This was an interesting video as a Korean, currently living in the U.S. It makes me think about a lot of things because I am raising a toddler in the U.S. right now. It made me wonder that one day my daughter might want to go to Korea and live there like the interviewees. I was born in Korea but came to the U.S. when I was 6. Went to kindergarten and elementary school here in the U.S. And then went back to Korea when I was 11. I attended elementary school, middle school, high school, university, and a master's program, and also served two years in the military in Korea. Then came back to the U.S. to extend my research studies. Ended up getting another master's degree in the U.S. So yeah, I went back and forth many times. I am turning 40 soon and still can't say which place is a better place to live. Each country has its pros and cons. One thing that I can say for sure is that when moving to a different country, the hardest part is not the language. Language is something you can improve by studying and practicing. It is the cultural background that makes it hard to adjust. Because of the different backgrounds, I find it hard to have an in-depth conversation. For example, small things like what TV programs you watched when you were young affect the conversation. When I moved back to Korea when I was 11, I was shocked that almost everybody was interested in celebrities and singers on TV. Koreans were serious about the entertainment sector even back then. When I was in elementary school in the U.S., I didn't hear about a thing about Noraebang. There was no such thing in the U.S. But in Korea, completely different. Kids go to Noraebang at very young ages. It was a moment of fear when friends took me to Noraebang when I was between 11~16 years old. This is just one example but many people go to Noraebang regardless of their age in Korea. So, if you are preparing to move to Korea, be prepared to sing. And then the PC room culture started to boom when I was about 13~14 years old. Oh man, I really miss those times. The U.S. has been a developed country for decades and there are still no PC rooms that are decent. I have nobody here to talk about that era here in the U.S. Man, I don't know how to end this comment. Don't even know why I wrote this long comment. Just felt something because I moved places between countries many times. Who knows, I might be living in Korea in the future. Pick a place to live, do your best, and re-evaluate. And repeat.
I moved to the states when I was seven and after over 40 years, I'm here in Gwangju right now. My Korean is very bad and the natives definitely see me as a foreigner. It doesn't matter at the end of the day. My family achieved the American dream and I get to travel full time with my husband and 3 teenagers. I would rather have my life than being a Korean native working my life away living paycheck to paycheck. Some Koreans may have visited the BTS beach bus stop or took a photo on the jetty on the Goblin K-drama. We did that these last two weeks but we've also gone to the BTS concert in Chicago stadium as well as gone to Quebec and took photos at the same places where the Goblin Canada scenes were recorded
thank you, i am marrried to a korean woman and she tells me of the prejudices in korea!!! i am so tired of america bashing!!!! all countries and societies have issues, i believe we are trying to change ours.
Soy coreano quien creció en latino América. Debo decir que crecí sintiendo un resentimiento muy grande hacia la gente de mi propio país. Esto se exarverzo al otro nivel cuando entre al servicio militar obligatorio y me trataron muy pero muy mal. Principalmente por que no hablaba bien el coreano. Decidí salirme del país y no volver jamás. Pero con el paso de los años me di cuenta de que la unica persona quien tuvo problemas con la cultura soy yo. Que todo solo estaba en mi mente. Que yo fui la única persona quien fue muy racista por que hubo ese rencor dentro de mi. Que al final todo lo que estaba enfocándome fue en lo material. Ahora se que hay cosas mucho más allá del mundo material en si a la que puedo anhelar. De que hay todo un universo a la que puedo conectarme y que la tierra solo es un mundo muy pequeño.
