Oral History - Research Paper Example

? The of my oral history report is Soo Park. She is a 65 year-old immigrant to the United s from Korea. Her history is one full of surprises and shocking turns. Over the course of the interview, I wanted to learn about how moving from Korea to the United States affected her views of her own culture. I thought that the best way to explore this would be through learning about her experiences with culture shock when coming to the United States. To do this, I knew that I needed to get to know Soo Park’s reasons for coming to the United States. This would have an impact on the level of culture shock she experienced and how she dealt with it. Soo Park was born in a rural area of Korea. Today, we would call it South Korea, but Soo Park never used this term. She insisted that there is only one Korea and that soon there would be no rebel government in the North of the country anymore. Her family was well off. Her father had a shop that supplied everything from fertilizer to small tractors for local farmers. Soo Park recalls that she was luck to have such a good man for a father. He loved her and never made her feel unimportant. In those days, she explained, the rural Koreans placed all privileges upon their sons. Soo Park’s younger brother was chosen to take over the family business at a young age. She said that it was typical for girls to simply prepare for marriage. But she loved school and was a good scholar. Her father saw this and arranged for her to go live in Seoul at a private school that taught in English as well as Korean. There were American students that attended the school along with Korean students. The only problem with this plan was that problems were starting in Korea. Soo Park was twelve when she was to enroll in the school. This was 1958 and Korea was still an uncertain place as a result of the recent war. There were any American soldiers in and around Seoul and many of the rural Koreans did not trust the Americans. Soo Park remembers her father speaking favorably of the American soldiers he had met, but still expressed concerns about them being in Korea. She remembers him telling her that the Americans would be here in Korea for 100 years. Soo Park knew that her father was a wise man, but she had no idea that his words would be so true. In 1964, Soo Park finally could go to Seoul to finish her schooling. Her father had kept his word and felt confident that his daughter would be safe for one year in Seoul. She earned the equivalent of her High School diploma and tried to learn some English, but found it very difficult. Soo Park recalls being so good at everything in school except English. She was actually a better math student than most of the boys, which made some of them furious. There was one male student, Henry Lee, which was even better than she at math. They became friends and fell in love. She knew that Henry was going to spend the next four years in the United State attending college on a scholarship. She wante3d to go with him badly, but knew she could not. The next four years of her life were difficult. She lived for letters from Henry. He studied in California, but she was not able to attend college. Her mother pressed her to find another boy to marry, but she refused. Her father was sad because she was sad. She spent her time helping in the family business and writing to Henry. Finally he graduated and sent a letter that informed her he was graduating, had become a United States citizen and was going to work for a statistics firm in northern Virginia. He invited her to come to live with him in America as his wife. Soo Park arrived in Washington D.C. in 1970. Her father and mother accompanied her. She spoke little English and was completely unfamiliar with American culture, save the bit she picked-up from her classmates during her last year at school. Soo Park’s mother was glad she was marrying a Korean boy, but was disappointed there would be no traditional wedding. Henry, who spoke perfect English now, said that a traditional wedding would be too expensive and too much hassle. A Justice of the Peace wed them and her parents returned to Korea. The following months were a honeymoon period for Soo Park in many ways. She was thrilled to be Henrys wife. She recalls being in awe of his knowledge and how he had adapted to life in America. He spoke constantly about his work as a statistician and wanted to have a home far away from the city where he said I would feel at home. So much was new that she had a hard time taking everything in. He most vivid positive experiences from these first several months are still fresh in Soo Park’s mind. She was amazed to find so many machines that would offer convenience. The apartment she and Henry rented has a refrigerator, a gas stove and even a machine that washed the dishes. These were chores that she hated to do back home, and now in this new place as a new wife, who did not need to worry about shaking down a coal fire, washing dishes in freezing water or even walking to the market, because Henry bought a car and was teaching her to drive. Everything was so easy in America and she loved it. During this time, she didn’t meet anyone else. Henry and their small apartment was her entire world. Looking back, she realizes that this was a mistake. She was so in love with her new home and her husband, she did not see any reason to try to meet new friends or to better her English skills. This would be a mistake that would make life very difficult for her in the future. In 1970, Soo Park gave birth to her first daughter. They named her Nancy Lee. Soon after the birth, Henry came home and informed his wife that he had found a nice home in a small town about 120 miles away. His work was going to relocate to the northern suburbs of Washington DC. He heard about a town in southern Pennsylvania that would allow him to drive about 45 minutes each way to work. Soo Park agreed to see the house. She remembers having a bad feeling about the purchase of the home, but Henry was so excited she agreed. They moved into the house in a small town. They were the only Koreans in the entire town. By this time, Soo Park was beginning to see some things she did not like about America. The first thing that was bothering her was the food. Americans ate such horrible food, she thought. Everything was fried in grease and there were very few vegetables. When she lived in northern Virginia, there was a local Korean grocery that would get some fresh vegetables. She could get the proper spices for cucumber and cabbage kimchi. Now here in this new town, there was no Korean grocer. She planted a garden to raise some of her own fresh vegetables, but Henry did not like her doing this. He felt that her working in the garden was beneath her station. He was a professional and Americans did not grow their own food, they bought it at a supermarket. Soo Park remembers longing for the taste of her mother’s cucumber kimchi during this part of her life. She was not close to her mother, but the lack of traditional Korean food made her miss her mother very much. Soo Park could feel herself getting homesick for the first time in 1971. She says that from 1968-1971, she was in a honeymoon phase of her life. She was still excited to be married, excited to be a new mother and excited to be in America. That began to change in 1971 as her life began to change. Nancy was a lot of work and Soo Park’s mother was far away. She started to feel the need of female companionship. She needed to