I’m not sure if you already know this, but I was born in Korea and moved to the US when I was 2 and a half years old. I lived in the midwest, and because there weren’t many asians there (meaning 2 in my entire high school), I grew up culturally very white and midwestern. I am what other asians call a twinkie – yellow on the outside, white on the inside – not by choice but by circumstances. It wasn’t until I moved to Atlanta and met other Koreans that I discovered what it meant to be Korean American.
Even Korean holidays like these were completely new to me.
Today, I’m married to someone who was born and raised in the South, a southern boy through and through, but he is also ethnically Chinese with parents who grew up in Indonesia. It has always been confusing to me when he simultaneously refers to himself as Chinese Indonesian and also a southern boy.
Our life has been a merging of all sorts of cultures. And sometimes merging means, you lose some of your former culture and language. Sometimes it means you can learn to take the positive aspects of each one.
If we were ever to have kids, I can’t imagine how confusing life is going to be. They will be Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, and Southern?
This year, we wanted to celebrate couple holidays the Korean way, and since I love celebrating all holidays.. especially if it involves food like National Donut Day, no one is going to stop us from eating black bean noodles on Black Day even if we’re not single! ;)
P.S. A special shoutout to our friend, Cat + Mouse, who drew these adorable illustrations! Check out her instagram feed and her prints on etsy and society6. You can get 10% off prints and your custom illustration like the one of us below with the code “ESTHERJACOB10”
MORE: 15 Best Romantic Getaways in USA to Take This Year
What do you identify as culturally?
What are your favorite holidays to celebrate?