Loved hearing all of them 💜 Especially the rare, Korean Swiss girl ^^ I also felt represented as a Korean French through their different experiences. I do hope that you could do more Gyopos and Overseas Koreans interviews, many thanks K-Explorer ! 💜
I was so surprised seeing the swiss korean girl! She‘s very right about being a little “special“ cause we don’t really have a lot of Koreans in Switzerland. Also she had a cute swiss german accent
I’m a Korean American born and raised in the U.S. but I’ve been residing in Korea for the past few months to be with my bf. The comment that you either really feel Korean nor quite like a typical gyopo definitely resonated with me, since I’ve felt the same way since I was a child. When I was younger, it was rather the other gyopo kids who taunted me for speaking Korean, because it was “fobby”. Now, they express envy at the fact that I’m bilingual while they’re skating by on maybe a first grade level of Korean at best. On the other side, in Korean or amongst my Korean friends and family, I’m quite American. There are some words I don’t quite understand since they weren’t introduced into my vocabulary; for example, I was thoroughly confused at the bank when they asked for my tax ID number (a term in Korean that I never heard). Professionals tend to be quite patient with me though, since I tell them off the bat that I’m a foreigner. The frustration sometimes comes from my older relatives who don’t understand that I don’t know every single Korean term they throw at me or how the Korean system works, and it definitely makes me feel infantilized sometimes. Kind of sucks to not feel fully integrated on either side, but there’s only one of me so might as well make the most of it. Lol😉
You don't understand certain words, not because you were not raise Korean, but rather you were not raised *in Korea*. It has nothing to do with if you were raised Korean or not. It's the same case as being a Amish, who are American born, raised German and very religious, but would never fit into US or Germany. You should *never* feel ashamed for not knowing words for where you were not raised. Be proud that you have something new to bring to their table.
I’m half Korean and lived in Korea on and off as a kid for 13 years, and was always saddened that the Korean people never accepted me. My family loved me of course, but to others I was just a foreigner and nothing else. I was born in Daegu and lived there for 8 years, so to me Korea was my home and I knew nothing else. When we moved to the US during middle school, to me America was a foreign country. I understand that strangers won’t know my background and will make assumptions off of my looks, but I just wish they could see how much I feel like one of them on the inside! ❤
When I went back to Korea for a visit few years ago, people knew immediately that I was "different". Even the cab drivers and cashiers at cafe. I immigrated to America when I was 9 and didn't go back until I was 35. What people said was that I "look like a Korean", "speak like a Korean", but somehow, they knew that I wasn't Korean. To this date, I do not know what they were talking about. I did not speak a word of English the whole time I was there but at first meeting, they would ask me where I was from. I even asked some of them if I had an accent when I spoke Korean. They all said "No". But just looking at me, they all said, 한국사람같치안어. wtf ... Nobody could tell me why. Here in America, nobody thinks I'm American because I'm Asian. I can't win.
If the vocabularies/grammars you use are different, Koreans may think of you as a gyopo. No offence but ‘한국 사람 같지 않아’ is way more natural to say in Korean. And the gestures/attitudes when you speak might be different I guess?
It's pretty obvious at first glance: hair, makeup, clothes, tanned skin tone, gait, posture, gaze, mannerisms, vocal timbre, ... Everything about your appearance basically screams that you're not from around here, same way you might be able to identify FOBs in American cities, or distinguish between African-Americans vs. Nigerian immigrants.
Salute to the last guy, he recognized that he grew up elsewhere and understands why typical koreans would treat him differently. I should learn to be more unfazed like him.
Have you seen a conversation between 2 overseas Koreans who are not from the same country? Suppose you have a Korean-American, and all he knows English and a little Korean. And suppose a Korean-French who only knows French a little Korean. Would those two be able to communicate with each other will the little Korean they know?
Mexican people do this crap too. I'm American born in America and so where my parents and grandparents. Great grandparents is where it gets out of country and even then great grandma grandpa side was Lenape Indian so native. Sooo.... when people ask what are you, my response is I'm American. They so no I mean like what are you? I'm american... I was born in Denver Colorado what are you talking about? Well... I mean like your parents? Wait where am I from or where are my parents from? Yeah where are they from? "Huh..."? Okaaaay also from Colorado except Colorado Springs. And your grandparents? Brush Colorado... great grandparents native American, Chinese adopted from Spain Mexico. Ohhh so your mixed. Yeah... like alot of Americans. Hence... I'm American. What about you? Ohh I'm white. No... like what aaaaaaare you? Ohh I'm American, I mean like where are your parents from. Etc etc get to their grandparents as well not even great grandparents and they Come from Europe. Ohhh so you're European. Smh
I'm an older millennial Korean-dual American-Canadian and I'm also looking to live in Korea for a few years as I can take advantage of the services provided by US military bases there. Whenever I was in Korea I never felt discriminated against, even with my shitty level Korean, we're all Korean. I'm surprised with how fluent everyone featured on this video is with Korean. Korean-Swiss girl is so cool, never met any ethnic Koreans from there. Well done yall.
