Write@Home
Winter 2015

Family

family written on wooden blocks

I would like to introduce my family. My family is exceptionally large. I was born the third daughter of one boy and four girls. My hometown was small and rural. I lived in a rural neighborhood until Grade 4 and then moved to the city with my family. This new neighborhood was so small that there were no shops or public transportation nearby so all of us children in the village met each morning and walked to school for an hour. I grew up seeing a lot of nature while attending school and insects were my only toys. Because of this, I still love traveling around the countryside to this day.

My two older sisters have said they do not plan on getting married. They enjoy their solitary lives and always strive for self-development. I am always impressed by the way my older sisters care for their nephews as if they were their own children. When I visited Korea with my son five years ago, my family, including my parents, traveled to meet us. We had a great time with the family on the beach. My son still remembers the trip. Traveling with my family remains one of my best memories.

After getting married, I decided to immigrate. At the time, my parents were against us immigrating. They were sad that we wouldn’t be able to meet often if I immigrated. I am somewhat accustomed to living in Canada but sometimes it is difficult because of all the different cultures and languages. While it’s wonderful to live in such a multicultural country that is accepting of all people, the language barrier and remembering the customs of all the different cultures has been difficult. If I were still with my family in Korea, I wouldn’t have faced these issues. Also, my son could have been with family so he would not have been lonely. The longer I have lived away from my family, the stronger my longing for them has become. I’m not sure when I will visit Korea again, but I think of that day and it motivates me to work as hard as I can every day.