[Student Voices] Skulls in Full Bloom
Published: 15 Sep. 2025, 10:20
Yoonhee Kang, Seoul Foreign School
by Yoonhee Kang, Seoul Foreign School
When I went into the Mexican restaurant, there were skulls all over the place. I had never been surrounded by so many skulls in my entire life. My mom and I sat at a table and ordered our food. While we waited, I looked around at the skulls. There were colorful skulls, skulls wearing sombreros, realistic skulls, and small statues of skulls. I asked my mom about them, and she mentioned the Pixar animation Coco, inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. In the movie, many of the characters have skulls for heads and look friendly to me. When I saw the various skulls in the restaurant, I thought they looked as friendly as the skulls in the movie. But why were they here?
In Mexican culture, death is an essential part of life. Their ancient ancestors, the Aztecs, believed that after people passed away, they entered the death land, Mictlan, and went through nine difficult steps. When they completed all the steps, they were allowed to go to the final resting place, Chicunamictlan. This is the origin of Día De Los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead. During the holiday, Mexican people eat sugar skulls, put on skeleton suits, and paint their faces to look like skulls. Some costumes give a scary vibe, while others give a cheerful and creative vibe. Through these skulls, Mexicans are reminded that death is a part of life. And when people see skulls in a Mexican restaurant, they’re reminded of their loved ones who passed away.
For Koreans, skulls are a horrible sight. There’s a famous TV program called Infinite Challenge (Muhan Dojeon) that uses skulls whenever performers get humiliated. When the performer makes a mistake or says something that isn’t funny, a gross-looking CGI skull pops onto the screen. A skull also appears in the well-known Korean story of the Buddhist monk Wonhyo. He goes into a cave in the middle of the dark night and drinks some refreshing water he finds in a gourd. The next morning, he sees that the gourd is really a skull. When he realizes he drank water that came from a skull, he throws up. Lastly, there is a famous military troop called the “White Skull Division.” During the Korean War, that division fought with great fury and aggression. In order to maintain this tradition, the White Skull Division has very hard and horrible training courses.
Thus, we see the differences between Korean and Mexican cultures. But if these cultures are combined, we can raise the quality of our lives. As we become more familiar with Mexican food and restaurants, we can become more familiar with skulls. As a result, we can remember our deceased family members.
For Koreans, previous generations are so important. To honor them, we can fuse Korean and Mexican cultures and add a symbol to our restaurants—the marigold flower. Marigolds are often used on the Day of the Dead to pay respect to deceased family members. Mexican people believe that souls come up from the grave and travel to their family’s house. The guide for them to follow is the marigold. For this reason, Mexicans place marigolds from the graves to their houses. As a result, the yellowish-orange flowers’ color and scent will guide the deceased family members’ souls. On the other hand, Korean people often use white chrysanthemums to honor the deceased. Surprisingly, both marigolds and chrysanthemums belong to the Asteraceae family, so one looks similar to the other. Therefore, I’m sure that Koreans familiar with white chrysanthemums would like to see marigolds in Korean restaurants. This fusion between Korean and Mexican cultures will help us to remember our loved ones who have passed on.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)