Undergraduate /
"Chicken Curry Sushi" - my common app personal essay [8]
A Chicken Curry Sushi with English Tea, Sil Vu PlaitDo you know what a chicken curry sushi with Korean bean curd filling tastes like? Well, I've tried it, and unfortunately, it doesn't taste as nice as chicken curry, sushi or Korean bean curd served as separate dishes. And how, you may ask, did you come across such a weird combination? I made it. Of course. Don't laugh! I was curious how I would taste like if I were a dish: would I taste nice? Would people enjoy eating me? And that was the innovation behind the dish named Somang.
My shiny green passport says I'm Korean, but I've seen outside the box. I've lived in Sri Lanka for quite a proportion of my life, and lived as many years in England and Africa as I have lived in Korea. I'm one of those kids known as MKs and TCKs-Missionary Kids and Third Cultural Kids- who enjoy feasting on a slab of slightly burnt chutney as much as on a roll of tuna kimbab, like to have bacon-and-egg for breakfast rather than a bowl of white rice and spinach soup, and love keeping a chirpy transparent gecko lizard as a pet rather than your regular furry hamster. Of course, not all TCKs think geckos are adorable, but I find their innocently blinking glassy eyes and tiny webbed feet most squeaky! I mean, cute.
Sometimes, people would approach me and ask: "Wasn't it hard for you to leave your own country and follow your parents to a less developed country at war?" At those moments, I would smile politely and tell them how I was only 18 months old when I boarded on my first flight, and that I couldn't possibly have felt much remorse. Then they would chuckle understandingly and question no more.
I don't mind having lived in Korea only for a while, firstly because there was a Korean society almost everywhere we went, and secondly because I've enjoyed my bits of adventure. I distantly remember a tiny Somang with tiny dirty feet following a huge African bull-toad up a very slanted and stout banana tree. I also recall a squirmy little Somang squatting inside a tattered box with her Sri Lankan friends, sticking a long, dry twig outside the brim of the box, playing "we-are-fishing"- only with no fish.
Moreover, life is too short to spend regretting and pondering about a life I "could have" had. My life was more about cheering for Korea during the World Cups with our Sri Lankan and Indian neighbors on a 6-inch TV screen, and chasing after the ice cream-bajaj with my friends, waiving a crumpled ten rupee bill frantically above our heads. Besides, if I lived in Korea, I may not have met my two loving best friends who are charmingly Sri Lankan and elegantly Filipino. Someday, before any of us gets married, we're going to go traveling around Europe on bikes with nice brown baskets attached to the front, each basket occupied by a sleepy parrot with feathers matching the color of our bikes. Until then, we really should stop thinking about marriage.
So, wait, do you mean you don't see yourself as Korean? I've come across that question quite a few times, and my answer is NO: I am 100% Korean by blood, and my central roots remain deep inside Korean culture. My parents have put in much effort during my younger days to bring me up as Korean as possible. The first words I spoke were "Umma" and "Appa", not "Mommy" and "Daddy", and I learnt how to use chopsticks to pick up a leaf of spicy hot kimchi even before I started using a fork to poke at a carrot stick. Besides my international circle of friends, I have a comfortable place in the Sri Lankan Korean society where I talk with my friends about Korean singers, movies, and- believe it or not- recent news and politics. Although you might think it's weird for teenage kids to sit around and "gossip" about what they read on the news during their free time, news is a huge connection between us Koreans out here and the actual Korean society, and talking about it even seems inevitable. Moreover, I am all ears for news, international affairs in particular. What decision would this country make at such a situation? Would they accept the deal? Speech! I tell you, this is much more intriguing than any old gossip magazine.
Back to the point; I am Korean, I feel Korean, and I am proud of being a Korean. I'm just a more internationalized version with multiple subcultures and integrated mannerisms.
Ban ki Moon part deleted
Life as a missionary's kid was not all sweet romance as I have told you, but I have taken all I could from my current life, and I do not regret the experiences I have had. I have enjoyed every culture I have visited in the way a local member of the society would with all the joy and suffering, and this has helped me understand and accept others to a greater extent. Also, as our family was placed and replaced across the world, I was situated amongst strangers and in foreign cultures all the time. As I rapidly became accustomed to "change" itself, I understood the basics of quickly befriending new people. Wherever I went, I was not surrounded by "strangers", but seated among friends. I believe that this will act as a strength in any society.
So, do you know what Somang tastes like? If you think you have seen it all, you're in for a shock. Would you like a taste? It's Somang!
p.s. Do you know how a monkey ended up in our kitchen?
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The topic is "of your choice" an it is 1104 words including the title.
Please tell me what you think (e.g. it lacks substance, it's too long and boring, unneccessary paragraph) and please check the grammar and style too!!
Any editing MOST WELCOMED :)
