My journey to Korea begins with my journey from Korea. I immigrated to America when I was three. My parents kept ties to my Korean culture strong. I was encouraged to speak Korean in the house. Korean food was prepared every night. Korean television was in our house daily through VHS tapes and then later cable channels. I lived off K-pop before the term was coined. My parents told me tales of Korean history, the rich royal past, the Japanese occupation and resistance movement, the Korean War and so on. I grew up with great pride in being Korean American. While others felt torn between two cultures, I felt lucky to have two cultures I could take the good things I wanted from. I never felt unseen in media because I saw myself in the videotapes of the Korean dramas my mom rented for me.
As years passed, I grew to be a working adult and time off from work was used to volunteer locally. I was never a "travel" person. But this past year, I decided it was time to go back. Especially as my mom's eldest sister was now almost reaching ninety, I knew our time was limited.
I came back with almost two thousand photos and hours of video footage. More importantly, the seeds of Korean history and culture that my parents planted in me years ago started to sprout. I was seeing the things they told me about in real life. I felt chills, goosebumps and sometimes tears as I stood in front of some historic monument. This site is basically a way for me to organize those photos and delve into the rich history of my home country and the continuing journey of being a Korean American.
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