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For my second cultural post I will explore Hasidic Judaism because even though I am reform, my Dad’s side of his family was Hasidic before my Grandfather. I think it is very interesting to explore a different strict interpretation of the religion that a lot of Jewish people follow. The idea behind Hasidic beliefs is to not change your lifestyle and keep practicing life like the ancestors of Hasidics in Eastern Europe. This means that the language that Hasidic Jews use is actually Yiddish most of the time not Hebrew. Yiddish is based off German then has aspects of polish, Hebrew, Russian, and English. Growing up I would say some short phrases in Yiddish so it is interesting to see how this language connects to Hasidism. Gender roles are also kept how they were in Eastern Europe which is not the same as how the Reform community tends to operate. Marriage happens much earlier than in the general population. The clothing style is also very strict in the Hasidic community. Hasidic Jews tend to wear black coats and hats year-round. This is something that stuck out to me because it shows the dedication that Hasidic Jews have to their religion. To dress like this year-round is true dedication. That means even when it is very warm in the Summer months Hasidic Jews are dressed the same. Hasidic women also dress very conservatively. There are also many cultural differences between the Hasidic community and the regular population. Hasidic Jews tend to have many more kids than on average because they view it as god’s order for them to do so. Holidays are also taken much more seriously in the Hasidic community. Every Saturday is Sabbath where Hasidic Jews are supposed to relax and there are strict rules to make sure this happens. Activities that are prohibited are cooking, shopping, and operating any electric device. This is why so many Hasidic Jewish people can be seen walking around and not operating vehicles. I am very impressed by this amount of dedication even more so than the clothing rules. I think most reform Jewish people and Americans in general would not be able to live this type of lifestyle. There are also even more holidays that Hasidics celebrate than the average reform Jewish person. This includes Sukkos, a 7 day holiday meant to celebrate the redemption of ancient Israelite Jews. During this holiday a Sukkah is built which is basically a small hut. Then meals are eaten in the hut. It is very interesting how new of a sect of Judaism Hasidism is. I think most people think of Judaism originating a very long time ago in its entirety. This is not the case with Hasidism and is really what makes it a unique part of Judaism. For the artifact I chose related to Hasidism I picked a man playing an art piece which shows a man in traditional Hasidic clothing playing a flute of some sort. I think this piece depicts Hasidism well because it shows commitment and tradition.

Citations: Hasidic Jewish Rules - Ultra Orthodox Beliefs & Practices | Brooklyn Unplugged Tours

hasidic art artifcat - Bing images

For my first cultural post I will explore the origins of a song that I have sang every year while lighting Channukah candles since I was very young. Every year my Dad, Brother, sister and I light Channukah candles using the same menorah that has been passed down through generations on my Dad’s side of the family. With the new skills I have learned from my time learning Hebrew I can now recite this song and actually understand the words that I am saying. Growing up I always heard a description of the holiday and that it is essentially significant because Channukah is also known as the festival of lights. The vague story that I have heard is that a group of Israelites were looking to light candles in order to stay warm for a period of nights and the candles lasted longer than they had anticipated. The holiday has always been a great time for my family and I so it will be cool to explore its origins in greater depth. From what I have read online, a Syrian king sent soldiers to Jerusalem in order to destroy the Jewish temple there. This action was unsurprisingly terrifying to the Jewish inhabitants there because aggression like this was scary to see in the Jewish homeland. The Syrian king named Antiochus Epiphanes then made Judaism and said anyone who practiced the religion would need to convert or die. In response a Jewish resistance movement was created to rebel against this oppression. The resistance rebelled and even though they were outnumbered, defeated the much bigger Syrian force. Channukah means dedication and is meant to commemorate this resistance in the face of great adversity. The significance of the eight days of Channukah comes from the story that when the Jewish group entered the temple, they found a jar of oil that would be able to burn for one day. They used the oil to light the ner tamid, which is a large hanging torch in Synagogues. The Ner Tamid, to the Jews surprise burnt for eight nights. Hence the great 8 night celebration every year. It is awesome to know the in depth significance of the holiday that I practice each year. The actual meaning of the channukah prayers are slightly different for all three of them. The translation of the first one means essentially that we thank god for commanding us to light these candles. For the second prayer observers thank god for performing helpful actions for Jewish people in the past such as during the Syrian invasion. The next is thanking god for preserving the Jewish people throughout any hardships they have faced. Knowing all these meanings behind the prayer I have sang for so long feels very cool because of how united the holiday is meant to make Jews feel. Now after knowing the whole meaning behind the holiday I will be able to tell my relatives this story that is so significant in the history of Judaism.

Citations:

History: The Hanukkah Story | Reform Judaism

I moved on to questions and words that I would be able to use in conversation commonly at the final stretch of my learning. We also touched on more cultural parts of Israel than before because I became curious with my Cultural Presentation coming up. The questions that I learned would ideally help me in real world situations in basic communication when I do end up visiting Israel which is great because it is always great to see real world applicability to what I learn. I find that seeing this real-world connection further motivates me so I was very enticed to learn a lot of questions that I could use. We learned words like ma which means what and Apho which means where. To do so I would read these questions in sentences which really helped me learn in real time. We then tried to piece these questions together with common objects. These included basic words like Talmid or student or Yelda which means girl for example. This was the first time I was using real conversation back and forth with my instructor which was awesome to see because I could feel my progression throughout the course. Like I had mentioned prior, we started to delve more into the cultural aspect of Hebrew, more specifically pertaining to Israel. I was very curious about the IDF because I had always heard about it growing up and really wanted to learn about how the fact that most individuals are conscripted into the army affected the overall culture in Israel. My instructor informed me on how this system does affect the culture in Israel and what his experience was like. He also shared cool anecdotes about the military specifically which were fascinating to me because I have always been intrigued by history since I was young. We also got into how many of the holidays celebrated by Jews all over the world are so much more emphasized in Israel. This was of course not unobvious when you consider that Israel is the Jewish homeland and is home to the most Jewish people per country only behind the US. The story that stuck out to me most is how Passover is a hectic, awesome holiday in Israel. The way he described it reminds me of 4^th of July in the US with people celebrating all over in different cities. It really seems like one big communal holiday which would be cool to be a part of one day. I also took note of an interesting cultural observation from discussions like these. Religion is much more emphasized in Israel because so many people are Jewish. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the course because I think there is no better way to learn about culture than to discuss with someone who has lived in a particular culture. Overall, I was ecstatic to where I have gotten to thus far. The whole learning experience and especially my awesome instructor has really motivated me to want to keep on learning Hebrew and has further sparked my interest with Israel as a whole.

