Who is Han-Sol Ji?

At the tender age of 10, I asked my dad a question, "Why weren't I born as an African American?" My dad answered me with pride and dignity, "Because YOU are a Korean."

Although I was born in South Korea, I moved to the United States at the young age of 6 months. A just born baby, who couldn't walk, couldn't chew, couldn't read, and couldn't even speak, I couldn't remember the transition that was thrust  upon me. For 10 years I lived in the United States, living in Virginia and California, and every inch of memory that I had of Korea had vanished. With the exception of visiting Korea during the Summer break to visit my grandparents, I had no intention or inclination whatsoever to visit Korea, let alone live in Korea. I was content with my life, living in the States. I had great friends, a great school, a great church, and a great community that brought me in for who I was. I loved the American food, the people, the environment, and everything about America. However, my love for America blinded me into thinking that I was an American and the more I lived in America, the less Korean I became. Instead of calling myself a "Korean/American", I called myself an "American/Korean". My life was perfect in America and I thought, "What could ever go wrong?"

It only took five words. The five words that detonated a bomb into my perfect life sent shocks of sadness and pain through me. "We are moving to Korea." I stared into my dad's eyes, paralyzed by his words, and I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't digest what my father had said and I chose to reject it and to forget it until three months later, I boarded flight number OZ 112 headed for South Korea. As I took my first step in Korea, I felt my lungs collapsing for American air, falling into an abyss of sorrow. My rage and fury slowly started to augment as I screamed, "Why did we have to move? Why? Why? Why?" Driven by my wrath, I decided to reject my own culture and become a rebellious rock. I chose not to learn my culture, not to speak the faint Korean that I knew, and to not accept who I really was. Nothing could penetrate my adamant exterior that protected me from the fear of becoming a Korean. On the verge of hysteria, I was lost and hopeless. 

Now at my 7th year in Korea and going to my 8th, I feel like a missing piece of my life had been found. I learned that when life presents you with adversities that hamper and prevent you from moving forward, all you got to do is fight back and push forward. My experience of learning to adapt and to open my adamant exterior helped me to realize who I truly was. I am now proud to be a Korean.




What factors of Han-Sol's native culture have informed Han-Sol's religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors.

My bi-cultural background of living both in Korea and America has influenced my world view in that no matter what a person looks like, we are all the same. Whether one is white or black, skinny or fat, short or tall, we are all the same internally. No matter what ethnicity, skin color, language, eyes, nose, fingers, or toes a person has, we all have the ability to think, love, feel, touch, sense, and to believe. Living in America and Korea was quite a change for me because of the vast differences of both countries. Both languages have no affiliations whatsoever except for the simple words like "banana" and "kangaroo." The food in America are mostly junk food while having one or two side dishes while the food in Korea are mostly rice with many side dishes. The people in America are very tall with diverse ethnicities in the community while the people in Korea are not as tall with the majority being Koreans. Nonetheless, even with all these differences, there was one similarity; the people's hearts. In both countries, the communities accepted me and welcomed me for who I was, even though I was different from them. When I moved to the States as a little kid, I was the only Asian in my class while everyone else was American. I felt forlorn and secluded from everyone else, however, they welcomed me with warm and fervor hearts that helped me feel like home. When I moved to Korea, I had a stereotypical image that everyone in Korea was a "fob" and chose not to acquaint with them as if they were some supernatural beings. Even with my ignorant first impression, the students welcomed me into their community with the same warm and fervor hearts and I felt like I was at home.

I learned that people are like onions; no matter how big, deformed, or fat an onion is, if you peel back all the external layers that envelope it, you will get the same onion as any onion in the world.