(piano music)
- All right.
So, can you tell me your name, age and where you were born?
- My name is John Park.
I am 54 about to hit 55
and I was born in Seoul, Korea.
- And where'd you grow up?
- Kind of all over because
my dad was a diplomat so we moved a lot.
I actually only spent about six years in total
actually growing up in Korea.
Other than that, it's in Canada, New Zealand,
Singapore then here in the states.
- And more broadly speaking, like
what was your, like, what was your family like?
- I'm the youngest of three.
It's my sister, my brother then me.
We were all together until near
the end of our stay in New Zealand.
And that's when our family kind of split up
because my sister had to go back to Korea to start college.
My brother stayed in New Zealand
for one more year to finish high school
and then go to Korea to go to college.
And I stayed with my parents.
So that was the last time we were all together.
After that, we were kind of fragmented
in one way or another.
- So I'm guessing it was your dad's work that brought you
to the United States, but what was it like
like living in Virginia as like your
first encounter with the United States?
- Well, we moved from New Zealand to Singapore.
I went to the American school in Singapore so I started
getting some introduction into American culture.
And that was a bit of a culture shock
for me because Americans are just not,
Americans are not New Zealanders.
New Zealanders are more British
so they're a bit more reserved.
And Americans were definitely not that that way.
- [Owen] Yup, yup.
- And obviously when I came
to the states it was even more that.
When I came to Washington I was starting
in my sophomore year in high school.
High school just seemed very, very clique-ish and this was
this was early eighties, because in Singapore
all the Americans there, they were all ex-pats.
So they were basically all from the same economic class.
So there was really no divisions there.
In this high school that I went to
in Virginia seeing it there and seeing it being so stark
it was really kind of, you know, disconcerting.
I mean, I didn't really, I didn't fit into either class.
You know, I belonged into that pocket of, you know
foreigner nerds kind of thing.
When I started college, I was 16.
And so a couple of years younger than most of
my classmates, everybody ends up finding their tribe when
one way or another.
So, you know, I found my tribe and I sort of hung with them
but, you know, we were, we were all the common bond with all
of us was that we were all doing martial arts.
We all belong to the same dojo's,
you know that was my tribe.
And, you know, they were, you know, they were
my surrogate family for, you know, while I was in college.
- And like, and you called these people, like
you know, your surrogate family, like,
but were you able to keep in touch with your family?
Like, as you know, you went to college and all that.
Cause like, obviously you were there
because of your dad, and everyone else was like away
but like just bringing it back to your family
like where were they in all of this?
- You know, my father passed away during my freshman year.
And you know, I think in one way or another, that kind of
really kind of really fractured my idea of family even more.
So my brother and sister were up in Northern Virginia.
So I went to stay with them over like,
you know school breaks and such.
My mother was in Korea.
We, you know, so, you know, we call on the phone.
I think it made me more self-reliant, you know.
My family was people on the other end of a telephone call.
So it's, you know, it's, again
it's not feeling necessarily particularly connected
- Since then what do you think has been
like your happiest moment in the United States?
Because you obviously had like, you know, like,
I guess like a smoother transition
into the United States than like, you know
mom did or someone who might just come straight from Korea.
So like, is there any moment in the United States
from your time in the United States that like, you know
stands out to you as like, kind of like, you know
a shining like bright moment.
- So I don't really feel like I sort of got back
on my feet really until I actually got into my thirties.
So like, you know, people say they'd like to get younger
and be in their twenties and everything again.
I would never want to be back in my twenties again
because I was an absolute idiot when I was in my twenties.
So I would never want to repeat that.
So it wasn't really, until I was
in my thirties that I sort of started feeling like
I kinda know what's going on and I kinda know what to do.
So like, one of my happiest memories is, this was when
you were like maybe two and a half or something like that.
It was before you started preschool,
you, me and mom we went on vacation.
We went to California, actually to San Francisco
and we went to Mount Tam, the state park there.
And, you know, we're just walking
through the redwoods and everything, you know
you were like two and a half years old
but you were just running through all these,
this Redwood forest like you didn't
have a care in the world.
And you were just really happy.
In a broader context where I felt like
I became happier was once I found my own family
you know, you, me and mom.
You know after I got out of the
financial industry, you know I started teaching.
You know I see kids there who are
kind of looking for, you know their tribe.
You know, some of them are really bright
but they don't really speak up very much.
And, you know, sometimes it's because, you know,
they're not quite sure about how they fit in
with with their classmates.
Especially if they're from, you know
first gens or if they're from a different ethnic group.
I can see them sort of being hesitant in class.
So I kinda get it.
Because I've kinda of been in a similar situation.
So it helps me be more empathetic with them.
And I think it also helps me
in terms of how I approach them.
All they really need is just a safe space.
- And how do you think, and like, more generally speaking
like how do you think like being a teacher
and especially to a lot of like especially to like
a lot of first gens that come from like all of the world,
how do you think that has, you know
how do you think that has shaped you?
- No, on the one hand, sometimes it makes me think like
you know, was I like that, you know,
like 30 some odd years ago.
Now when I was at tech being like one of a handful
of Asian students in there, did I not ask questions
because I felt self-conscious, you know
because I was asking a question to begin with?
And how much of that was also because
I was one of the few Asian kids in there?
You know, whoever you are, you're going to
I want to make sure that you are on equal footing, okay.
That you both have a chance to
really do as well as you possibly can.
I know part of students feeling reticent
about asking questions is there's always this kind
of divide between teacher and student,
but I think that becomes magnified
if you come from an Asian background.
Culturally that chasm seems to be even bigger.
That's one of the aspects of Asian culture
that I would like to deconstruct.
Okay, I want these kids to be able to feel
like they can ask questions whenever
they have it and about whatever they have.
- Is there anything like you're kind of looking forward to
like in the next like decade or so, like, whether it's
you know, whether it has to do with like, with your life or
like the outside world, or like literally just anything?
- You're going to be, you know
the world is going to just explode
for you because you're going to, you're going to see
that the world is just so much bigger
than you've experienced it before.
Yes, there's going to be all kinds
of frustrations along the way
but I think you're going to have such a great time.
You're going to experience it
in a very different wave than I did.
In that you're going to, you're going to feel
that it's completely enriching.
At the ripe old age of 55 I'm kind of feeling
like I'm sort of starting to get the hang of things.
I still feel like a lot of times
I don't quite know what I'm doing or what I should be doing
but I'm kind of getting a better idea.
That's in terms of professionally, personally
with my family, you know, in all aspects.
So I'm hoping the next 10 years to be able to build
on that so that, you know, so that our
family life, you know, you, me and mom
our family life is fuller.
You know that my personal life is fuller.
My name is John Park and this is my Korean American story.
(piano music)