Next, we moved on to more applicable learning which I was really excited for because one of my goals for learning Hebrew was learning info that I could use in the real world. We once again focused on reading short sentences and becoming more fluid in my interpretation of Hebrew words and listening.  We began by learning basic numbers so I would be able to count in Hebrew. We focused on learning 1-10,000 because the way Hebrew numbers work is that once 1-10 is mastered the rest are much easier to learn as well. 1-10, echad, shtaim, shalosh, arba, etc. were very easy because it was simple memorization. The 10’s were harder because it required more thinking and this made saying bigger numbers much more challenging but nevertheless I eventually was able to say numbers well through consistent practice. Next to help my reading and greater interpretation of Hebrew as a whole we decided it would be good to move onto male and female pronouns. I was also excited for this part off my learning because I would be adding additional functionality to my arsenal of Hebrew. Now I would be able to address people and better describe situations when speaking in Hebrew. It was really cool to see this progression real time in such a short amount of time. I went from learning the alphabet to being able to describe a situation like someone who fluently speaks the language and that was really cool to see. We first discussed common indicators at the end of a word that would make the word feminine. These were ah, eet, oot, et, ot, and at. At first it was kind of hard because it was tough to actually apply these endings to words that I had just learned. Through practice and continuous exposure however, I was able to really start applying this knowledge quickly. We would use exercises like looking at a group of words and deciding whether they were masculine or feminine using the endings that were assigned. This whole experience was pretty gratifying overall because I understood these concepts much better and quicker than the past content we had studied. It seemed like as I became more settled in to what I was learning I was picking up and retaining information much quicker. I also noticed some interesting differences between Hebrew and English that my instructor pointed out. There is a different use of applying masculinity and femininity to words in Hebrew than English. Some words have a masculine ending even though they are not affiliated with the male gender and this applied vice versa as well which is something I had to be aware of when learning. I was pretty excited where I got up to as far as my overall proficiency with the language at this point. I was one step closer to being more fluent and being able to use Hebrew like a native speaker even though I obviously had and have a long way to go until I am objectively fluent. This part of my language learning endeavor was fun and interesting.

In the second month we were mainly focused on the vowel system or niqqud. I was excited to move onto this part of the language because with this knowledge is how Hebrew can actually be used in the real world. We first went over what vowels in Hebrew are and how they are used. We went over how the vowels differ from English in the sense that they are not distinct letters. Instead, vowels for a beginner are added to a letter and they make that letter have a distinct sound. Once someone becomes proficient enough for speakers who are more advanced then there is no need for the vowels because they are simply anticipated and someone can interpret how a given word sounds based on reading it. For my level of Hebrew I would be using the vowels to assist in my interpretation of the language. We went over some strategies of memorization that would help me memorize the vowels and how to identify each. I watched a video and played a hand game that uses hand motions to help me learn each vowel and what they would look like when attached to a given letter. I practiced the making the sounds of AH, EH, EE, OH, OOH, AY which were distinct from aeiou for English vowels. This really helped me because I became familiar with the differences and made me fluid with pronouncing the vowels. Repetition really helped me in this case because it is a lot easier for me to memorize content when I am exposed to it over and over. Next, we moved on to actually reading letters and short words with the letters and vowels attached. Initially, this was very challenging for me because it is hard not to be eager to read quickly. A lot of the time I would be sitting there and trying to come up with what sound the letter made while attaching the vowel sound. Some rules also really tripped me up like when reading words with a vowel on one letter, the next letter would be silent in some cases. This made it so a lot of the time I would use a vowel at the end of the letter when I did not need to. This really does not sound like a big deal at first glance but the issue with Hebrew is that these mistakes can make a word completely interpretable or even change the word to a different word. This also really inhibited my speed of utilizing the vowels because I was worried that I would forget these rules. Nevertheless, with practice and time I became able to recognize these aspects and became more confident in my ability in the long run. Eventually, I was reading short sentences while using vowels as well as speaking simpler words quite well. As far as my emotions during this part of learning was concerned I was pretty optimistic. I felt like as long as I practiced I would be able to move on and start reading more advanced sentences on my own. Overall, learning vowels to eventually be able to speak and read well was a successful endeavor.

During the beginning of my learning endeavors my Language Partner and I primarily focused on gaining more knowledge about the Hebrew alphabet. His goal for me was to understand how to read, write, and pronounce each letter of the language so that I could eventually be able to form sentences of my own. We started off extremely basic, simply trying to sing the alef bet Het song that he introduced me to. This song was very helpful because it was essentially the abcs for English. It was very catchy and he even referred me to an app that would help me memorize the song in a fun way. My language partner was hoping that a few sessions in I would be fully familiar with the alphabet and would be able to move on to actually practice the language. I am happy that I was actually able to reach this goal through practice on my own that primarily revolved around repetition and writing the letters over and over. I also took on the alphabet from a speaking perspective. I focused on saying the sounds of each letter over and over so that I was going to be able to properly pronounce words when I got there. This strategy was very successful because while speaking the letters out loud I was able to become more familiar to identifying which letter was which when they were spoken out loud for me to listen to. One part of learning the alphabet that was quite frustrating was how close some of the letters look to each other. For example, the letters He and Chet are nearly identical except for a small gap in how they are written. These subtle differences were extremely frustrating a lot of the time because it is hard having to be aware of such minute differences in a language when you are first starting out. For example, in English when I was learning the alphabet as a child there was no way to mix any of the letters up because they all look distinct. Learning the Hebrew alphabet was much more challenging because it felt not only was I memorizing a foreign alphabet but I was also simultaneously having to stay focused on these small details. Nevertheless, the fact that it is a harder alphabet to read and write, it made it more satisfying to actually learn and become familiar with. I was not so successful in writing the alphabet for the first time given these minute differences. This being said, my instructor really was incredibly assistive. Whenever I would mess up he say good job and then nicely correct me. This was a great way to help me learn because even though I did not get it exactly right, I was still motivated to keep on learning. When it came to saying the letters I also was often times not successful. I had a tendency to add a bit of an American accent, to the point where it changed the whole sounding of the letter. This was not good because later when I would be forming words, this kind of accent would make it hard for other Hebrew speakers to interpret what I was saying. Overall, I had a great time learning and applying the alphabet.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12KjlkJI9-2BL3jFzGj_L2myKnYZa6mR0/view?usp=sharing

