My Korean Heritage Essay Example For Students

My Korean Heritage Essay Hello! My name is Hyunji. I was born in Korea, but our family is currently living in the United States. Even though I have been here for almost my entire life, I still have been carrying on my Korean traditions. My parents have taught me Korean culture and traditions, because our original nationally is South Korean. I had attended a Korean Dual language program at Third Street Elementary for four years and my parents have made me speak Korean at home, since I was very young. I have learned many things about my language, culture, and traditions that I will pass on to the younger generation, and I hope that you will also learn about my family past and my backgrounds. My father’s family’s last name is Song. Our original hometown is Yeosan in South Korea. My great, great grandfather ran an aquaculture industry in Yongin. He was a member of the city council. My grandfather’s family moved to Suwon in 1945. He has four brothers and four sisters. When the Korean conflict started, the eldest brother joined the army, and he passed away in the battlefield. My grandfather graduated from the college of Agriculture, and ran a fertilizer industry. Later on, he got married to my grandmother and had three children, two boys and one girl. One of the boys was my dad who was the oldest. My dad’s name is Suyoung, he was born and grew up in Suwon, but he graduated from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. His major is economics, but during his stay at university my dad met my mom. And they got married. Presently, my grandfather has moved to the countryside and manages an organic farm and also makes different types of tea. My mother’s family’s last name is Seo. Her family’s name is from Dalsung, South Korea. My mother’s great grandfather moved to Seoul, Korea, and her family has lived there since then. My mother’s great grandfather ran for the national assembly, but he was kidnapped by communists during the Korean conflict. Also, my mother’s family was very good at sports and art. My great, great grandfather, Sangchun Seo, was a pioneer in weight lifting, he majored physical education at the Tokyo University. After graduating, he taught physical education at Hwuimoon High School. He was the first president of the weightlifting union, and he established the gymnastic association, the Korean wrestling association, and the tennis association. He created a newspaper called the Hyundai Daily, and he wrote the books Weightlifting and How to Improve Your Strength. My great grandfather was the first person who did gymnastics in Korea and his brother was a boxing athlete. He took part in the Olympic games three times, although he couldn’t reach his goal of 1st place, he won 5th place at the Olympics. Later on, my grandfather founded a hotel, The Ambassador, with his cousin in Seoul. He retired as a vice president at the hotel, and he passed away in 1998. My grandfather on my mom’s side was born in Seoul. He studied electricity at Yonsei University, He worked as a engineer and met my grandmother, later on. They had three children two girls and one boy. The oldest girl was my mom. My mom, Seiyoung, was born in Seoul, South Korea. When my mom was very little my great aunt gave my mom’s family a opportunity to move to California, but her family didn’t move because they were so attached to Korea. Later, she majored in Business Administration at a Catholic University. Then she met my father, got married, and had three children. When I was born, my father was an analyst at the stock company in Korea. But, he wanted to study more, so our family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. He had to study hard and work for his family, because he was still a graduate student. I have lots of memories from Michigan, every winter it snowed, snowed, and snowed some more. I also had two ducks and a squirrel who visited my house everyday asking for cheerios. Sometimes my family talks about the times when we were living there. Later, my little brother, Eddie was born. Shakespeares character Juliet EssayThere are many silly superstitions but these superstitions usually help stop children from doing inappropriate or childish behaviors. In Korea, there are many holidays that are different from America. One holiday is called Children’s Day on May 5th. On that day the parents cook delicious food for the kids, go on a picnic, or have a party with the family. There are lots of presents from the parents. In my opinion, it’s a bummer that we don’t have this holiday in America Three days after Children’s Day there is a holiday called Parent’s Day, in Korea they don’t do Mother’s Day and Father’s Day separately. On Parent’s day the children buys or makes carnations and pin it on their parent’s shirt. The carnations represent gratitude to their parents for the whole year. Also, Korean thanksgiving is on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. It is known as Chuseok and we wear colorful silk traditional clothes known as hanbok, and eat rice cakes, traditional food, and seasonal fruits. At this time, families get together and feast. Also, the families set up a table filled with food for the ancestors that passed away long time ago as a sign of respect. Later, they eat the food. Aside from all these holidays, in Korea the traditional wedding ceremonies they hold are very different compared to the weddings they have in America. In Korea, the betrothal gift would be delivered by the groom’s closest friends. The gift is called a hahm and they group would call out hahm for sale in front of the girl’s house and would be delivered to her. Later on, they would have a engagement party with entertainment and a formal introduction of the family members. Before the wedding, the groom gives a goose to the bride’s mother. Long time ago, they used a real goose, but nowadays they use a pair of beautiful wooden carved geese. They give geese because they mate for life, so it symbolizes that the groom will take care of the bride for his life. Later, they drink wine to seal their vows. Then, during the reception the parents throw dates and chestnuts symbolizing children into the bride’s dress who tries to catch them. Usually the number of dates she catches means the number of children she will have, then the parents give a white envelope holding money to the bride. Later, they have a banquet with noodles. Noodles mean a wish for a long happy life, and this ends the wedding. These days, the Koreans don’t usually do traditional weddings, they usually do an Americanized wedding with the white wedding dress, but some people still carry on the tradition and do it. There are specific traditional roles in a Korean family. The mother usually tells the daughter what women have to do in a traditional Korean home and teaches children about the importance of education. Koreans main logic is that they need to study to succeed. Therefore, they don’t hesitate to spend time and support their children’s education. In the house, there are manners that all Koreans follow. Whenever they see a elder or someone who is older, we a expected to bow and be respectful, if this rule is not followed it is usually a shame to our family. Also, at the table, we have to wait until the eldest starts to eat, and we also have to wait until the eldest finishes the meal before the children leave the table. We can’t make noises and move around in the middle of eating. This may seem strict but it is usually a sign of respect and how well the child is disciplined in the family.