Ep 10: The Face That Didn't Compute - Growing Up Korean American Without the Korean

I've been asked my whole life why I can't speak Korean. And for a long time, I didn't have a good answer -- not one I was willing to say out loud anyway. I'm Korean American. Born in San Francisco. Raised in a mostly white neighborhood. I looked Korean. I just didn't sound it. And depending on which room I was standing in, that meant I was either too Korean or not Korean enough. Never just -- enough. This episode starts with a story from my Army days near the DMZ that still makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. It moves through the version of me that dreaded going back to Korea as an adult, and ends somewhere I genuinely didn't expect when I started telling it. I also watched a movie recently that cracked something open. I'm not going to review it. But it brought up a feeling I've been carrying since elementary school -- one I recognized immediately and wasn't totally comfortable recognizing. If you grew up between two cultures, you probably know this feeling. If you're raising kids in that same in-between, this will sound familiar. I Took the Long Way is a personal storytelling podcast about faith, family, identity, and figuring it out the hard way. New episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.