BACKGROUND
This first days story's audio ended before the interviewee completed narrating their story. The interviewee has requested that their story not be shared on social media.
TRANSCRIPT
TRANSCRIBED BY Poorvaja R. (x 7)
Okay. What was question?
What’s your first name, last name?
My name is Jino, and my last name is Park. Jino Park.
Your departure city and country?
I came from Seoul, South Korea.
Your arrival city and state?
The arrival city and state was New York, but the first city I settled in was Bucks County. You know, [inaudible].
Okay, and what year did you arrive in the US?
2009.
And how old were you?
2009, how old I was…[laughs]. Okay, now I’m 53, so 2009, I was…
39?
Huh?
39?
39! Yeah, 39. [laughs]
[laughs] Okay, so, did the US live up to your standards? If so, what were your standards?
My standard?
Yeah, what did you think of the US?
What?
What did you think of the US?
What I think of the US? I had no idea. I came here because this is Kylie’s country— my wife— and that’s first thing, and second reason was because, you know, I thought maybe the US is better country to live in with my kids. Anyway. Yeah, there are two reasons.
When did you decide to immigrate to the US?
Around two years before. Yeah, around 2007—6. Yeah, after my mom death.
How did you make that decision?
Okay, Korea, so now is kind of very cosmopolitan city, and now there are very many foreigners. But still, as a mixed family, you know, that means my personal situation was a little bit weird. That means me and Kylie were visually American, and I had Jeong-ju, but she is visually Korean. And one day our family was in a subway, and the— [laughs]. The one grandma asked to Jeong-ju, “Oh, where is your mom? Where is your mom?” even though Kylie was her mom. But that was very embarrassing for me, that she had to explain to a stranger like the Korean grandma. The Korean grandma, she can’t imagine that Jeong-ju was baby from my first wife, Kylie was my second wife, and now currently is Jeong-ju’s mom. But you know, still, I don’t want to say my personal story on a public space, but that’s kind of hard to explain to everybody and every single day. And I thought, maybe it’s better stay in United State, which there is no question about that from foreigners, from random people. I think that’s better for everybody, maybe. That’s why I decide immigrate.
What was immigrating to the US like? What was the process you went through?
The process that I…hmm. Since I was already married with Kylie and we are married couple, the process to immigrate for me to United States wasn’t hard because I already had the family title. So there are not such a big trouble. Yeah, there’s some speed, the documentation, how you had to pack a lot, but that’s not hard thing, you know. I can tell I was lucky, and I could get almost every document, so there was no trouble that I recall.
What’s a culture shock that you had when you first arrived in the US?
Oh, culture shock, New York. Oh, yeah. You know, New York was obvious to see [inaudible], and I still don’t like New York. And the biggest culture shock I still remember was the Sunday morning, we went subway, and then we took the subway train. In the middle of the subway and in between subway seat, I saw big poo that was visibly human poo, that’s not dog poo. I can tell because the size and shape. And at first sight, I got feeling, “That’s human poo,” and I couldn’t understand what was happening there. And, oh, you know, compare other cities I live. I compare this in Seoul. That’s kind of sad is, you know, the kind of thing I could witness every single corner in New York.
Then also the architect. Very many beautiful architect buildings, the historical buildings in New York. But you know what? That’s very beautiful building, but somehow, Americans, they make in front of building kind of fire escape stairs. Ugliest possible! So I felt just like as somebody cut the [inaudible] in life, whoosh! Every single corner in New York, I saw that, ugh, American society again. They don’t know culture, and here in this country, we have no culture. Maybe pop culture, but not culture or they have no respect of culture. That was my first thinking. So…[laughs]
[laughs]
What was the first food you had when coming here?
Food?
Yeah, first food.
Food…I don’t know if we can call that food— [laughs]
[laughs]
But I could suffer. Hmm. No, I don’t remember that. No, there’s such a thing I could remember as a food, but…I don’t know. There no such a big memory about the food and all, there no such a thing, I can’t…American food? I don’t know.
Is there anything in particular you missed from home?
I never been since I left Korea. You know the people I can—[recording ends].
