Living as a Korean-American

     It's hard trying to balance two different cultures at the same time. As most people know, I am a Korean American. I am a full-blooded Korean with Korean parents but grew up in the States and went to English-speaking schools. I am the product of Western and Eastern culture mixed together.
     There are actually quite a lot of people like me, but it's not exactly common in Turkey. Most of the time, being a part of two cultures is great. I can relate to a wide range of people, speak two languages, and have more knowledge about different cultures than most people do. It's a great privilege to be able to experience two cultures.
     At the same time, it can be a burden. Sometimes I wish I had been born into one culture or the other. In my case, I have become better at speaking English than Korean so sometimes it is awkward for me to speak in Korean. Sometimes, I do not completely fit into either culture because in my world I mix things up a bit :). It's also difficult for my parents to try to understand an American culture for our sakes.
     Life will always have good things and bad things. We'll always be thankful and also struggle at the same time. Being a TCK can be hard, but God sustains me and I will enjoy the privilege He has given me.

Funky Posters

Can you guess who these people are? 

Winter Ball :)

     The Winter Ball was yesterday, and I had a blast. I was "fashionably late" but still had a great time. We did the usual things like swing dances, waltzes, disco, YMCA, and such. The Winter Ball Committee did an amazing job! (and yes I was part of the Winter Ball Committee) The camera, the red carpet, the film strips, everything! It was a night to remember.
     I was a bit upset that I only danced with the 8th grade boys, but I still was dancing my feet off. I'm very lucky to have a class with so many talented dancers :) The food was great too, even though most of us did not have time to eat. We even had a chocolate fountain!
     I hope that we have another dance this year! I'm beginning to love dancing ;)

Winter Formal... Coming Soon on DVD (haha no I meant Saturday)

     Hi Everyone! Sorry for not keeping posts up. Looking at Kalista's blog made me realize I needed to write more. Although I must say only like two people probably read my blog so it's not as crucial, but hey two people are still important.
     Anyway,  I'll start off with the Winter Formal. This year I'm on the ball committee and it's pretty fun. It is very time consuming, though, but either way I'm having fun with my groupie (especially with Sara :P). I've also been taking dance classes, which were pretty fun. Unfortunately I am not a very gifted dancer but I'm starting to like it.
     Winter Formals are so tedious. First you have to search for a dress, then the shoes, then jewelry, then you have to do your hair and all this other stuff. My goodness this whole week has been all about "Oh I need to find this!" and "Oh I need to find that!" and it is actually harder than it seems. I suppose the worry kind of makes the Winter Ball special because so much of your energy has gone to this event :)
     I'm excited because it's a dance that only happens every so often. Plus, I can't wait to take pictures with Kalista! The only bad thing is I lost my camera last Sunday. I hope this year will be as fun as last year. My guess is that the highlight of the Formal is going to be.... the free food! I'm kidding. But we'll see ;)
    I will post up pictures when I take them. Until then, we will see how the formal goes.

  

Winter Break

     I've been pretty low-key this whole break. I didn't do much but that's ok. I had an awesome sleepover with Kalista
(remember our chats with random people and how the electricity went out just as we were microwaving our breakfast?) and went to great Christmas services and did random things.
     Here are some pictures that we took of my mom and my sisters when they were performing for the Christmas services. And some pictures of other people who participated.

Piano and Clogging Recitals

Christy and Esther both did an awesome job! Although I must say ever since the clogging recital Christy hasn't stopped tapping her feet. I couldn't help teasing her by calling her another Happy Feet :)

Summer of 2009 in Istanbul

A great time in Istanbul touring around, walking on busy streets, and feeling the fresh sea air.

We were exhausted by the end of it (and got quite sea sick) but it was still fun.

We found a nice Korean restaurant afterwards too (Korean restaurants are very rare in Turkey)

Wonderful memories galore!