When I mentioned to my mother yesterday that our family might take a trip to Korea in October and spend some time in Pusan, her eyes widened and she said:
"Oh, you are going to Pusan! You have to meet Yun-Hee then!"
"Who's Yun-Hee?"
"He's your cousin! I know you've never met him, but he's your Grandmother's cousin's daughter's son"
"And you know him?" I asked.
"Well, not really. I saw him briefly when he visited Paris last winter"
"Mom, we will only spend a few days in Pusan, and we have good friends we haven't seen in the last 5 years living there. I don't know if I'll have time to meet him"
"You have to meet Yun-Hee" she said again, "he's family, how can you compare family and friends?"
I profoundly love and care for my family in Korea. They're one of the reasons I want Sean and Will to speak Korean. But my mother does not understand why I care more about people I've known for a decade than a complete stranger who is, I agree, somehow related to me by blood.
I wonder if it's because she has been living in France away from her own family for more than 30 years. Or if it's because I was born and grew up here where family traditions are so different. What do you think? Have you experienced the same thing?
- Irene
