30 Years Ago I came to America

Thirty years ago a Korean boy stepped off a plane accompanied by a translating chaperone. He was two and a half years old, he was most likely scared, and he was about to step off the plane into a very foreign white and black world. I remember a few things from my early childhood, but the one thing I really wish I could remember was the look of joy on my mother’s face when I came through the tunnel at the airport. The emotion of the moment most likely went over my head, but when I consider now what I must have went through during that period of my life I can only wish I had a sense of “hope” when I saw my adopted mother for the first time.

“Hope is a good thing and no good thing ever dies” is one of my favorite lines from Shawshank Redemption. Andy says this to Red to force Red to remember that there was still joy to be found in the world outside of prison… even a prison of our minds. This is not always an easy concept to focus on for those of us enslaved to the shackles of sporadic depression. We constantly battle these demons in the night and a victory for us is IF we get those demons to sleep during the day.

After thirty years in this country I have forgotten the culture shock I felt arriving, however, I can still recall the awe I felt returning to Korea for the first time in 2000. When I stepped off that plane into a sea of Asians I was overwhelmed. It was like being in a movie. The funny part was… I needed the subtitles and I still do to this day. My three earliest memories of my childhood are French Fries, Ants, and riding bikes on streets without sidewalks in Jackson, Mississippi. I suppose those are far better memories than the tears I had returning to Pusan, SK in my teenage years.

I love America and I am very fortunate to have been adopted. I count my blessings each day and they accumulate more and more each year. It has been a good thirty years, thank you America.

-Opinionated Man