I have lived outside of Korea for 10 years, and often question if I am “truly” Korean. While living in Singapore when I was a teenager, I went to a local school where everyone knew me as the Korean girl. Even though I fully adapted to Singaporean culture throughout my years there, I was not considered to be fully a part of Singapore. Back home, I was not considered a true Korean as I could not understand some parts of Korean culture after not living there for so long. The same thing happened when I moved to Melbourne.
Once I was having a conversation with my friends on cultural identity, and one of them came up with an interesting question; “Would you be a carrot in a beef stew or in a salad?”. This question asked whether you would like to blend into a new culture and lose some of yourself or keep your own identity but be different from others. This question helped me think about my own cultural identity when I moved from country to country, and led me to conclude that being myself is not about being this or that.
I am unique, and I stand here solely as myself.