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American Family Traditions

Decent Essays

Holidays Another way that older generations pass down elements of the Korean culture is through holiday traditions. For the most part, the interviewees listed the typical American holidays that their families celebrate, including Christmas and Thanksgiving. It was evident that some American holidays were less emphasized, such as Independence Day and Halloween. Julie expressed that the lack of observance of some American customs exemplifies her parent’s transmission of Korean culture. For example, because Halloween is not a Korean holiday, Julie and her siblings never dressed up or went trick-or-treating like a majority of their friends. Instead, their parents took them to pumpkin patches, church functions or harvest festivals. Julie formulated …show more content…

(Interview Julie November 5, 2015)

Ray, whose family also participates in this exchange each year, also described the scene as being the most formal family tradition:
So, one of the parents announce that it is time and my cousins and I will all bow to the older aunts, uncles and grandparents of course. We’re supposed to memorize something in Korean to say to them. After we do that, they say something back to us and give us cash or give the younger kids candy or a small gift. I’d say it’s the most formal or traditional thing that we do with our whole family. It’s pretty cool. (Interview Ray November 10, 2015)

Although it is not a consistent annual tradition in his family, Daniel expressed that he is familiar with this ritual and has done it before due to its prevalence in the Korean American community (Interview Daniel November 14, 2015). It is no surprise that this tradition is one of the more popular among Korean Americans because it is consistent with the Korean and Confucian values of respecting elders and maintaining family hierarchy (Park

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