I attended the campus event Korean Culture Show at Performance Hall in the Ohio Union on Friday, February 14, 2020 from 6-9 pm. Ohio State’s organizations Korean Student Association (KSA) and Korean International Student Organization (KISO) planned the wonderful event. The event started with the National Anthem of South Korea and ended with a bang with a dance performed by the E-board members of KSA and KISO. Some of my favorite performances were the Samul Nori (a traditional drum performance), Hannah Lee’s performance of one of Korean singer Ailee’s famous songs, and the Queen of Aces (a dance girl group that performed a bunch of K-Pop songs). One of the things that surprised me the most as a Korean American, was the massive diversity I saw in the audience and also the performers. I was very proud to see how much love Korean culture received from all different groups of people. Everyone was beaming with smiles and the atmosphere of the event was incredibly light-hearted and in a way innocent. The excitement from everyone at the event contributed so much great energy that made the show so great. The show gave me an enormous amount of pride for my Korean background and I’m so glad to see the positive impact it has on other people. It was a great treat on Valentine’s Day and am very grateful that I went.

Lately due to the stresses of exams and having a busy schedule, I have had less time to connect with my cultural background. One of favorite things to do that helps me keep my culture close to heart, is my love for watching Korean shows (aka. Korean dramas). Growing up I was an avid watcher of Korean dramas and accumulated most of my Korean vocabulary through watching so many. The Korean Culture Show integrated their own personal make of a Korean drama throughout the show, and it was very fun to watch. Another way I connect with my Korean background is the music, specifically K-Pop. Recently in the past couple of years, K-Pop has been extremely popular globally. My all-time favorite in high school was a boy group called BTS and now they are one of the most known/popular boy K-Pop groups world-wide. One of the acts for the Korean Culture Show was a boy K-Pop cover group called Top Pride of Korea (Tpok). It was really cool seeing how they were able to dance some of the K-Pop songs’ choreography because they can be extremely difficult to execute. I was also very impressed by the girl group, Queen of Aces, for their performance on a variety of different K-Pop girl group choreographies. I cannot imagine the amount of time and energy they have to put in to create the outcome they presented at the show.

Attending the event made me emotional at some points. In particular, the Samul Nori act gave me an overwhelming amount of pride and happiness. Seeing the Korean drum team perform traditional Korean music made me feel at home. It reminded me of the times I used to watch Korean drum performances with my dad growing up and the Korean drum team in my hometown that performed every Korean New Year. I am extremely thankful that Ohio State creates spaces and opportunities for different cultures. It means a lot to students like me who are far from their family and gets limited exposure to their Korean culture during their daily life.