As a Korean-American teen, one can only imagine the type of life I go through. Like other typical Asian parents, failure is not an option. School must be a priority in life and I as a student (and the oldest child and only teen in the family) must be on top of my grades while being involved with school and be the filial daughter that I am expected to be. Of course living in America, things like that are pretty much useless if your family is Americanized and your mother was born here while your father immigrated here when he was 10. Of course I procrastinate and growing up with American education (not that anything is wrong with American education) I do not fit in the stero-type (that is half true) that all Asians are good in math. In fact that's my worst subject!! HA HA!! Aside from that, I grew up in your typical American household but of course holding in Korean traditions and rules, and with that I am always exposed to American cultures. The music is something I hear everyday, but it is not the music I am exposed to greatly. This is the beginning of my Korean side. All my life up until 7th grade I was the 'loner' the 'odd one out. Growing up in private schools with Caucasians, I was usually the only Asian girl in the class. Then, Korean was a struggle for me, aside from my grandparents and a bunch of common phrases lik 'Yes' 'no' 'this is yummy' 'it hurts' and so on, I didn't speak much Korean. Then in 7th grade i had my first real Korea friends and from then on my music was K-Pop. In 6th grade I was introduced to K-Pop vaguely. I heard it at the Korean supermarket i went to since i was a child on their radio. As soon as I could hear who the songs were sung by i looked them up. H.O.T, S.E.S, Sech Kies (sounds like sexys) and DBSK was searched and later on Super Junior. But it wasn't something I listened to everyday. 7th grade you can say, was when i was truly introduced to it. B2ST, Big Bang, 2PM, 2AM (Originally together as One Day) were flooding into my mind. Boyfriend, SHINee, BtoB, B.A.P, B1A4, TEEN TOP, and of course the famous EXO came into play and my life became Korean. My language that I has long since forgotten as a young child going to school where English is needed became a priority and writing it became a obsessive want. Thus the priority for school became second as K-Pop went first. Of course listening to the music would be procrastinating but it was a matter of culture over school. Of course I would pick culture, but I never knew that it would change me altogether. Within my school (as huge as it is) I am not what you would consider popular, I mean I have my friends and walking down the hall I would see people that I recognize from classes or mutual friends and say 'Hi' or wave or give a smile. But that is not really popular, yet I am infamous to people I don't even know for my obsession to K-Pop. I speak more Korean than English at school, and I am surrounded by Asian friends or friends that love K-Pop and Korean dramas like I do (but not as much). This made me re-think how much Korean am I? Am I more American than Korean? After Middle School I realized that it's how i put myslef into society. K-Pop, I learned quickly, is not just a music it ended up being a lifestyle for me. The music made me want to relearn my language and further myself into my culture. It made me want to become fluent and made me want to start dressing more like my friends in Korea (those I met here and online). It also made me re-think my education and how I want to learn. I started procrastinating a lot less and started to self study more often. I realized that I ended up more Korean than American. Thus my Korean side began to show more.
When I am asked by new friends or new people I meet and they hear I was born in America, they ask, are you more Korean sided or American side? I used to say I am pretty even, but now I say, "Of course I'm more Korean sided"