My mother recalled the last words her sister told her before she embarked on her journey to the United States, “Good luck Euisook, never forget your identity and who you are.” This theme of identity would stick with her through the rest of her life and still does today.
My mom was born in Seoul, Korea into a wealthy family with two siblings. She worked extremely hard in school and placed first in her class, earning her spot in the top university in Korea. Throughout this time, she gained a passion for music and won many competitions throughout the country. Although she was mostly content with her life in Korea, she yearned to travel somewhere else, especially the United States. She applied to many music schools throughout the United States and was accepted into the Julliard Music School. She gladly accepted the offer from the school and embarked on her voyage into a different world of culture, food and community values. When she first arrived in the United States, everything was a blur. Despite learning English in school, hearing hundreds of people speaking a foreign language confused and startled her. Throughout the next ten years, she would struggle dealing with the language barrier, being the greatest hardship, she faced. Luckily, her school supplied her with a temporary VISA to study in the United States and so she was able to not worry about receiving citizenship through a lottery.
At her college, she met other people who had a passion for music like she did and she became good friends with my father. After a few years, they married each other and my mother received her full-time citizenship soon after. By this time she had become well-accustomed to the United States, but she still had lingering cultural ties. Firstly, she was homesick all the time. With all her family still in Korea, it was hard to only see them once every two years. She had to adapt to living without them and communicated with them whenever she could. Secondly, the food was very different. Korean food is unique compared to American food, and my mother always has a special Korean soup. This is one of the few traditions she has kept since moving from Korea.
Through moving from Korea, my mother has adapted to a new culture and is thriving in the United States today.
