I often think over what civilization represents to people here, but there seems no other special things than "drinking." There are too many activities that involve drinking in our life, especially in the life of university students, and most people even think it is normal for them. So today, I will talk some about this problem.
        When a Korean freshman enters a university, his life of drinking has begun. Times when students are expected to drink a lot include the orientations, the beginning of semester parties, the MTs for each grade, parties for finishing the semester, friends' birthday parties, and so on. The mainstream of each activity is "drinking," or we can say to "get drunk." The freshmen drink without a break in order not to refuse their seniors. The seniors think it is normal for a university student to drink heavily.
        Many university students drink heavily frequently instead of enjoying drinking, and that kind of activity is attended with various bad results. For example, they often make a mistake after losing their sense while drinking, most acts of violence on campus prevail after drinking, and they have to be absent from the next day's lectures because of upset stomachs. In society, the most terrible thing is that drinking can result in bad traffic accidents. A few days ago, it was reported on TV that three men died because of a serious traffic accident. The only man who wasn't killed was the one who caused this accident. He had drunk four bottles of soju before he drove. He couldn't help the other people who suffered from losing their family members, although he was very sorry after he was sober. According the statistics of a TV program, sixty-two percent of the deaths in traffic accidents are because of alcohol.
        But why do drinkers drink so often? I think the most important reason is that there is some wrong awareness of the drinking culture here. Most people aren't  surprised or think there is problem with getting drunk. It has become a part of their life deeply.
        This is most common in university: seniors tell the freshmen that it is the custom not to refuse their seniors' order to get drunk, because they also drank like that when they were freshmen. Most students in universities also think it is their time to practice  drinking skills before they graduate, because drinking is more common in society than in a university. They take it for granted instead of realizing the wrong drinking culture and changing it. The surprising thing is that some professors don't think it is a serious problem when a student is absent after getting drunk the night before.
        The next important reason is the media, especially TV, which gives the wrong direction instead of awakening people about the problem of getting drunk. Dramas are very popular programs, but most dramas must have scenes of the characters often getting drunk whenever they are happy or sad. A more serious problem is that when  famous stars have accidents because of alcohol, there will be many media events to express sympathy and solicitude for them instead of blaming them. All these influence people so badly. But till now, most people haven't realized this is a big problem to them.
        Therefore, I think if there is something wrong with our custom, we should awaken people and correct it from now, especially our university students. Next year as usual, many high school students will enter our university. We should think about what or how we can show off our university life to attract them except for the usual welcoming party of drinking.