Who am I? One individual out of six billion people existing on this planet. One student of out of entire student body of TCIS. One classmate out of 18 classmates in this A1 English SL class writing an introductory blog. These descriptions are quite vague yet revealing about me at the same time. But the question still remains unanswered. Who am I?
People have always asked me, 'Where is your home?' and it has always made me ponder over the question for awhile. It is as if people demand a specific category they can sort you in, like a label on a product. They want a definite characteristic they can identify you as. Growing up as a third culture kid and a missionary kid, my story is quite different from the stories of majority of the teenagers my age. I have moved around from Korea, the US, and China during the span of 16 years of my life. And here I am, in Korea, back in my motherland, but still feeling disconnected, as if I am a displaced person in my own country. Although I am ethnically Korean, I cannot tie myself entirely to Korean culture, neither can I to Chinese or American culture. Instead, I am a wanderer in this society, but a wanderer at ease, without any worries about finding home, because I know that my eternal home and culture are not of this world. Some may call my situation as an identity crisis, but really, life is way too momentary to waste time searching for who we are.
I have learned to not let the cultures define me, but the experiences I learned from the diverse cultures to challenge me in my religious world views. My experiences of encountering diverse cultures has molded me into an adaptable, open-minded person, and I can only thank God and my parents for such a blessing-my own personal benediction.
I am like neither a red, blue, yellow, orange, or a green t-shirt but instead, I am like a tie-dye t-shirt. I am blurred by different colors of cultures that immerse together to create God's final masterpiece, shining off all the radiant colors of His majesty.
As I reflect upon the world we are living in today, I feel as if everyone is hungry to find out who they are as an individual, like they are on a pilgrimage their whole lives, searching for they are, and wasting the precious moments that stand right in front of them. They find security and assurance in their searching because it gives them a sense of self-confidence that once they found out who they are, they will no longer need to worry. But for me, simply put, I still do not know who I am or what culture that I am tied to; however, it does not bother me a single bit anymore, because honestly...who knows?