Some insights that I’ve gained as a language learner is that I should never be afraid. One thing I realized when I was speaking Korean in Korea was that I was very anxious about saying the wrong thing or my pronunciation was not accurate. There were actually a lot of times where I attempted to say something in Korean but they weren’t able to understand it. But I learned that I will never grow if I am always so conscious about my Korean language because I will never know if I try. During the last several weeks, I felt that I had really improved and developed my Korean skills. My initial objectives for this class were to increase my vocabulary, improve my grammar (particularly in terms of subject markers and verb conjugations), and engage in daily conversation. I was pleasantly pleased at how much I was able to learn, particularly in terms of vocabulary, when I utilized and practiced them on a regular basis. In contrast to my Korean lesson, I only had to memorize them for a week before forgetting about them. However, every week with Vivan, we went over all of the vocabulary we rehearsed and revisited the terms from the previous week. Same thing with grammar, reviewing the previous concepts helped me grasp the new concepts. And in the long term, helps me actually learn the language better

Something I found difficult was definitely the sentence structures of the Korean lanauge because they are in SOV form. An example would be 나는 피자 먹어요 (I eat pizza). From Korean, it would literally translate to “I pizza eat”. This sentence structure was very hard for me to get familiar with because when I learn languages, I usually link the English to Korean, but it was more difficult with Korean just because I had to think ahead about what the object was before.

Something that I have enjoyed was learning about the culture along with the language. We were able to get some cultural immersion experience by going to get Korean BBQ at Korea Garden in Richmond. During this experience, I could use my Korean skills to order in a restaurant. I remember being in Korea I was a bit uncomfortable speaking the language because I didn’t have anyone there to check or correct me. But getting to go to Korean BBQ with Vivian was as helpful as she was in our classes. If I used a wrong measure word, she would correct me right away on the spot, which I feel is the most useful way to learn something. 

I will continue my learning by continuing to seek out free resources, such as Youtube. There are some good videos that I could invest in that are ideal for speaking, engaging, and pronunciation. Also, I hope to be able to watch K-dramas and understand everything without subtitles. There is a feature in Netflix called Netflix Language Learning, which offers translated subtitles in two languages. In this case, I could do it in English and Korean at the same time so I can actively be studying the subtitles while watching. 

I was able to reflect on my learning styles and find out what kind works best for me. I was always a visual learner, but I realized that my learning styles may be different from the way I learn in my business classes vs. Korean classes. I also found out that I learn best through repetition, as many others may, with languages. I found out about an app called Drops, which is a vocabulary builder game. Everyday, you can play matching games but the special thing about Drops is how repetitive it is. Unlike Quizlet, everytime you click on a word or match a word, it says it. Hearing it along with thinking about it really helps it stick in my brain. It also repeats it over and over many times even if you get it the first time. I still remember the first word I learned from that app because it stuck with me. Something also really helpful that Vivian did was create weekly tests for me. Although no one likes to take tests, I think they were really useful in helping me study and retain the information that I learned.

Something I would like to learn more about is Korean Pop Culture. Specifically, the history, and how it grew to be a global phenomenon that has garnered millions of fans throughout the world. Overall, this class has been very interesting to me because I have always found the growth of Korean culture and its effects in music, movies, dramas, brands, and many more aspects around the world very compelling. One of the most prime examples is K-pop, K-dramas, and movies in the United States: BTS thriving in America, Korean dramas taking over American Netflix, and the movie Parasite making history by being the first non-English film to win best picture at the 2020 Oscars. These factors push me to explore how and why Korean culture grew all around the world and how it has impacted other cultures as well. 

Korean Cuisine 

For this week, I wanted to focus my cultural artifact on Korean cuisine. For numerous reasons, Korean cuisine is a distinctive feature of their culture. The first is that food is inextricably linked to Korea's environment, which includes the country's location, topography, and climate. Korea is a peninsula with a climate similar to that of the United States' north central region: chilly winters, mild summers, and lengthy, beautiful autumns. Korea features several microclimates since the terrain is largely made up of mountains and stretches from the North Asian mainland to milder oceans in the south. Rice, beans, and vegetables are produced in the lowlands, while mushrooms and a variety of wild plants, such as bracken and bellflower, are picked or farmed in the mountains. Each location has its own set of foods that are specific to its climate. The country's rugged northeastern region. The topography (peninsula), temperature (hot, humid summers and bitterly cold winters), closeness to China and Japan, and the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 all influenced Korean food. The introduction of chili peppers to Korea by Portuguese traders in the 17th century had considerable influence on the cuisine. Chili peppers were commonly employed in the making of Korean cuisine by the 18th century. Much of today's Korean food, as well as the conventions that surround it, are derived from royal cuisine and the intricate customs of the ancient court. The cuisine is a balancing study, with particular attention paid to temperature, spiciness, color, and texture, as well as thoughtful presentation. 

The main meal is constructed around a variety of shared side dishes that compliment each other, beginning with ritual bowls of rice and soup. The amount of side dishes served can range from two to a dozen or more, although most meals will have at least a handful. Rather than being served in courses, all of the foods are presented all at once to be shared. A Korean banquet consists of a variety of meals that have been steamed, simmered, pan-fried, and stewed, among other methods.

