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I wasn't born here, English wasn't my first language.
Outside of my house it was America, 1997, inside:
Seoul, Korea, circa 1967. The world had nothing to do
with what went on in my home. My parents spoke
Korean, ate Korean food, watched Korean television and
outside, I had a sexy skater boyfriend, I wore blue
eyeliner, I snuck out to the mall and generally tried
my best to not look as different as I felt.
There was never a book, a magazine, a movie, a
television show that spoke to my experience as a
bicultural teen. I could find a million articles on
finding the perfect prom dress or getting the guy of
your dreams, but how about "Ten Sure Fire Steps to
Being the Perfect Korean Daughter and Not Be a Freak
at Your High School." That would have been really
helpful.
My freshman year in high school, I tried out for the cheerleading squad. I know, I don't know what I was thinking. Well, needless to say, I didn't make it, I didn't even make it through the tryouts, they cut me before I even had a chance to make an ass out of myself. I cried for weeks. My mother's response?
"I don't know why you wanted to be in a dance group anyway."
That pretty much sums up how I communicated with my parents when I was growing up.
"My Life (Translated)" is a documentary series about the lives of multi cultural young people. It deals with friends, family, love and school and all of the tricky spaces between those words. It’s about being caught between two different cultures, and struggling to do what your parents expect you to do and what you really want to do.
But this isn’t a show about trying to be American and forgetting where you’re from — it’s about young people wanting to be both. I wanted to find others like me, who wanted to keep their culture and be American at the same time, not picking one or the other. I never once, not in the many rants and fits and arguments with my family, thought to just rebel and separate myself from being Korean.
It’s a trend, people are recognizing it everywhere
now—the concept, the look, the definition of
“American” is changing. Every day I read an article
or see something that reminds me this country, the
next generation is changing. I just read an article
in USA Today, recently that said by 2050 more people
will speak Spanish in this country than English. I
saw an article in the New York Times not too long ago,
talking about how advertisers are looking for
different faces, ones that reflect the multicultural
realities of our generation. I just got this book
about a new term that seems to fit the cultural shift
we’re living in. They’re calling it Transculture — the
idea that we live in many cultures at once (check out www.transculturalism.com).
But it’s not just a show about geographical or racial
cultures, it’s about youth culture, it’s about every
single young person who struggles with the culture of
their parents and their own identity. It has just as
much to do with all of us, starting our lives as
independent young adults and still dealing with
parents who just don’t understand.
Everyone will find themselves reflected in this show
and I hope the voice is true, honest and real.
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Photo: MTV News
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