Prom Culture in the United States!

Did you ever feel jealous of American teenagers? If you did, you probably are interested in the prom culture. Since Korea does not have the prom culture, Koreans have a fantasy for the American prom culture. One of our members explains the step of preparing the prom. You can share your opinions through the comments and let us know what kind of fantasy on the U.S. prom culture you have. Have fun reading!

Prom Culture in the United States!

Jungwon Lee

Pusan National University

Department of Global Studies

Whenever we watch high-teen American dramas or movies, one thing that frequently appears is ‘high school prom’. Prom, a word which is short for ‘promenade’, is a semi-formal dance or gathering of high school students. This event is typically held near the end of the senior year, like the last year of high school. Yes, watching those, I sometimes imagined what would be like attending a prom, wearing beautiful dress, and dancing with my prince charming! J To high-teen American schoolgirls especially, prom is one of the things that they had been waiting for since they were very young!! Now, I’m going to tell you how American students prepare proms, and what events happen in proms!

 When the date of prom is announced, high school seniors become busy and the first thing they do is finding dates for them. The question would be simple. You just ask someone you had in mind, like ‘Will you be my prom date?’ If you get a positive answer, then that person is your date and you get a chance to dance with him or her on the prom day! Then, adequate attires are needed. Boys usually dress in black or white formal wear, regardless of the time of the event, sometimes paired with brightly colored ties with vests. Girls wear dresses or evening gowns and they also wear corsage, given to them by their dates.

 On the prom day, couples gather at a park, garden for single and group photos. Prom attendees may rent limousines to transport groups of friends from their homes to the prom venues(maybe a banquet hall or school gymnasium). At prom night, a band or DJ play music, and they make the air filled with enthusiasm. After the dance, prom king and prom queen may be selected by a vote and they wear a crown.

 Of course, there are some critiques who argue that too much money is wasted in just one party for young students. There is some truth in that argument, but on the other hand, prom can make American high teens’ school life more exciting and memorable. I kind of wish Korean high schools could also manage several events that are similar to proms. Most high school students in Korea are so busy studying that they easily worn out. Prom can be one of the high school cultures that present youth and vitality, and adopting prom culture wouldn't be a bad idea! 

Failing Law Schools, Only Dedicated Law Students Survive

The law school system has been held in Korea since several years ago. One of our members go to the law school and he wanted to share his opinion on the law school system. Especially, if you would like to survive at the heated competition, you should read this! Share your ideas through the comments, please!

Failing Law Schools, Only Dedicated Law Students Survive 

Jeong, Sul-ki

Jeju National University Law School 

Department of Law 

         Now the term ‘law school’ sounds quite familiar to Korean people, because the law school system replaced the previous judicial examination. The previous system will be abolished in 2017, and those who want to be a lawyer have to spend 3 years and law school tuition. The law school in Korea is controversial due to its high cost. In Korea, when the debates go about law school, U.S. case often appears because U.S. has long history in terms of law school. 

        Lawyer’s social position in U.S. is relatively high which is not so much different from Korea. Many American used to believe that they will make a lot of money once they become a lawyer. Their belief is at variance with the truth, and grounds for the argument are well presented in the book Failing Law Schools, written by Brian Z. Tamanaha. It warns the fact that you will have to pay two hundred thousand dollars for graduation from law school. Although you pay the money, become a lawyer, it does not guarantee you to get high income jobs. In short, there are more lawyers than the jobs they can seek for. He argues that entering law school is not cost-effective at all. Further, recent article from Bloomberg clearly shows the falling popularity of law school in U.S. According to the article, some law schools decided not to require Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score which is one of the most essential criteria for the admission¹.

        Regardless of law school in U.S. or Korea, its tuition is considerably expensive, and job-seeking is very hard. The amount of competition in law school, however, still remains the same. Perhaps it will be even harsher than before. So guess what? In failing law schools, only dedicated law students survive. 


¹ 1 Kitroeff, Natalie. (2015, Feb 25). The First Two Law Schools to Drop the LSAT Could Be Just the Beginning. Bloomberg. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-24/thefirst-two-law-schools-to-drop-the-lsat-could-be-just-the-beginning

What ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ and ‘Black-ish’ Tell You

If you love watching sitcoms. Let one of our members recommend ones to watch. They contain the life of African-American and Taiwanese-American each. If you are interested in sitcoms and how so-called immigrants have been through in the states, how about watching the two fun sitcoms "Black-ish" and "Fresh Off The Boat"?

What ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ and ‘Black-ish’ Tell You

Yunzee Kim

Graduated from Dongseo University

Broadcasting and Media Studies

             Recently, I have been crazy into two interesting sitcoms which are aired on the ABC channel. They called ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ and ‘Black-ish’ each. Two stories are very different. One story focuses on the life Taiwanese Americans who move to the town, full of white Americans in 1990’s. The other story tells about the current life of African Americans who live in the village, mainly filled with white Americans. As you know, it is not easy to live as a minority. In this type of society, where like or not, the discrimination or misunderstanding are natural. These two sitcoms describe these things in a fun way.

             ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ is based on the real story of Eddie Huang. He is a famous chef now and he has been through a lot of things since his parents are immigrant to the U.S. He wrote his autobiography and the staff of the ABC channel decided to make his story as a sitcom. It shows the traditions of Taiwanese, the fashion of 1990’s, and how they adjust to the different life. Also, Randall Park, stared as the role of ‘Jung-Eun Kim’ in the movie ‘the interview’ plays the father character in this show. Based on these things, ‘Fresh Off The Boat’ is fun to watch.

             ‘Black-ish’ is not based on the real story. Main characters, the Johnson family members, are rich African-American who live in the neighbor where there are bunch of white people. In this family, there are three generations, which are grand-parents, parents and children. It shows the current trend that as time goes by, African American’s spirit gets faded. So, grand-parents and parents are trying to do their best to give the children that spirit. However, children do not understand why they have to have that spirit and how that spirit is related to their lives. So, in this circumstances, there are some conflicts between parents and children. This sitcom describes them in a pleasure way.

              Therefore, these two sitcoms are worth watching. Also, these sitcoms show that more and more people who have different races live in the states. That is why the main characters are not only white Americans. Hopefully, more TV shows reflect racial diversity in the states.