Many side dishes are plucked, fermented, or salted, and many are spicy, since the Koreans have perfected the technique of preserving food. Kimchi, Korea's famed spicy cabbage, comes in over a hundred distinct types made with other veggies and is a staple of every meal. It's loved for its sour, acidic crunch as well as its ability to assist digestion. Sesame and sesame oil, chili pepper paste (kochujang), soybean paste (daenjang), garlic, ginger, and chilli pepper flakes are all popular spices and sauces. Korean cuisine is known for being flavorful, spicy, and pungent. Charcoal grills in the middle of the table, a sort of indoor barbeque, are common in traditional eateries. Bulgogi (meaning "fire meat") or beef ribs (kalbi) are marinated, grilled, then wrapped in lettuce leaves with garlic, chili, and soybean paste. They're eaten in one mouthful since biting into a lettuce packet is considered impolite.

References: 

https://www.pbs.org/hiddenkorea/food.htm#:~:text=Korean%20cuisine%20is%20also%20a,were%20many%20kinds%20of%20cabbage.

http://upbproducts.co.uk/2016/04/06/korean-food-regions-history-tradition/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618116300099

https://hannaone.com/korean-cooking-blog/the-amazing-history-of-korean-cuisine.html

My Personal Interests in Korea and Study Abroad Experience

During the Fall 2021 semester, I had the opportunity to study abroad at Yonsei University in South Korea. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Growing up as Chinese, I’ve had the privilege of being raised in a multicultural home and visiting my home country Shanghai in China often. My parents were Chinese immigrants, which gave me the chance to explore the complex layers of my Asian-American identity. The thing that captivated me the most was the duality of being able to coexist within different cultures and experiences. From universal ideas like our bond over family and food, there is nothing more important than accepting and understanding not only what brings us together, but what makes us unique as well. Since an early age, I have always been curious to see and experience Asian culture beyond my home country, but never had the chance to. And growing up with many Korean friends, I’ve become exposed to many of their cultural practices and traditions. 

I gained first-hand experience of the important traits that lead to success in the business world. Being immersed in Korean culture, learning Korean, having access to historical resources, and overcoming the challenges of living in another country will all help me be successful in my future career. An aspect of South Korea’s culture that intrigues me is the music and entertainment industry. The growing popularity of Korean pop culture, such as K-pop groups like BTS and movies such as Parasite, the first non-English film to win a main Oscar, has made them a global phenomenon and success. My strategy for engagement is to integrate myself into the culture as much as I can. In the classroom, I took cultural elective classes such as Popular Culture and Korean Wave, Contemporary Korean Cinema and Society, and Korean Food and Culture and learned more about how Korean pop culture and the Korean wave contributed to the increase in worldwide popularity. Outside the classroom, I explored the city during my free time and visited historical landmarks relevant to my interests, like Dongdaemun and Deoksugung Palace. 

My experience returning home was like the opposite of going to Korea, reverse culture shock. I felt fatigued and exhilarated in many ways, just as I did when arriving at Korea a few months earlier. It felt good to be home, enjoying home cooking, phone calls from old friends, and sharing adventures with my family. However, just as I felt my initial excitement at being back in a familiar place, I began to also feel discomfort. Things that I thought were familiar may now appear strange. Hearing English spoken all around sounded strange, I was hesitant to spend $50 on lunch when I considered that I would have subsisted on that amount for a week. I think that I never felt more American when I was in Korea and never felt more alien when I returned to the United States. However, I know that this feeling is normal and is an opportunity to learn not only about myself and how I've developed while in Korea, but also about home from a much more objective viewpoint.

To reflect on my experience, I learned to not take anything for granted. As cliche as it sounds, this means to meet as new people as possible, go to all the places, take on new experiences, and go into the uncomfortable. Whether that means exploring a place by yourself or learning new things, you push yourself to learn how to navigate and assimilate with the way things function. When confronted with severe and demanding conditions, you learn to rely only on yourself. You may learn something new every day and gain confidence in your talents. I learned the importance of spending time by myself and self care. At Richmond, we often get caught up with our friends or roommates, so we barely have any time to spend with ourselves. In Korea, I could say I was alone for most of the time. Also living in a single room, I often felt lonely and homesick at times. Especially during the first few weeks, I did not have many close friends or people I could turn to. But after some time, I realized that I’ve experienced some of the best things in Korea by myself. I learned how to be truly comfortable with the uncomfortable and independent. But I do regret not doing many things, such as not meeting as much people as possible or traveling to more places. I only realized the things I am going to miss after I leave them. For me, this was Korea, the culture, and the people. But now, my mindset in what I accomplish has changed because if I can live in a nation for six months knowing barely any of their language, then I can accomplish anything. 

Korean “Bali Bali”  Lifestyle 

Korea’s lifestyle is a very fast paced and competitive one, known as “bali bali” culture. The word "bali bali" refers to a society that embraces a fast-paced lifestyle. "bali" literally means "quickly" or "hurry up." The desire for speed is tremendous, and everything is done in the blink of an eye, from eating to erecting a thirty-story structure. "Bali bali" has become a distinctive characteristic of Korean culture, as well as one of the pillars of the Han River Miracle.

Even with enjoyable vacations, education is vital to the Korean people, and the holidays should not divert students' attention away from their studies. The literacy rate in South Korea is 99.2 percent for males and 96.6 percent for females. If you believe school in America is difficult, you are mistaken. In Korea, most high school students attend school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extra night and after-school classes. Students, on the other hand, only attend high school for three years because a year in a grade is often longer in Europe than in America. 

The thousands of food delivery motorcyclists you'll see traversing the streets of Seoul are one of the most visible manifestations of the "ppalli ppalli" lifestyle. Regardless of what you want or where you reside, food will be at your home very soon. Food is on the table in restaurants in a matter of minutes, and people are on their way to the next assignment after a brief lunch. "Getting things done" appears to be a life mantra that pervades the entire culture. Even marriages are brief occasions, with the majority lasting only a few hours. This also applies to building and infrastructure. In just a few years, entire communities have been built, and the 428-kilometer Gyeongbu Expressway has been completed.