@ElyTPGistoosensitive Oh totally, because White Americans totally identify with being German, British, Irish, Italian, French, and Russian and NOT as an American.
@@noymar2210 I think it's different as the Korean diaspora is still relatively new and most of the foreign born Koreans have at least an elementary level of Korean,. Whereas all my white American friends that have roots in America for over a century have lost all their European culture and language. So generally Overseas Koreans and Asians as whole still have a closer affinity to Korea/Asia, which explains all the trend of many of them wanting to reverse-migrate to spend some years back in Asia.
@@TDK2K yeah it’s generally at the 3rd generation you see a bigger loss of the culture since by then your parents are most likely to have spoken English with you etc. Koreans and Chinese Americans are generally only 1st -3rd generation, while Japanese Americans in general are 3rd - 5ft generation so most of them have lost the language although they still keep alot of the food.
@@TDK2KGood point, as a Korean-American who came here at 7 years and grew up here, I don’t really identify as just American. When I first went back to Korea even after decades, there was instant sense of familiarity and understanding and it’s been a love affair…
I felt for the first girl. Being in the middle. I am turkish american, born to turkish immigrant parents. I can't speak Turkish well (yet) so I feel stuck in the middle when I go to Turkey. But we are here, learning ":)
Kids in any country can be quite annoying - poking fun at anything different about you, but if you just wait until the people around you mature, you'll realize all of those differences make us special
I soooo relate. Korean-American, and now I have kids that are half Korean and half white. Lawd lawd. Hahaha. 😂 I think there are so many transitions, many bridges being made. This is just the beginning.
She is definitely American-ized. Ex how many Koreans know what an “NYU” or “PB&J” is? That’s an American thing, I.e. making references that they just assume the entire world understands. Would be interesting to know from Koreans how many of her references they got.
To be fair, (in general) when people are answering specific questions around their individual experience they do tend to make references that only others from that same country/area/experience would understand. That's all she was doing. And she made it pretty clear herself that not only was she Americanized, she actively tried to distance herself from her culture as a defense mechanism.
Bet most Koreans in Seoul would know NYU since it’s well attended by Korean foreign students. Also prolly casually referenced in kdramas as well. Doubt anybody know what PB&J is tho
A lot of Korean/Asian Americans should consider moving to their parents homeland. Korea and Japan in particular are experiencing population loss so they need some young people over there. Also America is getting a little weird and has a fairly consistent history of kicking Asians to the curb maybe once a century or so lol…
@@cocaineminor4420 Population loss is definetly a bad thing lol, you always need a stable growth rate or atleast not a declining one, in Koreas / Japans case its even worse because many people are old
Not korean american, but as an Asian American, Im kinda glad my parents drilled my native language into me. I am very fluent in it. Being able to read and write and throw around slangs. I consume a lot of content in my native language as well. I rarely spoke it outside of the house or with anyone who was not my ethnicity. (I speak it with ppl of the same ethnicity as me). The first girl ,I kinda resonated with it. I didnt really like speaking my native language when I was young. I was always opting for English. I thougth English was better, but really, being bilingual comes with so many advnatage. So many ppl I meet in college are completely deaf in their native language that it kinda sucks. Theres this disconnect, they dont really know much about their own culture. They look Asian but they act American, but back in their respective country in Asia, theyre also alienated because theyre dont fit in either. Being fluent in my native language allowed me to easily fit into my respective country and ppl would never suspect otherwise.
@@EdrisVandam Im Taiwanese. Even now, I rarely speak my native language unless Im with other Taiwanese. For 3 whole years in high college, some classmates thought I was Korean, until I spoke a sentence of mandarin. It always come a shock to people that Im fluent because I hide it, but in reality, I sometimes take notes in both English and mandarin. Like when I told my college friends that I was learning korean, they all assumed that I was learning through English but upon reading my notes, there was no English in it.