ask questions about diaper rash, nursing the baby and her own body. She did not have any friends other than Henry, who was away more and more for his work. He often came home late and exhausted from his job and the long drive from their home in Pennsylvania. Soo Park began to look around for a friend. The more she looked, the more the shock of living in her new country began to sink in. For the first time, Soo Park noticed the way people she met looked at her. She noticed that Americans were fat and that they spoke very loudly. She started to think unkind thoughts about the people she passed on the street or in the aisle of the supermarket. She could see that many of them made fun of her for her broken English and that they avoided her simply because she was not like them. By 1972, Soo Park hated living in America and was ready to go home. She was pregnant again and was feeling very sick. Henry remained a wonderful husband, but could only do so much. Soo Park wrote a note to her mother informing her that she would like her to come to America to visit. This was an act of desperation, because Soo Park did not enjoy being with her mother at all. The reply that came from her mother was brief and shocking. The family business was not going well and she could not afford to fly to America. She asked for more information in subsequent letters, but received no reply. In 1972, Soo Park and Henry Lee welcomed their second daughter, June Lee, into the family. Nancy had become a rambunctious three-year old. Soo Park knew she should be happy, but she was not. The shock of living under her current circumstances in America was beginning to wear off, but a sort of depression was starting to set in. She was not happy with her life, and another child was not going to make things better. Little did Soo Park know that things were just about to get worse. In 1973, Henry Lee was killed in a car accident. A deer ran into the road ahead of him and he swerved to miss it. His car ran off of the road. Henry was pronounced dead at the scene. Soo Park was now alone with two young girls to raise. She had no skills and still spoke little English. What she did speak was heavily accented. Soo Park was already depressed, she recalls, but the death of her husband changed that. Instead of giving in, she grew determined to work. This was especially true after her mother wrote to her informing her that they could not come to the funeral because there was no money and that she never wanted her to marry Henry Lee in the first place. Briefly, she thought of going home, but that letter made her determined to stay in America and make the most of her life. Henry had life insurance to cover the cost of the house and replacing the car. She did not need to get work right away, but needed to figure out how to do some things like enroll Nancy in school and to improve her English skills. Soo Park recalls making a determined effort to make this small town her home. She began to walk downtown more instead of driving everywhere. She greeted people with a smile and said hello with confidence. She missed Henry but tried to be cheerful. She was still an outsider. She could feel it, but she was determined to adapt. During the summer 1974, Soo Park made an accidental discovery that changed her life. While driving on a road she had never been on before, she saw a sign along the road that was written in Korean. She was so excited; she pulled over immediately and read the sign. It was for a Baptist church. Apparently, there was a congregation of Koreas that met in this chapel every other Sunday. Soo Park knew little about Christianity, but she knew now that there was a Korean community just 10 miles from her home. She decided to attend the next service. The following Sunday was a day that Soo Park will remember the rest of her life. She recalls how wonderful it was to hear the sound of Korean being spoken. She learned that there was a military base nearby and many of the soldiers stationed there had spouses that were Korean as a result of being stationed in Korea during the war. She learned that many of the women in the congregation were bilingual and that many had children the same age as her girls. By the end of that Sunday, Soo Park had been offered a job, arranged to begin taking English lessons and had been invited to Sunday lunch complete with ginseng tea and kimchi. Soo Park relates that while her daughters played with some other children, she locked herself in the bathroom and quietly wept for a very long time. This was the beginning of the end for Soo Park’s culture shock. She began to master many of the basics of American life. She became a diligent student of the English language and was proficient by the time June started kindergarten. She learned social skills from the other women. She learned how they dealt with comments or stares from people that were not used to seeing Koreans in their town. She also learned that the town where she lived was notoriously unfriendly towards Asians of all types. This made her feel better about some of the unpleasant experiences she had. She realized that it was not personal, but was the result of a general prejudice against all Asians. The culture shock of Soo Park was unusual in many ways. Often, culture shock plays out in a matter of months. People that are new to a cultural setting move through the phases of honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment and master at different rates, but usually within a year. Soo Park appeared to be so isolated during her early time in America that she never needed to move through those phases. After Henry’s death, she was forced to engage with the culture surrounding her. As a result, she moved through the phases of culture shock. Today, Soo Park is still glad she lives in America. She is proud of her Korean heritage. She had been back to Korea several times since 1990. She has taken her grandchildren back to the village where she lived as a young girl. Her brother was able to save the family business and it has grown into a large agricultural supplier. Both of her parents are dead, but she tells her grandsons stories about them. Soo Park considers herself to be an American first and a Koreas second. She explains that once she adjusted to life in America, it became her home. She has lived many more years in America than she did in Korea. As a result, nothing shocks Soo Park any more when experiencing American culture. She still loves Korea, but loves her home in America even more. Understanding culture shcok is a difficult thing for someone that has never been taken away from his or her native culture. A big difference for Soo Park is the fact that she came to America willingly. She came to be with her husband and to start a life together. This makes a difference is how well a person copes with culture shock. Soo Park never remarried. She was able to find a good job working for a doctor in her town. As the practice grew, she took on more responsibility, eventually becoming the office manager of a practice that supported six full time doctors. Her daughter Nancy married a local boy and lives just down the block from Soo Park. She has two sons and has a great relationship with Soo Park. June married a member of the United States Army and has lived in Germany. Their next duty station, of all places, is to be Korea. Works Cited Giddens, Anthony. Sociology. Cambridge [England: Polity, 1993. Print. Noonan, Sheila Smith. Korean Immigration. Philadelphia: Mason Crest, 2004. Print. Read More