It's interesting to learn about your parents' lives before having you and your siblings. In the case of my family, it's amazing how they were able to overcome so much in a country far from their countries of origin. It impresses me that they were once non-English speaking immigrants. While I was born here, in Baltimore, I still don't know how to pay taxes or understand relevant documents when my parents can do it in two different languages. Throughout my childhood, my parents would tell me how different we grew up with them. There was a difference in location, language and activity.
1. Location
My parents grew up in South Korea. My father is from Taegu while my mother is from Seoul. I grew up primarily in Elkridge, MD. Both places have four seasons and are more suburban/urban. My parents and I grew up on different hemispheres and continents, however. This change brought variations in culture, food, and customs.
2. School
When my parents were students, uniforms were required. While this saved them from late rises and any discrimination based on clothing, they lacked the freedom to express fashion. Even hair was regulated strictly. I went to Long Reach High School, a public school in Columbia, MD. We had no uniforms. The only dress code was to prevent distracting or revealing attire. Otherwise, we were free to wear whatever, have any type of hair and put on make-up. My parents did not spend much money on clothing in their childhood because there was no need to as they spent most of their time in school. My sister and I would spend hundreds on clothes per year. My parents started to wish we had uniforms.
3. After School Snacks
In South Korea, there is street food outside schools. They are very cheap to match to budgets of students, and the servers give plentiful. Near my high school, I had Chipotle and Noodles & Company. Getting plenty of food cost more money, but the food was good regardless. The food I got after school was way more expensive than what my parents had to pay. While they could pay in coins, I paid in $10 bills.
4. Language
My parents grew up learning, speaking and writing in Korean. They learned Chinese writing throughout their school careers. My father also took German while my mother took French. I grew up speaking Korean at home and went to Korean school until tenth grade. I learned in English at school and took up Spanish. My father also grew up in Taegu, which has a special dialect. I grew up in Maryland. I don't think I have a special dialect.
5. Music
My father grew up with a love for rock music. He played bass in high school rock band. He played guitar with his friends in college. My mother was a singer in her school choir. She sang classical music, and she also participated in Korean traditional dance. I grew up playing classical piano. I enjoyed listening to a variety of American and Korean music. What I find interesting is that my parents also listened to American music when they were in Korea. While it's common for Korean people to know some American songs, I don't see the same effect in America. While the recognition of K-Pop has grown, not many know the music of cultures outside the English-speaking realm. It's a sad reality when there are international artists with so much popularity and talent that could rival American artists, yet there is so little awareness.
6. Affection Culture
A shocking revelation my father told me recently was that he has never told my grandparents that he loved them. It was shocking that someone could never tell their parents that they loved them once. In my father's time and the area that he was from, men were frowned upon for showing too much affection or emotion. They wouldn't even tell their wives or girlfriends that they loved them. I couldn't understand this lack of affection. Where I am, and the time I'm growing up in, affection is very engrained in our relationships. Friends call each other "love,"bae," or "honey." Family members also tell each other that they love each other time to time. Perhaps this change in culture towards affection mirrors humans natural greed for acceptance by others.