@@jasonshih3633You’re very fortunate for your parents and you’re very smart. As a Korean-American, I love that I can speak/read/write Korean as well, also there’s so much more fun and interesting content in Korean too. I think my world is so much bigger because of it and I’m so grateful for it ~
@@PK-us1de i dont think im that smart lol (i got into a so so college) but thanks anyways. Yes, im currently trying to learn Korean as well even though I dont watch kdrama or listen to korean songs. I jsut felt like it. I think the culture is very fascinating. Its honestly really cool that you can speak/read/write. You can just fit right in. And i bet youre pretty smart
@@Cxs1a3 bro it‘s about nationality, where she grew up and all that. If i‘d meet her and she would tell me about her background i‘d consider her as swiss korean. There are tons of white ppl in Switzerland that are not swiss but you will never know if they grew up here or not. Stop being such a svp person
@@Antonia-uc1iv It's not about me, it's how society works. When she walks on the street, everybody's first reaction in their mind will be " 0h I00k, an Asian griII". Stop making this about me, it has nothing to do with my beliefs, it's just human nature, every1 will judge looks first.
as a chinese-canadian who looks super korean, according to the locals and foreigners alike, i've had many hilarious interactions during my 10 weeks stay in korea. it's all good though, i had fun. but a lot of what's described in this video applies to foreign raised chinese if they go back to china as well, which is one of the many reasons why i would never go back to that hellhole.
Wow, they really use the word ''like'' in almost every sentence.😄so American. But she makes a lot of sense and I like the fact that she's looking toward building the broken connection to Korea.
The fact that you have to have a peanut butter and jam sandwich as lunch to be seen as normal sounds wild to me. That is not a meal. That is a snack. In my country, you would be the weird kid if you had a P&J sandwich for lunch. People would feel sorry for you that your parents don't give you a real and healthy meal.
@@yj8641PB&J was the only thing I knew how to eat that made me feel “normal” when I got introduced to the school system when I was a kid. Was shamed previously at a private catholic school for my asian home-cooked lunches by the white kids, you know the whole “lunch box experience”… so PB&J was and still is my comfort food
"Gyopo" is a term used to describe ethnic Koreans who have moved outside of Korea and live in another country. It's a compound word that combines the words "guk" (country) and "sa" (person), and it's most commonly used to refer to Koreans living in the United States. Gyopos may retain some elements of Korean culture, like language and food, while also adopting aspects of their new country's culture. There is even a special term, "gyopo pride," which refers to the sense of pride and community that many gyopos feel.
"Gyopo" is a term used to describe ethnic Koreans who have moved outside of Korea and live in another country. It's a compound word that combines the words "guk" (country) and "sa" (person), and it's most commonly used to refer to Koreans living in the United States. Gyopos may retain some elements of Korean culture, like language and food, while also adopting aspects of their new country's culture. There is even a special term, "gyopo pride," which refers to the sense of pride and community that many gyopos feel.
This girl who grew up in Florida should have stayed in the US. She risks being discriminated in Korea as she was in fact. I 'd never leave the US for Korea
As a person of color in America, I can tell you that the discrimination she would face in Korea is nothing compared to what she would face there. Especially where she lived in conservative Florida. Racial discrimination against minorities in America is systemic-- it's in the education system, in the medical system, the judicial system and policing, the voting system, micro-aggressions in the workplace, banking and housing. It can also be enacted with violence in America from MAGA and certain gun owners. In Korea, yes she may face some prejudice people's verbal slurs, a harder time getting hired until her Korean gets fluent, but that's about it. No fear of being shot for turning up the wrong driveway, or driving while Asian there, understand? The racism or prejudice is there too but it's individual, not systemic as it is here, and not backed with violence. One is a slur from one old man on the train that hurts your feelings for a minute, the other causes chronic low level PTSD, limits opportunities and overall earning potential, and has been shown to take years off your life due to disparities in healthcare. Wine spritzer racism vs. 180 proof moonshine racism, with guns, get it?
So people in America never experience discrimination? Discrimination is everywhere so you may as well travel and go and see where your parents grew up and improve your fluency in the language. It’s part of understanding your parents.
Nah, the cursing is fine. Censoring too much is unnecessary. I will say that the overuse of the word *"like"* by both the host and a lot of the guests was more irritating and grating.
"Why did you come back to Korea?" This question implies that they originated there in the first place. Wrong. Some of the people interviewed specifically mentioned they were from the US or Switzerland. They do not have any connection with Korea whatsoever. And they are not overseas Korean, they are American or Swiss. I don't see any other group of people in the US say overseas European, African, etc. to describe someone who was clearly born and raised here but has ancestry from some other part of the world.
Living in big, rich,powerful and multicultural USA much more interesting than in small Korea. Korea was safe place, but not so safe anymore, too much chinese and rusians now in Korea..
