jtownes3:

Hi,

I was curious about your article, so I read it.  I was very amused by reading the comparisons about differences between Americans and Koreans.  I can’t say I’m much of a party attender myself because a lot of parties are stopped by the police around here.  I saw that in Korea the issue of alcohol in public isn’t much of a big deal. Here, in Virginia it is a big deal. There are even several laws about passengers in cars aren’t allowed to drink while a car is being driven. I really enjoyed your post and look forward to reading more!

heayoon:

On Tuesday afternoon, I met Albert who is a friend of my friend at the library. We spoke about partying in the U.S. and South Korea. First, we found some similarities and differences between our cultures. In Korea, some college students force drinking alcohol to freshmen students. Koreans place a lot of importance on age, so it is a common event that freshmen should drink alcohol when they drink with seniors even if they do not want to drink. In America, hazing sometimes occurs, usually about alcohol when college students want to join a fraternity. Also, in Korea, people drink for the social experience because they can make a social relationship when they drink together. In contrast, Americans can have social life without drinking. Albert said that they drink to just have fun and to have a good time. Lastly, I learned that Americans cannot have open bottles and drink in public. Also, they have to hide the label of bottles. It was surprised to me because we don’t mind about that much. There were much more different aspects than I realized. It was a really good chance to talk about different drinking cultures of America and South Korea. There were many different cultures about drinking alcohol between Korea and America, but I thought that we should respect each other’s cultures though they are different.

 Thanks! I was a little bit shocked when I came to America because sometimes police stopped the parties. In Korea, people usually go to pubs to drink, and it is not a problem, so I’ve never experienced that parties were stopped by the police in Korea. Anyway, I also enjoyed your comment, thank you!