Dyaspora Essay

When you move to America, you see great differences between your homeland, South Korea, and America. You look like a Regular Asian girl, with shoulder length black hair, yellowish skin, and small eyes. You move to LA, where it is said many Koreans live. As you enter Korea Town, you start to see Korean signboards mixing in with the American ones. There are ones in hangul, Korean language, but most are with English toning of the Hangul. Your mother tells you and your sister that you are almost near arriving to your jip, or your house. You smile in ecstasy as you imagine finally being able to rest after a 12 hour flight from Korea.

You look at your watch and realize that it took 3 hours to come from the airport to your house. Your father sees you looking at your watch and says, “miguk (America) is a very large land, it takes longer time to travel between places” and taps on your shoulder. In the car, your 5 year old younger sister begins to cry, indicating she has woken up. Your mother calls you and you go pick up your sister.

The sky starts to turn yellow, orange, and red, and you feel uneasiness in your heart. You are staring out the window from the second floor. It feels awkward because there is a tree shadowing your window. In Korea, there weren’t much trees or nature. You see the clock, but it is only 5 o’clock. However, the sun wouldn’t set until later in Korea. It brings you silence as you look out into your quiet neighborhood. If you close your eyes, you can hear the chirpings of the birds, the wind whispering, and the grasses swaying. If you open your eyes, you see that every single house is separated from each other. You are used to live in tall buildings that indicated overpopulation, but here, there were more space than the people needed.

You felt uneasy by this quietness you have never experienced before. Korea used to always have busy streets and roads. You start to panic and tears start welling up in your eyes, you start to miss your friends and family.

Your parents calls you down for dinner. Today’s dinner is ‘kimchi jjigae(Kimchi soup) and bap(rice)’ You are happy for your favorite meal and you eat two servings. The sour and spicy smell of Kimchi jjigae spreads through the house and it calms down your anxiety. Your parents finish their meal first and stands up. They start to clean the boxes of loads once again. You were told to eat slowly, and to take care of your younger sister. Your younger sister sits across you, eating her Kimchi jjigae one mouthful at a time ( or one spoonful at a time) As your parents go upstairs to clean up, the living room regained its silence. Your younger sister starts to cry, you try to comfort her but you don’t know what to say.

You drag yourself upstairs and get ready for bed. You search for your toothbrush and to start brushing your teeth. You turn the tap on, and ice cold water begins to trickle down your toothbrush. After brushing your teeth, you change into your jamot (pajamas) and ask your parents for your personal yibul (blanket) that you brought from Korea. You carefully touch the cozy fur of the blanket, and you feel nostalgic again. You turn off the light and lie down on your bed, facing the window. You hear the crickets and the wind from the outside. You see the brightest stars you have ever seen through your window. You close your eyes.

Someone knocks on the door. You call out and they come in. Your younger sister comes in while carrying her small pillow and blanket. She quickly closes the door and runs and jumps on you. She smiles and says, “I’m going to sleep with you!” You smile, and allow her. You push her gently to the inner side of the bed, next to the wall, so that she would not fall. She cuddles into your arms and falls asleep immediately. You close your eyes with a smile on your lips.