I've just recently noticed that I don't have any Korean friends except for Soo whom I met at church back in high school. And it's not that I'm trying to become this ethnocentric person but in light of having a child, I have been seeking out Korean things a bit more....my mom is having a blast making fun of me too because doing anything Korean was the last thing I wanted to do when I was growing up but I chalk it up to this.
Since my parents came here when I was 2, everything at home was SUPER Korean and growing up I just wanted to eat what all the other kids were eating like PB&J. And I didn't need Korean school because my parents never spoke English to us so home was my Korean school...
But when I look at Donut, I realize I need to find more people who share this cultural background otherwise she won't get enough of it from just me. I'm not Korean enough for her to grow up understanding the language, etc...she may get some but it would help if she had some more people around her that she could identify these customs with. Not that Korean will be a super useful language like Spanish or Chinese... but I wouldn't want the connection to our relatives in Korea to end with my parents and I because with Donut we had lost the ability to communicate at all. I dunno...there's something finally having a family that makes you seek out more family. Is that wierd?
For instance her Baek Il (100 days party)...it would be nice if she could also one day talk to other kids that had similar parties. Or they can just complain about their crazy korean moms together...hahahaha
In some ways this is nice for me too...it helps me learn more about all the things that are a part of my culture, whether my parents actively practiced those customs or not.
4 comments:
Seriously, am I your only Korean friend? Just go to a Korean American church. I have lots of Korean friends but they are all married to white guys so we create our own subculture and eat a lot of Korean food!
I am occularly challenged, but I will help support Miss Donut's interest in Korean food and culture.
Hi! Stumbled upon you thru kimchi mamas. I am a KA with a 22 month old boy. I live in AZ where there is a small KA contingent and I don't go to KA church, so I have one not close KA friend. I feel the same...
At least in the Bay Area you prob. can enroll Donut into Korean language classes. It's going to be slim pickings in AZ...
Mina
Tae's Mom - yes you are it...but I recently made a couple more. I just don't know about the church route...don't Korean people do anything else besides meet up at church?
Emo Molly - You are my favorite egg :) Really you know more about what is going on in the Korean food market than I do.
Baxterita - welcome to the site! I do love kimchi mamas... My aunt and uncle used to live in Peoria AZ and they had a small KA contingent too...but it was from church (again it has to be church!) Sadly San Francisco is low on the Korean contingent..I really need to move to San Jose or better yet Los Angeles to be engulfed with Koreans.
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