Public Wi-Fi is available across Seoul, and with one of the world's fastest internet speeds, everything is accessible at any time of day. It is a vibrant country where everything moves at the speed of the internet. At the corner, there is a BBQ restaurant one day and a coffee shop the next. High-speed industrialisation and rapid technological innovation have become the norm, and the rest of society is following suit. This "ppalli ppalli" catchphrase, on the other hand, was not introduced with high-speed internet. After President Park Chung Hee pushed for rapid industrialisation in the 1960s, the need for speed grew. The Miracle on the Han River was made possible by industrialization. 

Even if the Republic of Korea is ahead of the curve in terms of technology and infrastructure, simple phrases like "ppalli ppalli" should not be used to define a full civilization. Because, while foreigners usually use the phrase to describe the Republic of Korea, Koreans do not always use it to describe themselves. However, there has been a national conversation about work-life balance in recent years. The idea is to provide individuals less work time and more leisure time, as well as more time to relax. Koreans appear to be attempting to slow things down in order to find peace.

References: 

https://medium.com/bigberry/korean-pali-pali-culture-9c7ab4d5e516

https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/no-en/brd/m_21237/view.do?seq=103

Korean Holidays 

One of the interesting cultural concepts to me is Korean holidays, festivals, and celebrations. These aspects became a very important part of Korean culture because during the early days, Korea was predominantly an agricultural nation until the mid-twentieth century, and the lunar calendar controlled the seasonal rhythms of daily life. Because farming was so vital to the members' survival, such societies evolved a wide range of semi-religious activities to pray for a successful crop and plenty of food. Eventually, these gatherings became communal celebrations and festivals.

Chuseok, also known as hangawi, is one of Korea's most important holidays, occurring on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, alongside Lunar New Year's Day. On this day, the entire family gathers and performs a rite with newly gathered crops and fruits to show their gratitude to the gods. Koreans also celebrate the Lunar New Year's Day (Seol or Seollal) with tteokguk, or rice cake soup, a distinctive holiday delicacy. They think that by eating a cup of rice cake soup on that particular day, they will grow one year older. In addition, younger people give their elders a deep ceremonial bow and wish them a good new year. These are two major Korean festivals. Both years are marked by visits with relatives and the consumption of a wide variety of foods. Tteokguk (rice cake soup) is a traditional dish served in Seollal. They think that by eating a cup of rice cake soup on that particular day, they will grow one year older. In addition, younger people give their elders a deep ceremonial bow and wish them a good new year. Songpyeon, a Korean traditional rice cake stuffed with sesame seeds and honey, but with additional ingredients such as black beans, mung beans, cinnamon, pine nut, walnut, chestnut, and jujube, is eaten and traded with neighbors during Chuseok. Koreans pay homage to their elders and ancestors on both festivals by wearing traditional Korean clothing called Hanbok, which is also worn by the bride and groom at weddings. Both holidays have no set date and fluctuate year to year based on the Lunar calendar. Aside from these holidays, Koreans celebrate a variety of unique occasions. On November 11th, for example, it is Pepero Day. This day has no significance, but it is a pleasant day when Pepero offers special discounts and promotions. Because 11/11 is like the Pepero sticks, it's on November 11th. There are also a slew of other pointless yet entertaining "holidays", such as Pepero Day. Children's Day, for example, is another holiday. When I was studying abroad in Korea, I got to celebrate this holiday. Even though I didn’t have a Valentine, my friends and I still did a Pepero exchange. In the end, it is a day to appreciate your loved ones. 

These are just some of the few interesting holidays and traditions that are part of Korean culture. It is a vital part of community building and engagement. 

References: 

https://www.korea.net/AboutKorea/Korean-Life/Festivals

https://english.seoul.go.kr/service/amusement/traditional-culture/koreas-four-major-national-holidays/

https://asiasociety.org/korea/chuseok-korean-thanksgiving-day

During the final weeks, I felt like I really had developed my Korean skills and improved a lot. My goals at the beginning of this class was to expand my vocabulary, improve my grammar in terms of using the correct subject marker and verb conjugations, and speak in daily conversation. I was really surprised at how much I could learn specifically for vocabulary, I was actually able to accumulate when I used them and practiced on the daily. Unlike my class in Korea, I just had to memorize them for the week and then would most likely forget about them. But with Vivan, we went through all the vocabulary we practiced every week and reviewed the words from the week before. Same thing with grammar, reviewing the previous concepts helped me grasp the new concepts. And in the long term, helps me actually learn the language better.

Also, during this time I was able to reflect on my learning styles and find out what kind works best for me. I was always a visual learner, but I realized that my learning styles may be different from the way I learn in my business classes vs. Korean classes. I also found out that I learn best through repetition, as many others may, with languages. I found out about an app called Drops, which is a vocabulary builder game. Everyday, you can play matching games but the special thing about Drops is how repetitive it is. Unlike Quizlet, everytime you click on a word or match a word, it says it. Hearing it along with thinking about it really helps it stick in my brain. I still remember the first word I learned from that app because it stuck with me. 

We were also able to get some cultural immersion experience by going to get Korean BBQ at Korea Garden in Richmond. During this experience, I could use my Korean skills to order in a restaurant. I remember being in Korea I was a bit uncomfortable speaking the language because I didn’t have anyone there to check or correct me. But getting to go to Korean BBQ with Vivian was as helpful as she was in our classes. If I used a wrong measure word, she would correct me right away on the spot, which I feel is the most useful way to learn something. 

This week was also the preparation stage of my final presentation for the class, so I decided to explore the topic of Hanja, which I was specifically interested in because of my background in Chinese. Hanja are Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation. Korean has many Sino-Korean words because they had adopted the Chinese character, Hanja, which allowed for both an acceptance of Chinese culture and for the expression of the Korean spoken language. What first sparked my interest in this idea was after seeing a video of people speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese. They spoke specific words that all somehow sounded the same throughout the four languages. I was really intrigued because in class, we learned about language trees, language families, and how different languages actually stem from the same parent language. I actually didn’t know that Korea used Chinese characters in their language before, so this gave me the opportunity to explore more of the history and cultural significance of Hanja. 

