July 3, 2009 "It's Complicated"

“Where are you from?” is a question that is a pretty common one for me. I always say, “Idaho Falls,” an answer that usually puts a perplexing look on the inquirer and was obviously not what they expected me to say. Since the inquirer is not satisfied another question is asked, “Where were you born?” to which I answer, “England.” Now they’re really thrown off. So, I help them get to the point and I ask the next question, “Do you mean why do I look the way I do? It’s because my mom is Korean.” Sometimes after that I get one more question, “What is your dad?”

Sometimes a person may ask me about my “heritage” or “ancestry” but most of the time they ask me where I’m from. I guess that means they think I’m from a different country, and I am, just not one of the ones they initially thought. Usually they assume I’m from China or Japan, Korea is never usually their first guess. Every once in awhile, someone will ask me if I’m Hawaiian. Nope, I’m half Korean and half Caucasian, though on paper I’m considered Eurasian since I was born in Europe. In fact, I used to think that I was a Raisin, not as in the dried up fruit, but as in the name of a race. I thought this from the time I was given that information until sixth grade when my teacher corrected me. That was when I found out that my dad told me I was Eurasian, not “You’re a Raisin.”

It was interesting growing up in a predominately white area, and when I say predominately I mean easily over 95 Caucasian. I was teased and made fun of, but who knows, that might have happened even if I wasn’t half Asian. I was also asked if I was related to any other Asian that anyone happened to know that lived in our city. I would have to explain that so and so was actually Japanese or Chinese and then sometimes even go on to further explain that yes, that was different than being Korean.
I remember a time when my friend and I were leaving one of our college classes. We had just been given our test scores, which were graded on a curve, though it didn’t help much since there were students who scored relatively high. My friend said something like, “I wish those Asians would go home and go to school in their countries.” Whoa, what was that? I quickly replied that most of the “Asians” in our class were probably born here in the States, and regardless, it’s not their fault that she didn’t do better on the test. I was also thinking, “Do you see me?” She didn’t consider me to be Asian, for whatever reasons, maybe I wasn’t smart enough.

I became a naturalized citizen of the United States when I was around 9 years old. I was born in England because my dad was in the Air Force and he was stationed there. I consider myself fortunate to be an American citizen. I look at the many various countries and all the different people and think that I could have been born anywhere, but I was born to an American father. That, in and of itself, has given me opportunities that many can’t even imagine. Our country is facing some challenges right now, but in comparison to what other countries are dealing with, I’ll take it.

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” -  Theodore Roosevelt

Cheers to being an American!