I really enjoyed everyone's cultural presentations for they allowed me to learn about different cultures that I had little to no background on. I learned the importance of Israeli Holidays, such as Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) and Yom Hazikaron (day of remembrance where Israelis commemorate all of the fallen Israeli soldiers during the wars Israeli had to fight). During these holidays, a siren rings throughout the nation and people stop what they're doing and take a moment of silence to commemorate for the lives that were lost in wars.
Although I lived in Korea when I was young, I learned a lot about Korean culture through my classmates' presentations. I learned about their drinking culture, which I was not very familiar with, as well as Korea's education system. I generally knew that many Asian countries focused on the importance of education, but Rosemary's presentation on the academic pressure in Korea furthered my knowledge regarding the education system in Korea.
For my culture project, I explored fashion as well as fashion trends in South Korea. In recent years, Korean fashion has greatly evolved, due to several factors such as more inspiration from the West, country’s industrialization and economic growth, social media/technology, and the Korean Wave “Hallyu." I talked about how Korea’s developing economy had a profound effect on fashion. After the Korean War, South Korea’s economy grew and the country achieved economic growth through exports of goods. The industrialization allowed the expansion of the fashion industry and currently Seoul, Korea has the fourth fastest growing luxury goods economy after India, China, and Hong Kong. Moreover, the "Korean Wave" has been affecting the fashion world significantly, and Korean celebrities are starting to have a real influence in fashion, especially through Korean dramas and K-pop. I learned that in South Korea, aesthetics are very important, thus many people, especially the younger generation, are very sensitive to new fashion trends.
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