Interview with Cindy

Cindy (South Korea, 18)

CV: What is your home of origin? Why did you/your family settle in NJ?

Cindy: I was born in South Korea but my dad wanted to come to the U.S. for graduate school. He stayed here and eventually my mom and I came. We have been living here ever since. And, we decided to move to NJ because I think NJ is a pretty well known as a Korean community so we thought we would be comfortable here with lots of opportunities.



CV: What is your favorite aspect of your culture?

Cindy:I respect the fact that manners are very important to the Korean culture. Age is a big factor in how people interact in the Korean community. We use formal Korean called jon-daen-mal to address older individuals and ban-mal to talk to friends and those younger than you.



CV: Define and describe the most important (or most celebrated) holiday of your culture.

Cindy: The most celebrated holiday is Chuseok, which is similar to Thanksgiving. Like Thanksgiving, we gather with all our relatives to meet up and eat. My favorite food from Chuseok is dduk-gook which is a type of rice cake soup.



CV: What would you say is, from your perspective, the most commonly held misconception about people of your culture?

Cindy: I guess a misconception is that Koreans, or more broadly Asians are very studious and hardworking which is not a general rule about everyone. I think this sets up automatic expectations from people, that may not reflect the person you actually are.



CV: Have you ever experienced racism?

Cindy: Probably... I probably experience racism day to day. I don't think I experience it directly, but the way people treat me on a daily basis.



CV: What is the best thing about living in the U.S.?

Cindy: I guess the good education system and lots of fun places to be able to go to, such as all the attractions and travel locations. Also, I like the clean air.



CV: What is the worst thing about living in the USA? 

Cindy: It’s far from Korea. It takes about 12-13 hours to fly from NJ to Seoul, Korea.



CV: Lastly, how do people greet one another? 

Cindy: You say ahn-young-ha-sae-yo to say hello formally in Korean while bowing.