Anniversary Dinner

(photo L to R: girl is brother's chingu (friend), next girl is brother's girlfriend, boy standing is brother's chingu, my brother, me, cousin's husband, cousin, birth father, step mother, half sister)

So if you didn’t know, I have 2 birthdays and an anniversary I celebrate each year…

Birthday #1: March 17- that is the day in America I was born b/c of the 14hr time difference – also St. Patrick’s Day which made my Irish Grandpa very proud but he thought it was funny it took an Asian woman to give him a St. Patty’s day baby

Birthday #2: March 18 - the date on my birth certificate

Anniversary: August 4 – the day I arrived to America to start my new life

I celebrate my anniversary by going out to eat Korean food since that’s where I came from and to celebrate my arrival …

So since I’m in Korea, I thought I should continue the tradition. However, I celebrated it backwards this time. I took my Korean Family to TGI Fridays and ate American Food since that was the day I left Korea to go to America.

They thought it was my birthday and it was hard to explain that that was the day I left Korea so in fact they should be sad... but that didn’t matter. It was interesting to observe them figure out what to order and try my chicken alfredo and tell me they don’t like it. The same thing happens in American when family doesn’t know what to get and thinks things on the menu look weird. My American family would each get their own dish (in Korea you share everything) and my Korean Family ordered a few dishes and shared them all (which doesn’t happen when Americans go to TGIF).

So this dinner was cool for me because just like in America, 2 cultures collide for 1 day. I feel luck I could celebrate this day from both sides of the fence and that both my families are willing to give the other culture a try.