• Genre and Sub Genre –  Customary folklore (superstition)

• Language – English (Soju – Korean liquor)
• Country where Item is from – South Korea
• This is a self-collection

Informant Data:

The informant (myself) is a male from South Korea (age 23). He is a junior at Dartmouth College and majors in Computer Science. He left Dartmouth in 2014 June to start his military service in South Korea, which lasted from August 4^th 2014 to May 3^rd 2016. For the length of his service, he was assigned to a unit called Korea-US Combined Forces Command and worked at its C-1 Branch Surgeon’s Office, where he was an interpreter and executive assistant to a team of 16 Korean and US officers. He is now back at Dartmouth College. This is a self-collected piece of folklore.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context – The self-collection took place in Hanover, NH in November of 2018. The informant was sitting at a dinner party as an interpreter between US and Korean officers, towards the end of March in 2015. The command had recently completed a national-scale annual exercise and the “Victory Party” was hosted by the chief of C-1 Branch (a Korean Navy 1-star general) and his deputy chief (a US Air Force colonel). The atmosphere was euphoric and everyone present (around 70 members, both Korean and American, male and female, officers and NCOs) was happy that the exercise ended in a success and ready to enjoy the night with their comrade-in-arms. The party lasted from 6pm to around 9pm at the Friendship House in US Army Garrison-Yongsan in Seoul, Korea.

• Cultural Context – The Korean military has a special word for these types of dinner parties within its communities: hoeshik. It is known for consuming large amounts of alcohol and hazing junior members. The hoeshik that the informant is recounting was a more special than usual in that it involved US soldiers. This fact may have triggered the Korean navy chief in the account to exaggerate some details in order to boast his masculinity and prowess at the drinking table in front of the Americans.

Item:

• There was Korean-style pork-barbeque and a lot of Soju (Korean liquor) and beer at the party. Soon after everyone was seated, the chief and the deputy chief made some welcoming comments as usual. Then came the time for the toast. The chief, having served the Korean navy for more than 25 years, suggested a Korean-navy style toast to the Americans and the non-Navy Koreans. Everyone who was not a Korean-navy, including the informant, watched curiously. He first made a Soju bomb (Soju mixed with beer) in a glass. To truly mixed the drink, he put a few pieces of napkins over the glass and slammed the glass on the table. The drink fizzed in the glass and the napkin absorbed the contents overflowing. Then, he turned around and through the wet napkin towards the ceiling behind his back. Turning around and making sure the napkin was now stuck on the ceiling, he told the confused audience that it is a Korean navy custom: mix your drink, throw the napkin behind your back towards the ceiling, and if the napkin does not stick to the ceiling, you have to drink another shot. It is considered bad luck in the ship if the napkin does not stick and falls to the ground because it is similar to a sailor falling from the ship into the sea. He made everyone follow and made the toast.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

Everyone watched curiously what he [the navy general] was going to do. He made a soju bomb, which is just soju mixed with beer in special proportions, in a glass. And to mix the drink, he put napkin over the glass and slammed the glass on the table. The soju bomb fizzed inside the glass and then the napkin absorbed the contents in the glass, contents that were overflowing. Then he turned around the threw the wet napkin towards the ceiling behind his back. Turning around and making sure that the napkin was stuck on the ceiling, he explained to us that this is a Korean navy custom. He explained that you have to mix your drink… and if the napkin does not stick to the ceiling you have to drink another shot. So everyone tried that at the party, including the deputy chief (the US air force colonel) and everyone had a good time after that.

Informant’s / Collectors Comments:

The superstition at work seems to have elements of homeopathic magic (law of similarity) at work.

The informatn/collector had a unique opportunity of serving in a joint unit (a unit that has all four branches of the military). It was also combined, in the sense that it had both US and Korean soldiers. From his experiences, he got an impression that the navy outnumbers all other branches in terms of superstitions. Perhaps, this is because they have to live in a confined space for a long time when they sail and is often subject to whims of the violent weather at sea.

Collector’s Name:

Jeong Tae Bang