My father, who is of Polish and French descent, says he had his first sip of wine at the age of 12. This was a tradition that the night before a boy’s 13th birthday he was to be allowed one glass of wine as a symbolic of good luck into entering teenage years which marked the start of independence and manhood. Forty years ago, teenage boys were allowed to work and were expected to keep good grades and help around the house. A 13 year-old boy was seen as a young adult. This understood drinking is concerning to me because some young adults could go too wild at such a young age.

Noodles are supposed to bring good luck and give a “long life”. They are supposed to be eaten on the birthday of a loved one to hope that they live a long, happy life with you. I think this tradition is interesting because noodles are a part of Chinese traditional food and it is interesting it has a greater meaning than just tasting good.

Chinese New Year is a very important holiday to the Chinese culture in the way that it brings the luck of the new year at the prospect of an entire year of opportunities and an occasion for families to become close. There are many traditions and Customs for the new year including red paper envelopes, festivals, large meals, cleaning of the home, and fireworks. The Lunar New Year has been a tradition for Eastern cultures much like the 4th of July is a tradition for America. the stories of the animals on the Zodiac that rotate every twelve years is another folkloric ideology of Chinese New Year. I personally enjoy Chinese New Year because it is a time where my entire family comes together and the entire family eats very good food together.

An argument against the Greek system is that it reinforces and represents gender binary and the adhering of gender roles in society. because only women can join sororities and only men can join fraternities there is an argument that there was a whole entire group of people that are not only excluded in greek life but not recommended to join. There has also been arguments about how fraternities encourage rape culture and the disrespect of women. Because there’s so many rules and regulations in each house that each member has to abide by, greek life can promote the de-individualization of people and promote conformity. Women are supposed to act a certain way and so are mean based on rules made over a hundred years ago. With modern times, these ways of life are not the most appropriate. Because these ways of life are so encouraged, many members are not open and accepting of others’ ways of life if they do not agree. Based on the traditions of the houses, it is true that men are supposed to assume manly roles of strength and gentlemenness while women are supposed to act like ladies and not be too promiscuous or be too “out there”. Sororities and fraternities, whether they know it or not, promote assimilation. I agree with this notion but also the Greek community could expand to solve this problem and then could create new chapters that have new traditions and values that could fit everyone’s views.

A fraternity will choose one girl out of all the sororities to be there sweetheart when she is becoming a senior at university. The sweetheart is the closest girl to the majority of the fraternity house. She is the female representation of the house and is held in very high regard and is treated with the utmost respect she has morals and values similar to the boys in the house and is a female representation of such. She is their “best friend” and is apart of their house. She has a spot in the fraternity composite. She learns all the traditions of the house and brings her own to the house as she is affiliated with her own sorority. I think it is a cute notion for the entire house to respect a girl so highly they consider her one of their own.