During these weeks, my main focus was to develop more grammar skills because I had minimal grammar skills. In other words, I could form sentences together, but they were usually half gibberish because there were many grammar aspects I was lacking in, such as using the right grammar structure, subject marker, verb ending, etc. So, I wanted to make sure that my grammar was more specific to what I wanted to learn.

This week, I also had to revise my learning plan a lot because of how general it was. I had a basic idea of what I wanted to learn and achieve, but my goals lacked definition and it wasn’t well organized based on my learning style. For example, one of my goals was to “learn more grammar”, but I didn’t have a goal in mind of what specific grammar structures I wanted to cover. So, Vivian and I spent some extra time revising specific grammar topics. In the end, one of my main goals was to get better at daily conversation, so the grammar structures centered around those that would be used on the daily. 

These topics that we covered included the basic sentence structures of: SOV. An example would be 나는 피자 먹어요 (I eat pizza). From Korean, it would literally translate to “I pizza eat”. This sentence structure was very hard for me to get familiar with because when I learn languages, I usually link the English to Korean, but it was more difficult with Korean just because I had to think ahead about what the object was before.

 In addition, another important structure was the verb 이다 (ida - to be) is one of the most distinctive sentence constructions in the Korean language. This is especially true for English speakers because the word "to be" changes form when you conjugate it when talking about yourself or to other people so you can define what people or objects are. It's an important aspect of learning Korean, and it's pronounced similarly to how it’s said in English. For example, the sentence 저는 학생입니다  means “I am a student” or more literally in Korean to English, “I student am”. This sentence structure combines the knowledge of verb conjugations and verb endings from the previous weeks. 

Another topic I learned was about subject markers. A topic marker helps to indicate the subject of a sentence. For example, 저는 고양이를 봐요 means “I see the cat”. But after each subject word (I and cat), there needs to be a subject marker to complete the sentence. This sentence has the particles 는 (neun) after the word for “I” (저 | jeo) and 를 (reul) after the word for “cat” (고양이 | goyangi). This topic was easy to learn but challenging to master because there is nothing like it in English. Also, because there are so many variations of subject markers and rules for which one to use, I often get confused with another subject marker. I find myself having to think about which subject marker goes with the sentence I am trying to speak. But after more practice, it will come more naturally. 

During the next couple of weeks, the main task I was working on was to develop my vocabulary. For each week, Vivian and I planned it out so that we would study a certain subject along with a certain topic. For example, one of our weeks was to study vocabulary with the focus of food and ordering food. Before we started learning more words, I wrote down a list of topics and specific words I wanted to not only learn but to memorize as well. When I was taking Korean lessons in Korea, I had to memorize about 50 words each week, which we were tested by reading. To meet that goal, I challenged myself to learn around 20- 25 new vocabulary words each week. Some words that fell into the food category were 파 (yangpa) Onion, 마늘 (maneul) Garlic, 봄양파 (bomyangpa) Scallion, 당근 (danggeun) Carrot,  무 (mu) Radish. Along with the vocabulary words, we would learn things such as how to order food, restaurant courtesy such as not tipping the waiter, and how to use correct measure words when referring to each item. In addition to using flash cards, I have been using a lot of different apps and texting with my language partner. For example, if one of my vocabulary words was “breakfast” and I am asking her to get breakfast, I would text her in whatever I could in Korean. Instead of saying “breakfast”, I would use “아침식사” instead so I can practice typing and also reading and saying the vocabulary word. I think I learn best through an interactive environment, meaning I want to be exposed to the words as much as I possibly can and use it on a daily basis. 

The good thing about separating my learning into different topics each week was how much my language partner and I could cover because of how they relate to each other. In addition to the vocabulary itself, I was also able to learn how to conjugate verb endings with words to describe food such as 쓴 맛 (sseun mat) Bitter taste, 매워요 (maewoyo) Spicy,  두거워요 (dugeowoyo) Hot,  달콤해요 (dalkomhaeyo) Sweet, and 맛있어요 (masisseoyo) Delicious just to name a few. When I would describe a specific food, for example, 떡볶이(tteokbokki), which is a spicy sweet rice cake dish, I would say “떡볶이는 맵다”, which means “tteokbokki is spicy.”  In the original form, the word 맵다 has a different ending, but when you conugate it,  ‘매’ remains, and ‘ㅂ’ changes to ‘우’ and add ‘어요’ after that. It becomes ‘매워요.’ Verb endings are important to keep in mind especially when speaking to different people. When speaking in a more formal setting, “매워요” should be used instead of the original form. 

At the end of each week, Vivian would test me on the vocabulary that I’ve been studying that week by giving me the English word and then I had to say the Korean word and write it. If I could get the word on the first try, then I would move on but if I didn’t get it within two tries, Vivian would also put that word onto next week’s pile so I get an extra week to review and study those words. 

Coming into this class, I had minimal knowledge of Korean culture and language. During studying abroad, I was actually able to take a Korean language class and really enjoyed it. Through that class, I got an introductory understanding of the Korean alphabet, grammar structures, and developed reading abilities. Although that class was only one semester long, I didn’t have enough time to learn everything I wanted to or develop my skills to the fullest potential. I actually had no idea about this class until some of my other friends told me they were going to enroll in it. After studying abroad in Korea, my interest in Korean culture I built a greater interest in the language and really wanted to continue learning. Although Richmond doesn’t provide any formal Korean language classes, I still thought having a language partner would be valuable. 

I met with my language partner, Vivian first to develop a schedule around what times every week we would meet. We decided to meet every Wednesday for two hours in the evening. Then, we had to put together around eleven to twelve learning subjects and preliminary ideas in order to create a semester syllabus. Korean slangs, memorizing the Korean keyboard/improving my writing, reading Korean articles, learning more Korean vocabulary words relevant to everyday life, learning more about Korean culture through youtube videos and Korean dramas, texting in Korean practice, and practicing speaking scenarios in Korean were among these goals and ideas. Although our list was very extensive, we had to narrow down the ideas later to really emphasize what specific topics we wanted to focus on. 

