« Diana and Paul and CoatsWith Sister »

It's Hard for Him, Too

01/08/10

Permalink 04:07:59 pm, by admin Email , 231 words   English (US)
Categories: ...and Takes On, Travel, Korea, 사랑?, America

It's Hard for Him, Too

So during the funeral there were times I was having a really difficult time dealing with everyone, everything. I was tired of small talk. I was tired of "when will you make babies?" I was tired of little kids staring at me (I had forgotten that, somehow?). I was tired of "oooh! She speaks Korean so well!"

I was bitching to Good Man at some point about it all.

Good Man shook his head and said, very simply, "Yes, it's hard being different for me, too."

I turned to face him, and I saw Good Man in a different light. I am always reflecting on how it is for me to adjust and adapt to his culture. I usually consider how Korean culture and my relationship with Good Man has changed me. I wasn't considering what it was like for Good Man to come back to Korea, married to a white woman. For all of the ways that I've had to adapt and change, he has, too. All I thought was that it must be easy for him to be back home. But he had to be a buffer for me. And he was being placed in the middle of things, intentionally and unintentionally.

I took his hand. "I'm sorry I've been so selfish," I said. "I didn't even think of that."

He rested his head on my shoulder. "It's OK."

4 comments

Comment from: Diana [Visitor] · http://storysinger81.blogspot.com/
Not to trivialize a very sweet post, but you guys should have married when Good Man was older. With Min Gi being Korean age 37, marrying a white woman (because he was marrying ANYONE) "normalized" him a bit for his Korean family... Haha!
01/12/10 @ 04:48
Comment from: Wanda in Ar [Visitor] · http://gwtreece.blogspot.com
Good Man is a keeper. So when are you going to have babies (just kidding).
01/12/10 @ 07:41
Comment from: jason [Visitor] · http://www.mississippitokorea.com
Amanda, great story and something for me to keep in mind as well.
01/12/10 @ 23:30
Comment from: Shelley [Visitor] · http://shelleythetraveler.blogspot.com
Amanda,

Sometimes I too think about all the adjustments i have made, and how difficult being married to an Indian and living in India has been on me. I forget that he is probably dealing with some difficulties too and that it isn't always easy for him, especially when I know he is put in the middle more often that not.
Thanks for reminding me of that :)
01/17/10 @ 02:33

Leave a comment


Your email address will not be revealed on this site.

Your URL will be displayed.
(Line breaks become <br />)
(Name, email & website)
(Allow users to contact you through a message form (your email will not be revealed.)
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
Please enter the characters from the image above. (case insensitive)

An American educator moves moved to Korea, presumably to teach English. Instead she discovers discovered that learning Korean one taekwondo class at a time is was a more captivating activity.

Somewhere along the way, she met a Good Man, fell in love, and ended up back in the States. Still doing taekwondo, still learning Korean...

February 2012
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
 << <   > >>
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29        

Search

XML Feeds

User tools

Women in Martial Arts
[ Join Now | Ring Hub | Random | << Prev | Next >> ]

Expat Women - Helping Women Living Overseas

Martial Spirit Web Ring
[ Join Now | Ring Hub | Random | << Prev | Next >> ]

Martial Arts Blogs

| « Asia Expats Ring » ? |

expatriate

multiblog