The cultural projects that my classmates presented so far were all very interesting. I was particularly interested in the Israeli holidays and Korean drinking culture topics. My knowledge about Judaism and Israeli culture is very limited: In fact, I recall once in third grade, the librarian was getting ready to read a story about Moses to us and then asked the class if anyone was Jewish. There was a long silence and then I raised my hand, not sure what she meant but felt like maybe “being Jewish” would be something cool to tack onto my identity. Of course, as I got older, I met new people and among them my first Jewish friend. She devoutly observes the Jewish holidays, and it seemed like she was always either fasting or eating only certain foods during certain times of the year. Thus, I grew curious about why there are so many holidays in Judaism. Since many Jewish holidays seemed to involve unique food, like matzos and latkes, I figured that they were all related to stories in their holy book. But, it never occurred to me that the Israeli holidays have a deeper purpose: that is, they allow the Israeli and Jewish people to celebrate surviving another year, because their people had been persecuted many times in history.
As for the Korean drinking culture, I personally don’t drink but have always wondered why soju seemed to be at the center of many Korean lives in TV dramas. I thought it might be the taste, so I tried it once legally (just a sip) but it tasted like cough medicine to me. Or, maybe I just have no taste for alcohol. And so, since it didn't seem to be the taste, I suspected that it might be for social reasons. Maybe the drinking culture in Korea is so popular today because it helps bring people together. It turns out that's precisely it. There are even understood rules about what’s rude and what’s not when drinking. Of course, the hierarchy that’s so prominent in other elements of Korean culture is also present here. For example, the younger person always pours a drink for the older person, and they must also cover their glass and look away when drinking to show respect. Drinking alone is generally looked down upon in Korea, probably because it’s mostly a social act. There's often a routine to drinking, where after some bottles of soju the group may head over to a karaoke place or a nightclub. It’s also not uncommon to see businesspeople chatting away over barbecue and soju. Anyways, seeing that I missed the point of soju when I took that one sip, maybe I should give soju another chance and drink it with a group of friends next time.
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