During the first couple of weeks, Vivian and I started with some review from what I learned when I was in Korea. This included the alphabet, reading simple words and sentences, and reviewing pronunciations. Vivian created a simple worksheet for me to review the alphabet and she quizzed me after. I also brought her my Korean textbook and workbook that I used in my beginner Korean language class. She was able to go through that with me and review the concepts that I had learned. It really made me realize just how important practicing and exposure to a language is important. Because I had stopped Korean lessons for about a month, I actually had forgotten some things, but didn’t even realize it. When I was in Korea, I was also surrounded by the language everyday. And coming back to America, it’s been harder to get that exposure just because the language is different now. Because of this, we spent some extra time on the basics to make sure I had the skills to move forward. This meant that I had to be comfortable with speaking and reading at least the alphabet and simple words. So at the end of every week, Vivian would test me on reading, speaking, and vocabulary. We did this for about two weeks after I had a more solid understanding and was more comfortable with the basics before we moved onto learning new things. 

Unfortunately, my language learning did take a bit of a dip in the past few weeks, both for the sake of other classes and life circumstances. One of my senior capstones, a stage management independent study, reached tech / performance April 9 – 17^th, and I was not able to dedicate the same amount of time that I normally do to learning Hebrew, as I was spending anywhere between 6-13 hours in a theatre each day. It was also the week of Passover where I had to prepare (and re-prepare, and re-prepare…) a kosher kitchen, while not having roommates keeping kosher. My uncle also passed away, which while not unexpected still took a toll.

That being said, all this did present me an opportunity for language learning that I didn’t expect; I spent a decent portion of this month working on prayers, both for Passover and the other circumstances I described above. I presented the kiddush (קידוש blessing over wine, text below) for my final in 105, which Maddie and I spent multiple sessions reviewing until I had every word and every pitch correct. I presented a short version (first paragraph) during the UR Hillel Passover seder, and I’ll also be leading the prayer at this week’s Shabbat Service. It’s especially important to me that I get it right in front of them, as many of my peers have been speaking Hebrew, and hearing this blessing, their entire lives.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ
אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ, מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
 בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּֽפֶן.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ
 אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ, מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
 אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֺתָיו וְרָֽצָה בָֽנוּ,
 וְשַׁבַּת קׇדְשׁוֹ
 בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחִילָֽנוּ,
 זִכָּרוֹן לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית.
 כִּי הוּא יוֹם תְּחִלָּה לְמִקְרָֽאֵי קֹֽדֶשׁ,
זֵֽכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרָֽיִם.
 כִּי בָֽנוּ בָחַֽרְתָּ, וְאוֹתָֽנוּ קִדַּֽשְׁתָּ
 מִכׇּל הָעַמִּים.
 וְשַׁבַּת קׇדְשְׁךָ
 בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחַלְתָּֽנוּ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ, מְקַדֵּשׁ הַשַּׁבָּת.

I also spent time reviewing the Mourner’s Kaddish. (Kiddush vs Kaddish – I told you vowels were important! Text below.) This one I don’t have down quite as well yet, but I’ve made a lot of progress on it. While this next bit is probably verging into “cultural post” territory – this prayer really helped me process the grief of passing. It’s not necessarily mourning for the dead or bemoaning that they’re gone; it’s much more focused on praise.

אבל: יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא. [קהל: אמן]
בְּעָלְמָא דִּי בְרָא כִרְעוּתֵהּ וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ בְּחַיֵּיכון וּבְיומֵיכון וּבְחַיֵּי דְכָל בֵּית יִשרָאֵל בַּעֲגָלָא וּבִזְמַן קָרִיב, וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]
קהל ואבל: יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא:
אבל: יִתְבָּרַךְ וְיִשְׁתַּבַּח וְיִתְפָּאַר וְיִתְרומַם וְיִתְנַשּא וְיִתְהַדָּר וְיִתְעַלֶּה וְיִתְהַלָּל שְׁמֵהּ דְּקֻדְשָׁא. בְּרִיךְ הוּא. [קהל: בריך הוא:]
לְעֵלָּא מִן כָּל בִּרְכָתָא בעשי”ת: לְעֵלָּא לְעֵלָּא מִכָּל וְשִׁירָתָא תֻּשְׁבְּחָתָא וְנֶחֱמָתָא דַּאֲמִירָן בְּעָלְמָא. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן]
יְהֵא שְׁלָמָא רַבָּא מִן שְׁמַיָּא וְחַיִּים עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל. וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל:אמן]
עושה שָׁלום בעשי”ת: הַשָּׁלום בִּמְרומָיו הוּא יַעֲשה שָׁלום עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל וְאִמְרוּ אָמֵן: [קהל: אמן

Last on the prayer list: I broke Passover by making challah. I did not do the prayers during the making of the challah, as they’re mainly associated with married women, and I did not have the opportunity to discuss it with someone more learned than myself first. This was one of the prayers that, while I’ve never presented it, I know from the repetition of it being presented. I said the blessing over bread (below) every time I ate the challah, and it was a reminder to stay grateful for what I had, and what I had learned.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם הַמּוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ

Moving forward with my language learning after UR, I look forward to growing in my vocabulary and grammatical skills. I plan on moving to a city with a larger Jewish population than the one I’m from, so I’ll hopefully be able to find more formal Hebrew language learning programs there, as well as keeping up the skills I have now with apps like Duolingo until then, as well as more immersion-type activities like listening to music in Hebrew.

Month two down! At the beginning of February, I switched language partners from Pazit with iTalki to Maddie, a fellow student at UR. We continued to focus on the alphabet, as I hadn’t made much progress yet. Unfortunately, it was rather slow going – while a straight-forward font like Calibri gives more distinction between letters, ones like Times New Roman make it much harder for my brain to process (in the following examples: dalet vs resh vs khaf sufit). Calibri: ך ר ד Times New Roman: ך ר ד . Admittedly, I’m doing much better than I did with my letters in kindergarten (dyslexia, am I right?), but I was disappointed that my memorization of the alef bet was taking so long. It was probably mid-February until I got it perfect every time.

