Monthly TOEFL essay #1; Family members gather on special days

Many cultures around the world have their own customs which have their own strength and also have enough value to be adopted by other cultures. In the case of my county Korea, I personally think that the custom of a whole family gathering toghther in special holidays like Chuseok, and New Year's Day is a very strong aspect of Korean culture. This is a custom that can be adopted by other cultures because it strengthens family bond, and provides people the chance to relieve their stress.

To start with, the custom of gathering on special holidays can strengthen the family bond. Many of us have a very big family with its members living in diverse places. This makes it quite difficult for families to gather around in normal days. However, for Koreans, gathering in special holidays is a very important aspect of their culture. Thus, many Koreans eventually come together and reinforce their family bond in these days. For example, last year, I had an opportunity to meet my aunt who had immigrated to America few years ago, as she had visited my family to celebrate New Year's Day. During a conversation I had with her, I was told that many of her foreign friends rarely have a chance to meet their family members, because their family reunions are usually smaller in size compared to Korea. Thus, by adopting this custom, families from other countries will also be able to have a chance to gather around and reinforce their family bond.

Additionally, this custom provides people the chance to relieve their stress. In the modern society, people always have to work hard to earn enough money to make a living. However, as the society is becoming more competitive, we have to go through a lot of obstacles to achieve this, which results in a lot of stress. In this situation, being with other family members is a good way to relieve stress. We can learn about ways to overcome our hardships by having conversations with other relatives. Not only that, the fact that we are with our family itself acts as an effective way to relieve our stress, because we can know that we are not alone. Knowing that we can rely to someone else can sometimes act as a great encouragement, especially when we are going through a lot of hardship. This means that Korean custom of gathering on special holidays can act as a great way for society members to relieve their stress and go through their hardship.

In conclusion, Korean custom of gathering on special days undoubtely has enough value to be adopted by cultures of foriegn countries, as it strengthens family bond and gives society members the opportunity to relieve stress and overcome hardship. By adopting this custom, people in foriengn countries will also be able to have a chance to reaffirm the value of their family.

Introduction

As this is the first thing to post in my blog, I would probably have to write a brief introduction about myself, even though some of you might not be interested about me. My Korean name is Seong Ho Han, and my English name is Eric. My dream is to be a professor in fields related to environment. To be more specific, I want to study about ways to reduce the amount of energy used by buildings and city systems, and ways to deal with wastes emitted by cities, such as CO2. As far as I know, universities abroad can provide students a better environment for studying about fields related to my dream compared to domestic universities. So, my goal is to enter universities like Stanford, MIT because they are known for having specified programs about environment and energy.
In order to achieve this, it is very important for me to use English fluently. Furthermore, as universities abroad require students to have advanced writing skills, I will also have to acquire these skills. So, throughout Mr.Menard's class, I wish to improve my English skill, especially my writing skills.