where businesses close for days and families honor their ancestors. 

Before we eat, we make sure to place offerings to our ancestors and then everyone in the family does deep bows as a sign of respect. 

For me, I usually gather with with family and friends and we do the traditional bow and we are given a ton of money. 

The traditional meal we eat is the Tteokguk, which is a soup with rice cakes, and symbolically once you eat it you are ‘one year older’. 

Technically we’re supposed to wear hanboks, which is our traditional clothing, but the tradition has evolved to the point where we just wear more westernized clothing. 

The feast is amazing, my mom makes so much food and leftovers usually last a week. 

While I do celebrate the Western New Year’s as well, I prefer the Korean one because we are spoiled with gifts and food.” 

Analysis/Thoughts: 

I learned so much from my informant about Korean traditional culture and practices and found myself wanting to learn more. I love how a common trend is the three day celebration and how unlike in the USA the celebration is continued for multiple days. I have also observed how food plays a major role in Korean heritage and customs, as well as the symbolism behind each meal. I love how Koreans retain their cultural identity with their connection to the past and of course honoring their ancestors. Koreans values and traditions are a huge part of connecting with the past and allowing future generations to continue these practices. 

Senior Night

Main Text: 

Senior Night 

Background on Informant: 

My informant is a current student who has shared with me his experiences of childhood folklore and traditions that he grew up with. In a series of interviews he has shared with me his knowledge. 

Context: 

He explains:

“So in high school I did a couple of sports, but the one I stuck with was track and field. There’s this tradition every year that at the end of the season, we celebrate this kind of ‘senior night’. Now it wasn’t just the track and field team, it was something that all the sports teams would do for their graduating seniors. 

We would have underclassmen make posters and cutouts, while each junior was assigned a senior they would make a speech for. 

For me it happened my last home meet, which is the last ‘game’ at the seniors’ home turf. So before the meet began, we would be lined up in a row, usually with our parents, and called one by one for recognition and a picture.  

A junior would give a speech to us and then we would receive a small gift, usually a basket of things like candy and snacks. Afterwards our coaches would say a few words, and then the meet would begin. 

After the meet ended, we went out to a restaurant to celebrate and it is a bittersweet moment. It’s a simple tradition but I always looked forward to it when I was an underclassmen and I think it’s cool that it’s a small way to send a token of appreciation for the seniors. A kind of final goodbye.” 

Analysis/Thoughts: 

Having had my own senior night, I understood very well what he was sharing with me. I love how it’s a tradition that has remained the core of high school sports for a very long time. It’s almost an initiation of seniors into the ‘real’ world before they part off and I think it’s a wonderful way to honor their hard work over the past year or years. Although I did not do track and field, I see similarities between my senior night and his and how each sport has developed its’ own culture and way of performing senior night. Overall, I think it’s a very important custom that is practiced in high school sports as a way to say goodbye and appreciate the seniors and the traditions that came before them.