A friend of mine told me this joke.
What is yellow on the outside and white on the inside?
A banana?
No. An Asian American or in my case me.

I got a good laugh at first, but then when I thought about it, it really made sense. Yellow represents the Asian skin color and white represents being acculturated on America and to white society.

My experience growing up in the United States has been unique. I was born in Korea, but was raised by an American family. I have had the opportunity to be a part of two cultures, which most people can’t say they’ve had. There have been a few obstacles to overcome, but in general it’s been very positive for me.

I look at my life like a jigsaw puzzle. I’m slowly, but gradually putting the pieces together. How we go about putting those pieces together over time is essential. Some people like to look at the smaller picture and then work around it, while others would rather focus on the larger picture. I chose to look at the smaller picture. I like to take my time and get all the details before I pursue something.

Now, on to bananas what have I learned from this potassium-rich fruit? That anyway you peel it, it’s still a banana. Follow me here; you can’t change what you inherently are. Although I wanted to be more American or more Korean, I can’t be completely one or the other. It’s been difficult at times to accept this because I feel that I’m caught between two cultures.

Fortunately, I have met others like myself, so I don’t feel like I’m the only one out there. What I’ve done is to focus on the positive things in my life and use these to my advantage. We all have some kind of God-given talent or ability. It’s there if we care to use it. What are you doing with yours? Are you letting it waste away, or are you using it toward some good purpose?

I’ve used my good fortune of belonging to two cultures to my advantage. When I was living in the United States, I was actively involved in promoting Korean adoptee issues to children raised by American families. It’s kind of the idea of giving back to your community, but in my case, it’s to help the next generation of Korean adoptees to understand themselves better.

I was involved in a summer camp for these children, introducing Korean culture and helping them to know more about their Korean heritage. I volunteered for four years at a camp in New Jersey and then was able to see a camp develop near my home in Indiana in which I was camp director. In 1992, I was able to have my first experience of visiting my birth-country. I volunteered for three months in the summer for Holt International Children’s Services. I lived and worked at their orphanage located in Ilsan, just outside of Seoul.

Sometimes, I feel that I’ve come full circle with this whole experience. Over the last 16 years, I’ve really gotten to know a lot about my Korean culture and heritage, but in some ways there are still many things to learn.

Before I close, I should mention my family. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. They’ve instilled in me a sense of pride, self-motivation and determination. Also, they have showed me what compassion means. To think about and care for other people and help those who are less fortunate than me.

I don’t know if I’ll completely finish the puzzle of my life. Life is really one big learning experience. We will always be learning even until the day we die. That’s the beautiful thing about life. It’s so varied and full of so many twists and turns. It’s up to us to decide how complete our puzzle will be. That’s why when given the opportunity to experience something new, we should take advantage of it. I feel that teaching English here in Korea is just another part of that puzzle.

I hope that what I’ve shared with you about bananas and jigsaw puzzles will give you a better understanding about myself and may even help you to reshape your thinking about things. Each one of us has the ability to be a light of this world; to take our knowledge and experiences and devote it to something worthwhile and good. We all come from different backgrounds and experiences, but each of us can be a bridge. Whether it is traveling or living in a different country or just as simple as communicating over the Internet, we have the opportunity in life, like no other time in history, to bridge that gap between cultures. I hope that we, as teachers and students in Keimyung University, can begin to build those bridges. Before you know it, our world will become smaller and hopefully a friendlier and better place in which to live.