I met with Esther again this week! Over coffee, we discussed my favorite topic: food.
You know the saying that a smile is universal? Well, I believe that food is also universal. It varies from culture to culture, but it unites people through the ritual of food.
Esther told me about how food impacted her childhood and her life in the states. She grew up with her traditional grandmother, which carried over to her cooking. She grew up with meals being eaten at a low table, and her family would surround it while sitting on the floor. She explained that after the Korean War, Korea adapted to the idea of the chair based on the US soldiers’ time in its country. To this day, some Koreans do not have chairs or beds in their homes. I did some more research on this topic. I learned that throughout history and generations in Asia, the “floor is used for sitting, eating, hanging out, watching TV, playing and even sleeping (Medium, 2018). There is also a traditional floor heater called “ondol,” which means “warm stone.” People in Asia keep their floors super clean because of the time spent sitting and lying on the floor, which can be seen with the tradition of taking your shoes off when you enter a home (Medium, 2018).
But back to Esther…
Her mom finally got a Western table and chairs when Esther came home in 2020. And at that table, they eat family style, which Esther connected back to the collectivist culture in Korea. The food the people surrounding the table would share all carries meaning. She told me a few meanings of side dishes; spinach symbolizes family, and vegetable fried rice represents nationality.
When she moved to America, she had a hard time adjusting to American food. She debated returning to Seoul after her first few days of eating American food.
Her first American food was sweet tea; her host family offered “tea” to her when they brought her home from the airport, and she assumed she was getting hot green tea or earl grey. When she was offered a dark brown iced liquid, she was confused. After her first sip, she knew this wasn’t like anything she had ever had before. But she didn’t want to be rude to her new family, so she drank it all until it was gone.
Her host family noticed how hard of a time she had adjusting to American food, so they bought a rice cooker, and her host mom tried her best to make Korean food for Esther to enjoy. It was a sweet gesture because her mom taught herself and surprised Esther with her attempt at Korean food.
Although Esther is not the biggest cook, her mom sends her meal kits from Korea so she can make some of her favorite food. Like Korean Dumpling Soup, pictured here!
Her favorite memory with food translates from Korea to America. Her love for fried chicken. She explains that in the States, fried chicken is very casual and, most of the time, considered to be fast food. However, back in Korea, she grew up with it being a delicacy. Her brother and her would beg their mom to take them to get fried chicken, but she couldn’t afford to do so. So, whenever she has it here, she thinks of her brother and her mom and of how far she’d come.
Esther continues to impress me with her resilience. She is so strong and brave. We connected on how hard it is to get used to different little things that one overlooks when thinking of a big move. Like grocery stores and fast food chains, for example. After a long day, craving something hundreds or thousands of miles away and settling for something different in Auburn hurts in a way neither of us expected. As discussed in my last blog post about Esther, I cannot compare my move to hers. However, we can connect over the difficulties and rewards of moving far away from home and starting a new life.
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