Assignment #22 - Irene Kim - Background

Most of you probably have a go-to get-to-know-me for icebreaker games, something safe but interesting enough to share. Mine is that I’ve lived in four states. I come from a long line of Korean parents and grandparents and cousins and aunts—practically everyone in my family, except me, lives in Korea. In fact, excluding myself and my parents, my whole extended family lives in Korea. My parents moved to the U.S. to study abroad, then had me in Texas in 2002. Point being, they were natural travelers. Upon moving to a new country, they moved to a new state three years later. So, as a three-year-old, I left the small apartment in the heart of Austin and moved to Chicago. This only lasted for 6 months until we moved to Michigan, which I still partially consider my “hometown.” The majority of my young childhood was spent there, from first learning to ride a bike to playing with makeshift dolls and collecting an army of stuffed animals. The summer before 3rd grade, my parents and I settled, for the long term this time, in Kentucky. When I told my friends that I was moving, one of them told me to bring back some KFC when I visit. I’ve lived here for over 8 years now—it almost seems surreal—and KFC definitely isn’t as big of a deal here as everyone thinks it is. Plus it’s available in Michigan. Nonetheless, Kentucky has definitely become my home now. But it wasn’t easy at first—adjusting to a new environment, a new school, making new friends, all that jazz. As naturally pretty shy person up front, I had trouble making new friends and initiating conversations. At the time, I hated moving so much and how much mental turmoil it caused. But looking back on it now, I think it’s definitely made me more resilient to tough situations, and I have a pretty dang good group of friends now, so it was worth it! :)