Korean Parade NYC

Korean Parade NYC

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Korean Parade NYC

Introduction

Our world is composed of a number of countries; almost 195. All these countries are enjoying an independent and sovereign status and stand proudly in the world as independent nations. Every country has a specific Independence Day which is celebrated with complete zeal and zest. Independence Day holds great importance in the lives of the nations as it reminds the citizens of the country of the sacrifices that they and their ancestors made in order to get this freedom. This Independence Day is also a reminder of all the hardships and the struggles that the people of a country had made in order to get that country 1. It is a way to celebrate the freedom and the spirit of being able to live life on one’s own terms.

Out of these 195 countries in the world, one of the nations is Korea. Korea is basically a region that is situated in East Asia. This region consists of the Korean peninsula, Jeju Island and a number of small islands that are located in the peninsula. This region has been divided into two further nations: North Korea and South Korea, since 1948. The region is bordered by Russia in the North, China in the Northwest, Japan in the east and Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

The Independence Day of Korea falls on 15 of August every year. It commemorates Victory over Japan when United States and Soviet Forces ended the years-long Japanese occupation on Korea. On this day, Korean people celebrate the zeal and zest for their nation.

Discussion

Korean Day parade is an annual event that takes place in New York City. The event is usually held on the first Saturday of October. This year, the same event was held in New York City. It was the 39th Parade event in the row. The event was held on Saturday, 5th October on 6th avenue of the City. The venue of this parade was 38th Street to 27th Street, Down the 6th Avenue. The timing for the starting of the parade was 12 PM. It was also accompanied by Korea town’s street festival, which was planned on the same day 2. The venue for their festival was 32nd street (Between Broadway and 5th Avenue) and the timings for this festival were 10 am to 5 pm. The organizers of this whole event were The Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY).

Ethnographic Mapping

Street name

The street on which the annual Korean parade was held was from 38th Street to 27th Street.

Address

The complete address for this event was “38th Street to 27th Street, down 6th Avenue, Korea town, Manhattan.”

Business Name

There were a number of vendors who had set up stalls in the street. Most of these stalls were from famous brands and food companies that wanted to sell and promote their products. I could see a number of famous names like KFC, McDonald's, Burger King and Starbucks.

Number of people

The gathering consisted of hundreds of people. These people included the participants in the parade, spectators, children from the school, teachers, and news media personnel. These people included individuals from every race of life, and also belonged to every gender and age.

Gender

Both male and female individuals had actively participated in their parade and both the genders could be seen equally enjoying the event.

Age

People of every age group had actively participated in this parade however; the number of seniors in this parade was comparatively low as compared to the youngsters or middle-aged people.

Race and Ethnicity

People of every race and ethnicity had participated in this parade but since it was particularly to celebrate the independence of Korea, so the majority of people were Korean.

Asking Questions

The question does not say which celebration. In case of Russia, it’s the celebration of Russia’s biggest holiday, arguably after the NYE: May 9th, The Victory Day. This is how Russians traditionally celebrate the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany; a pivotal event in world history, without which most of us would not be alive, and for which the Soviets paid with about 30 million lives.

The Victory Day is, naturally, a celebration of Russia’s military, of then and now. It used to be a celebration of all the surviving veterans, who’d don their military uniform and medals on that day and are given flowers by little kids 3. These days, the veterans are still at the center of the celebrations, but there are fewer and fewer of them left. It’s the day to honor the dead, too, of course. The parade goes like this: the veterans, all happy and smiling, sitting on tribunes with flowers given to them by little kids; the young soldiers parade in front of them with their equipment, showing the old men, and everyone else, that they won’t drop the ball and will be worthy of their great-grandfathers if the need arises.

Of course, there is also the element of showing off to the next generation of wannabe enemies, in the hope that maybe the need won’t arise then. It makes sense. After all, Hitler thought that Soviet Russia was weak and would collapse like a house of cards when tapped 4. Would the Germans have attacked Russia if they saw one of those parades? Maybe not. So, it’s a good measure. It scares the right people, so it works as intended.

Some of it is propaganda of course, but not much. WWII really was a very grassroots thing in Soviet Russia and has really impacted generations of Russians. Even now, it’s not uncommon for newlyweds to stop and put flowers on the graves of the soldiers on their wedding day; so, the memory is still very much alive, even now. Why don’t Americans? First, the impact of WWII in the US, and the impact of the US on WWII was much smaller. Second, US military is primarily offensive (the danger of WWIII aside, who is it to defend from, with Canada and Mexico being its only neighbors?), with much better opportunities for showing off than merely parading some equipment across their own cities.

Summary

In a nutshell, I would like to summarize the whole experience of participation in the 39th Annual Korean Parade. It was a great experience; I got to learn a lot from the participants in the Parade. This knowledge included all sorts of information regarding the history, language, culture, traditions, clothing and even Korean food. I came to know a lot about Korean people and values.

The organizers had done a great job of organizing such a colorful event. There were colors and sounds everywhere. People were enjoying the different festivities. There were stalls of foods in the 32nd street. These stalls offered not only Korean food but also other kinds of local and street foods like nachos and tacos. There were stalks from re-known brands as well like McDonald's, KFC and Burger King. The organizers had not only worked on providing entertainment but also to provide information about Korean Traditions. History and culture.

In a nutshell, I loved going to the Korean Parade NYC. I loved the zeal and zest and the festivities. Korean people are very friendly and the enthusiasm exhibited by them was amazing. I also loved the taste of Korean food. The amazing colors, the sounds and the positive attitudes of the Korean people celebrating it made it a very warm and successful event.

End Notes

Ford, Richard. Independence day. Vol. 2. A&C Black, 2006.

Koch, Natalie. "Is nationalism just for nationals? Civic nationalism for noncitizens and celebrating National Day in Qatar and the UAE." Political Geography 54 (2016): 43-53.

Coopmans, Manja, Marcel Lubbers, and Roza Meuleman. "To whom do national days matter? A comparison of national belonging across generations and ethnic groups in the Netherlands." Ethnic and Racial Studies 38, no. 12 (2015): 2037-2054.

Mines, Diane P. "Entangled Histories." (2000): 470-471.