In the meantime, I started learning small common words that were recognizable, and stayed away from letters I was having trouble with, such as אמא “mom”, and אבא “dad”. Since I’ve changed my focus to Modern Hebrew, we’ll be focusing on words that will occur more frequently in daily life, so started working on simple things, like colors and other basic adjectives.

After I had the alef bet down, we moved onto Hebrew vowels. Vowels normally aren’t written, which is one of the challenges for pronunciation – it’s a struggle to remember what sound is there if you don’t have a clue to it. I’ve learned that the language is very contextual, and so some words can have multiple meanings, or that the slightest stress on syllable can completely change the meaning of the word. Having the vowels there is helpful for me in terms of pronunciation, but I’m leaving them off the “Hebrew” side of my notecards since I wouldn’t have them if I just read them on a page.

Once I had learned the alphabet and the vowels, it was easier to learn new words, and Maddie would give me vocab lists each week to memorize and spell by our next session. As I had with the alphabet itself, I would write down line after line of the word I was trying to memorize, as well as make flashcards. I found that rote repetition was usually the way to go for memorization. On the other hand, this meant that I usually had the spelling down for whatever I was being quizzed on, but my pronunciation usually needed work, so Maddie and I would go over that often in our sessions, enunciating every word until I got it right.

As of right now, my plan to proceed id to continue learning new words, and to start with some basic grammar. Most of what I’ve seen of Hebrew is pretty similar to English in terms of word order, but we haven’t started working on it in our lessons, so I’m excited for that. I’m going to continue to work on growing my vocabulary throughout these processes so I can speak about (or at least understand) a variety of topics.

So, this cultural reflection is coming late, but there wasn’t a holiday until March 16-17^th. (And yes – these dates meant that Purim shared part of its celebration date with St. Patrick’s Day.) Purim is my favorite holiday for none of the reasons you’d expect: it was the first one I ever got to celebrate properly. I started my journey with Judaism shortly before lockdown in 2020, and one of the things that drew me to Judaism – its sense of community – was of course impacted by the lack of ability to gather in person for services and holidays.

Purim celebrates the story of Esther, the wife of a Persian king who hid the fact she was Jewish. The story goes like this: Esther is crowned King Ahasuerus’ queen after winning a beauty contest. She is advised by her uncle, Mordecai, to not reveal that she is Jewish to her husband. He discovers a plot to kill the king and thwarts it, granting him the king’s favor. Haman, the king’s vizier, has a run in with Mordecai and then seeks to destroy all Jews. Haman puts this plan in place, and Mordecai begs Esther to entreat the king for her people, citing Haman as the mastermind of the scheme. The king grants Esther’s request; Haman dies, and his forces are used to kill those who were going to kill Jews.

Now, when looking at it historically, we can see that there probably wasn’t a genocide of Persians, and it’s likely just a fable meant to teach us a lesson, which adds some levity to the story. It’s also much lighter when you look at the celebrations for Purim; the notion that everything is upside-down is very much a part of the tradition. You make hamantaschen, a triangular butter cookie that is said to be shaped that way due to Haman’s extremely large ears (pictured below, with fig jam!). You dress in costumes and masks to hide your identity. You tell the story of Purim, often in the form of a group story, play, or song, and every time the name “Haman” is said, people shout and make noise to cover up his name. And in the theme of the topsy-turvy holiday, another tradition is to drink to the point where “you cannot tell the difference between Haman and Mordechai”, because all people have a bit of both in them.

Given that one of my primary interests in Hebrew is its religious significance, many of my cultural posts will likely be about religious holidays that take place and how I honored them. Those, as well as regular Shabbos services, are my primary exposure to Jewish culture, and Hebrew being used in the real world rather than academically. To begin, in the Hebrew calendar days end at sundown, so holidays start in one day and end in another by the Gregorian calendar. For example, Shabbat starts on Friday evening at sundown and ends Saturday evening at sundown, so when I refer to a holiday as taking place over multiple days, that’s what it’s referring to.

January 16-17^th was Tu Bishvat, the “New Year for the Trees” in the Jewish calendar. It occurs on the 15^th day of the month of Shevat. Historically, the fruits that ripened from Tu Bishvat onward were counted for the following year’s tithes, though in modern times it’s kind of treated like an Earth Day. The day is spent raising ecological awareness, and trees are planted in celebration. I unfortunately was unable to plant a tree as I had rehearsal, but I planted a rosemary bush in a pot that lives in my living room! It was a lovely addition that’ll come in handy over the next few months.

I also made a traditional meal (or at least, the best I could do on an Aldi budget), which includes the foods wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. Though I missed dates and barley, I had a lovely meal of Fig Newtons (wheat and figs), grapes, pomegranate juice, and ratatouille (olives in the sauce, and raising livestock is one of the primary polluters in many regions, so figured it’d be best to stay veggie-friendly.)

Snapchat-68019958.jpg

I also attended UR Hillel’s Tu Bishvat discussion on how Judaism relates to the environment, which I found fascinating. This talk was led by Josh Jeffreys, the Jewish Chaplain on campus. In essence, Judaism is intrinsically tied to the environment. Everything, from the set up of the calendar (follows the lunar cycle, day is defined by the sun, holidays follow agricultural seasons) to practices we celebrate every week (blessing the bread we eat, wine we drink, resting on Shabbos, just as the earth can’t handle constant farming or it’ll wear itself out) are all tied to the earth. It raises the question: what is Judaism in the diaspora? To some people, it means that you cannot properly practice Judaism outside the land of Israel. To others, and to me, it means that you have a responsibility to treat the land around you just as the lands of Israel that you have a named duty to.

In a world dealing with climate change, a world literally on fire, this becomes more complicated. There are a million other issues you can dedicate yourself to with the same logic. Try as we might, not everyone can be a champion for everything; they’d burn out, hard. Just as we must take care of the earth, so we must take care of ourselves. So, the key is finding that balance; doing what we can to leave a better tomorrow, while also taking care of ourselves. And as shown by the prayers mentioned above, we have a responsibility to the world around us, as well as finding comfort in it.