I don't live in Korea anymore, I know, but sometimes I find myself talking like I do and acting like I do, like today. Today I told one of my newer coworkers at PBB that "you guys act like you've never seen snow before" and he questioned what I meant when I said "you guys". "Canadians", I answered. "Aren't you Canadian?", he then asked me.
Interesting question.
OK, so maybe it's not so interesting but I definitely don't feel Canadian.
I was raised to be proud of my Polish heritage. My Baba (Polish Grandma) spoke Polish to me, we ate Polish foods on special holidays, and it wasn't until I moved to Korea that I ever called myself Canadian. To tell them I was Polish/Austrian but not actually from Poland or Austria just confused them. When you ask someone in Canada where they're from you're asking about their family heritage but in Korea it's about which country you lived in before Korea. So ya, in Korea I am Canadian but in Canada I am Polish/Austrian. I feel more Korean than Canadian though, to tell you the truth, and my buddies at System have labelled me an "honorary Asian". I'm more Asian than most of them because I've lived in Asia for 11 years and most of them have never even visited, nor do many of them speak their family's native tongue.
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