I'm from a small community in Los Angeles. Of my 18 years of living, I have never encountered so many white people until I entered UCLA. I've always seen my world "colored". I grew up and am still growing up with a non-English speaking father whose idea of success for a girl, is still limited. So you see, my world is actually quite small, limited and biased. But even though my world is small, I travel to expand it.
When I traveled alone to China this past summer, I was humbled by the people I met and the environment I lived in and without these people, I would have never cleared my past understandings about a country so deeply criticized over its politics. I visited my grandparents in Guangzhou and learned about my parents' lives, from where they grew up and how they grew up. I understood how history had shaped my parents' ideologies and dreams for me. My world grew from a little community in Los Angeles, to the cities I visited in China, and to the worlds of the people I met because the time spent left behind memories and knowledge of worlds we didn't know about before.
When I went to South Korea and got lost, without any knowledge of Korean, I wondered how my family had managed to survive in America. When I arrived at my hostel, I learned about parts of Korean history I didn't think about. I met adopted Koreans who returned to their home country in an attempt to learn more about where they came from, and whether or not they should find their real parents. I think more importantly, I could see the way people thought about the world and how it was part of my dream to change certain paradigms of their world as they have mine. So my world, further extended to the homes of these people.
I’m still travel hungry and still in search for where I fit within the scope of the world. And more importantly, I’m still searching for the reasons of why I do what I do. I guess those reasons are what makes my life well-lived or not.
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