I AM KOREAN AMERICAN

Own Words

As a first-generation immigrant growing up in Oklahoma, the thing I wanted most as a child was a normal lunch. I used to watch my friends unpack their Scooby Doo or Wonder Woman lunch boxes and eagerly dig into their PBJ sandwiches and Oreo cookies. I reached into my plastic Safeway bag and covertly ate my kimbop with pickled turnips. I brought lunch only when mom had time to make it. If she had to work overtime at the air refinery, which was often, I was forced to use my state-issued ticket for a cafeteria meal.

I am currently writing two books. Good Bye Joe is a collection of stories about my parents surviving war, famine and abuse; my childhood with my sisters and as an Korean immigrant family adjusting to life in 1970s Oklahoma, and a whirlwind life with my husband Jeff.

The second book is Goodbye Joe: A Cookbook Companion, a condensed version of Goodbye Joe that includes Korean, Lebanese, Irish, German and all-American recipes.

These two books along with a website I created to share my stories and recipes, are my attempts at recapturing some of my Korean heritage.

The F5 tornado that hit May 3, 1999, left a trail of destruction from Oklahoma to Tennessee and destroyed our childhood home. It was a brutal reminder of how things can be taken away in a blink of an eye. While things can get destroyed or lost, shared stories and memories will always stay with us. I’m hoping to preserve those stories and memories through the two books and website.

The stories and recipes are available at www.yobodish.com.