Jeong Yun
To be honest, I have not really put much thought into my identity or my definition of self.
But then again…
I stay up to watch the ball drop in NYC on New Years Eve and make hundreds of dumplings on New Years Day. I eat rice cake soup on Chinese New Years and dress up in costumes on Halloween. I eat kimchi and rice every day and have a traditional turkey and candied yams dinner on Thanksgiving Day. I watch Korean soap operas and American reality shows. I listen to K-Pop and every other genre in the music industry. I speak, read, and write in Korean and English. I do not remember much from Korea because it has been over a decade since my family immigrated to the States but I try hard to maintain and not forget my roots.
And also…
I spend most of my time as a playmate and guardian over my baby sister. I make sure there is dinner on the table when my parents come home from work. I help my younger sister with schoolwork and boy troubles. I help my cousin with his homework and school projects. I serve as translator and middleman for most of my family’s affairs.
And also…
I spend way too much time in the grocery store deciding over what brand of salt to buy. I check my planner at least fifty times a day and make lists for everything and anything. I make sure I have all my work done on time and on point. I get jealous too easily and get too upset when I lose. I react way too easily to change and get excited for things that do not really matter. I over-think, assume, and predict obsessively.
And also…
I commute back to my home in Bayonne, New Jersey almost every weekend because I love it so much. I am adjusting to the busy, fast-paced, and diverse New York cities and sometimes find myself walking too slow for anyone’s likings. I enjoy the different cultures, customs, and foods that NYC houses and admire the coexistence of various countries in such a small area.
Having said that, I guess can identify myself a neurotic, high-strung, and obsessive Korean American from Bayonne adjusting to a new Brooklyn environment, who serves as a sister, daughter, cousin, and niece to a small, close-knit family.
