Mentor Sage Project

Annyeonghaseyo hello

. nae ileum-eun my name is

i nal ui iyagiibnida this is the story of me

I was born on September 9, 1942. I was born in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. I was born eight years before the beginning of the Korean War. I dont remember much before the war, my life was changed so much when North Korea and South Korea declared war on each other. I was the third oldest girl of a family of seven. I remember going to school learning about our history, our culture. I remember playing jacks outside with my friends, jumping rope to childish songs, and taking care of my little brothers after we came back from school. After the war began, much changed, we still went to school, I still took care of my brothers, but I barely had any time to play with my friends anymore, and I was always hungry. We were all constantly hungry. One night towards the end of the war, we were ordered to leave our home by soldiers and were evacuated to a small home, not unlike ours, but foreign. We walked in the house ready to go to bed in the strange house. My sister turned on the light. There was a family sitting around the table, only they werent alive. That night we barely slept, huddled together in that house, with the family who would never get to finish their meal. After the war ended in 1953 much began to return to normal and we returned to our normal lives. South Korea was victorious! Everything was great, we were well fed and enjoying what childhood we still had left. In 1955 the Vietnam War began. American troops were deployed to South Korea. Americans were everywhere, we got to know them, they became our friends, our allies, family, and one became my husband. He was stationed in Seoul, near my home. His name was William, everyone called him Bill. He was a cook. He was a soldier. He

was from Baltimore, Maryland. It was a place I had never heard of before. We courted for three years before we were to get married. Our two children Frances and William Jr were born as Korean citizens. After the war, William, William Jr (whom we called Billy), Frances, and I moved to Texas, where we lived for a few years. Then we moved back to Williams home town of Baltimore where we opened our restaurant Big Bills. My family moved here, Frances and Billy grew up, and had children of their own. William and I have been together for the last 60 some years. I love America, but in my heart I will always be Korean, I miss the people, the land, the food and sitting on the riverside watching the fish go by. Korea will always be my home.