I still always think about
how it must feel for them to leave their home country
and go to a new country and start afresh,
because I don't think I could ever do that.
Especially when you don't even know the language that well.
So both my parents worked a lot when
I was younger, and my grandma, luckily she raised me.
So she's pretty much my best friend, still.
[Korean translation] I was working in Thailand
when I heard Australia was a good country to live in.
That’s how I ended up here.
I arrived in Australia in 1987,
that time already my mum here in Australia.
I had no visa
but I still needed to eat and live,
so I worked at a local restaurant.
But because I had no visa
immigration officers were known to patrol at night
so I moved between friends’ places, often at the last minute.
I got only $70 that time.
I worked very hard, and then as soon
as I arrived in Australia, I got a job
in a Japanese restaurant as a waitress.
Then my English wasn't enough to, you know, get orders.
I made a sometimes mistake
when the customer asked me, ‘Can I get the bill?’
And then sometimes I get beer.
And bill and beer are so...
I couldn't [tell], you know, that difference.
But now I can know, yeah.
My first neighbour, I actually remember quite distinctly.
My grandma
used to work in the garden
a lot and I'd help her out just watering the plants.
And the lady next door, she lived by herself, I remember.
When she could hear me on the other side,
she'd knock and then pass over like a bag of goodies,
like Lebanese sweets or Lebanese bread, which was really sweet.
If you didn’t have a visa, immigration officers could get you
so I couldn’t even get to know my neighbours because I was scared.
Naeun’s mum and aunty eventually made their way here
and got citizenship and because there were three of us
and if more than half of your children have Australian passports,
then they can invite their parents.
That’s how I got my citizenship.
Oh, yeah, I still remember his name.
His name is George,
but that time I was 30.
That time he was over 70-something.
Actually he was trying to help me very much.
But the problem is, his neighbour
she's suspicious of me.
“Oh, that Asian girl,
She wants to try to get her PR through you.”
Suddenly he asked me:
“Oh, Stella, I don't want to see you anymore.”
“Why?”
And then “Oh, no,
because my neighbour something, something”.
Then after we’re finished.
After that I couldn't see him anymore.
I was so sad at that time.
Before at my old house,
my neighbour was a white Australian lady who was similar in age.
I could only communicate with smiles and facial expressions.
But now at my new home,
coincidentally my neighbour is Korean
and we see each other in the morning and evening every day
and talk about the old days.
It’s very comfortable and it makes me so happy.
It's really heartwarming.
They spend most of their days
just chin-wagging over the fence and it's...
I love it, honestly, I love it.
It's so beautiful.
And I'm so glad that they found each other randomly.
Actually, you know, I'm the first generation in Australia.
She was born in Australia.
I was trying to keep her to remember
Korean culture and then Korean heritage.
But I was so busy and then my mum, you know,
she just raised her up.
I feel guilty, a little bit more.
Whenever I'm having
like a bad day or a bad moment, I always try to think
of what they've gone through and what they've endured.
So yeah, that always helps me to be a bit more appreciative.
I still love my heritage, and being an Australian,
trying to juggle or trying to meld
those two together, that's what I'm trying to do.
I'm just still trying to figure it out.
She's Australian.
Also, she's Korean,
but don't forget the Korean culture
and the Korean heritage.
I'm so grateful, life in Australia, she got something good.