Miyeok-guk (미역국), Seaweed Soup

Text:
Miyeok-guk is a seaweed soup often with beef or mussels, simmered in sesame oil and broth. It is commonly eaten as postpartum recovery food for mothers or birthday soup.

Context:
The informant states that they ate this soup every year on their birthday back in Korea. The first time they ate it as a child, their parents did not explain anything but instead just told them it is a birthday thing. Despite seaweed being a very common food in Korean dishes, they know it is unique because their family usually don’t eat seaweed soup for breakfast.

Analysis:
For mothers, eating miyeok-guk is both a health practice and a rite of passage into motherhood. It is used at the threshold of life stages, particularly childbirth, which is a highly vulnerable and transformative period in many cultures.
As a commemorative food, it is not as a celebration of self, but as a gesture of gratitude to one’s mother. Miyeok-guk is a symbolic reenactment of birth—a sensory and emotional link to one’s origin.

Chapssaltteok (찹쌀떡), Glutinous rice cake

Text:
The name of the rice cake is a pun to pass a test.
합격하다(hapgyeokhada) – to pass (a test)
붙다(butda) -to stick (to)
합격(hapgyeo) -Wish someone could stick right to

Context:
The informant actually never had this rice cake because they went to an international school, but they originally heard about it from their mother.
This rice cake is usually eaten before Suneung (수능), College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). The informant described it as the most important event, arguably in a Korean student’s life; it is a test that determines one’s entire future- career prospects, income, and personal relationships. It is eight hours long and spans over an entire day, the student must take every subject exam within that window of time. Traffic is discourage on that day to make the country as quiet as possible.
The informant explains there are a lot of ritual around CSAT to gather luck, and Chapssaltteok is one of this to help the student stick to the highest possible score. Oppose to the rice cake, the students are not allowed to eat seaweed because it is slippery.

Analysis:
Chapssaltteok appears during liminal moments and transitional phases in a person’s life, in this case, passing exams. It functions as a rite of passage to bind good outcomes to the person or event. It is a ritual food for protection and luck and a symbol of cohesion.

Chuseok (추석) & Songpyeon (송편), Korean Harvest Festival

Text:

(The following is a cleaned-up transcript from a recorded interview.)

“Chuseok is pretty similar to Chinese and Japanese Harvest Festival, I think. It takes place around late September or early October. And I think historically, it was to celebrate the harvest of rice and other crops. Usually, you have a week off from school and work. During this time, my family visits the cemetery to pay respects to our ancestors. We set out food for them and eat it.
It is also a time when we have a big traditional family gathering. We have meat pancakes, vegetable pancakes, or seafood pancakes. And we also have a special kind of rice cake you only eat on that day called Songpyeon. It is a thick rice cake full of honey and nuts, and super sweet. When you bite into it, it fills your mouth-”

Context:
The informant grew up in Korea and their family has celebrated Chuseok as early as they can remember. They see the festival as a last gathering before winter sets in and “everything gets dark and sad.” The maternal side of the informant’s family is also very Christian, so aside from offering the food and eating it there, they also do prayers. They think people don’t celebrate the festival in a traditional way anymore because a lot of people have moved to the city and are no longer involved with agriculture, so Chuseok has transformed into a great time to gather with family members and enjoy good food. The informant has criticized Koran’s bad work-life balance and overworking culture, pointing out that there is not a lot of time for one to gather with loved ones anymore. To the informant, Chuseok is an opportunity to take a break from life and see family members. It is a time to step back from modern necessities and go back to a much simpler time.

Analysis:
Rituals from Chuseok reflect a continuity of lineage and honoring ancestors is a key way of affirming kinship networks and identity over time. It highlights Koreans’ household-centered cosmology. The informant’s religious background did not take away this traditional cultural value, but instead added to it and continued it.
Songpyeon, the half-moon-shaped rice cake, carries the symbolic meaning of fertility and prosperity to express how harvest is a gift of abundance from nature or spirits. The recipes and techniques are usually passed down through generations orally. Food is narrative in this sense, it tells a story about ancestry and collective memory.
The informant states their deep personal connection with Chuseok and reflects on the change in society. Chuseok is not just a holiday—it’s a ritualized enactment of cultural memory, social values, and spiritual belief.

Preshow Pump

Nationality: American
Occupation: Student
Residence: Illinois
Language: English

WH is a part of stage crew as the lighting director at their high school. Before every show, they, along with the other members of the stage crew, perform a group stretch every time, to sync up the crew and make them get in the right mood for the production. After this however, WH and one of his friends always go one step further by doing a “preshow pump”, where they perform one pullup for each run of the show. For the opening show, they’ll do one pullup, and by the 5th show, they’ll have done 5 pullups.

This ritual came about beginning as an inside joke between WH and his friend, who brought it up as a whim on a random occasion. However, it quickly caught on as an inside joke between WH and his friend, as well as the rest of the crew. WH is adamant it is a requirement to make the musical go better and has started a tradition for the musical specifically. After with the pullups, WH and his friend do a tough guy chest bump and generally hype themselves and the crew up.

This performance is a connecting piece between WH and his friend tying them to this specific event. Because there are a very limited number of performances each year, creating meaning from each one and getting in the right headspace to perform your best is extremely important. As a senior in high school, WH is also on his last round of musicals and mentioned how these shows were part of the core of his high school experience. Looking back, when WH ever meets his friend, they are connected by this ritual, along with everyone else involved in the show. This tradition also plays upon subversion of norms and breaking taboo within the high school culture, as kids in the performing arts at this high school are known to be unathletic and averse to working out. By exploring this stereotype, the crew can also tap into the macho swagger and feel fully pumped up for the performance.

Family Hamsa

Nationality: Algerian, American
Occupation: Student
Residence: Champaign, Illinois
Language: English

TE has a family heirloom in his pendant necklace, which he says is a hamsa. This necklace was given to him by his father last year. When not wearing it, he keeps it by his front door. The necklace is said to prevent evil spirits and bad luck from harming its wearer.

TE is unsure of the origins of the hamsa, saying its either a part of his culture as either north African or from Islamic roots. This necklace came from his father, who was born and raised in Algeria, and TE is pretty sure that it was passed down from generations upon receiving it last year. As a piece of his cluture, TE is very proud of his hamsa and wears it almost every day.

This necklace is a piece of tradition from either North Africa or Islam, and helps TE connect with parts of their heritage they come from. As part North African, he feels a responsibility to honor his familial roots, especially seeing how this necklace has been directly passed down to him from his father. The ancestral connection to this necklace may be why it is said to ward off evil spirits, as the spirits of his ancestors are protecting him as they did his father before him. While speaking to TE, it was clear that in the year since receiving the pendant, he cared deeply about it and made sure to take care of it. The deep respect for his past was solidified in his hamsa, and thefolkloric tradition of passing it down makes its significance personal for TE. As a piece of protection, TE didn’t seem to necessarily believe that it would ward off evil spirits, but was of the impression that it was far better safe than sorry in regards to its spiritual powers. The notion that it wasn’t belief of spirits, but rather lack of evidence to disprove spirits, is an interesting as it shows the trust in their heritage, drawing upon the beliefs of those before him as indication of its efficacy. This necklace is a strong piece of contagious magic, requiring the user to physically wear it to appreciate its effects, or to hang it up by the front door when protecting the home from spirits entering.