Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MA_TESOL]

Since coming to South Korea, do you feel you have found your Korean roots?

I read this book called AA Thousand Chestnut Trees" by Mira Stout. It was quite good. It was a about a gyopo girl who despised her Korean mother's heritage and then came to Korea. The whole book is about how she reconciled with her own Korean heritage, and understood her mother so much more.

Have any of you had epiphanies or stories to tell that is in line with this book? I am just curious and want to appreciate your experience more.

Thank you

[Yaya]

Just so you know, Stout is half Korean and so she's not exactly in the same category as gyopos or adoptees.

[MA_TESOL]

[chrisinkorea2011]

MA i agree with you. technically the term gyopo can refer to a number of things including a korean living abroad, national korean in another country etc. HOWEVER myself being of mixed blood, that is what koreans in korea call me as well. the term can very well apply to even those of mixed blood. or you can also call us "hohn hyul" 혼혈 - mixed blood, but you almost NEVER hear that lol

To answer your question il tell u something about myself. I actually lived with my mom in an all white town, and being made fun of when you are 6 - 10 years old can affect you, so i kinda distanted myself from my korean heritage. then at 15 i realized it was who i am and came to terms with it again. coming to korea was like finishing one book and starting another, so its a fun experience, i would NEVER forsake my mother but for a while i kind of forgot who i was on my asian side. hope that helps! lol on a side note, my korean familie's/my korean name is really rare in korea, so anyone with it I am related to opposed to never ending ones like lee, kim, park, choi and so on! lol

[winterfall]

I've never had an identify conflict, I know who I am and what I'm about. Never understood why so many people grew up not knowing who they were, even though 95% of them grew up in ethnic enclaves. Go figure... To put it simply, "Home" is where ever you feel most comfortable.

There's a lot of books out talking about gyopos and immigrants in general. For the American context, there's a very famous academic book called the 1.5 Generation written by a professor from Rutgers I think... And there's some NGO art exhibit called the "Gyopo Project" documents the sheer volume of different gyopos. I think they're up to 200 now, Google it. Pretty interesting

[danwom]

Like winterfall said, the vast majority of gyopos live in or around K-towns (CA, NOVA, NY, NC, etc). Growing up in America I was constantly exposed to Korean culture and there was very little culture shock when I came to Korea.

I think your question would be best suited for mixed Koreans and adopted Koreans. From my experience I have observed a polarization of these half Asians to identify mainly with one half of their heritage. I'd say about 70% of half Asians in America tend to make mostly Asian friends, listen to Asian music, attend Asian language schools, enjoy Asian foods, etc. The other 30% are very whitewashed.

I love half Asians... My best friend was half Viet-Scottish, my roommate of 3 years was half Chinese-British, and one of my long time crushes was half Filipino-white. I think my ideal woman would be Japanese-Brazilian (Meisa Kuroki <3)

[nermko]

Hellohello. My mom is Korean and I grew up only identifying with my dad's heritage--which is Turkish. I don't think I look Korean at all, since I take after my pops.

Anyway-throughout my childhood, from primary school to even uni occasionally, I've been teased by my friends. I've always just accepted it, since I believed it was all in good fun-whatevs. What I didn't know was that it had built up in the back of my mind, creating an identity complex (I use that term loosely).

It wasn't until I came to Korea when I realized that I feel way more at home here, emotionally and mentally. Even now, while teaching at my high school, I notice the small things that remind me of my sense of humor when I was my students' age.

I also definitely understand my mom a lot more after living here. It also helps since a lot of my family here is, so I spend a lot of time with them.

I didn't know this book existed, so I'm going to order it on Amazon :D

ps, I definitely consider myself a gyopo...or 재미동포~I guess that's more accurate?

[Mix1]

[Yaya]

[chrisinkorea2011]

[Yaya]

[nate1983]