When the Seeds of Youth Flower:
From Childhood to 2020
Learn more about the Narrators
Kang-min Lee
Kang-min was born in 1958 in a small village called Geumpo on the island of Geojedo in South Korea. He remembers how beautiful the village was, and hopes that he can go back there one day to visit. He spent his childhood there until moving to a city called Masan and going to seminary school to become a pastor. It was around 2002 that he immigrated to the United States, and he settled in the state of California with his two sons.
He primarily lived in the Southern California area, but he moved around frequently to account for financial difficulties that arose in his family. Currently, Kang-min lives in Milpitas, California, where he works as a cook at a Korean restaurant called Jang Soo Jang. In his free time, he likes to visit his daughters and try out new restaurants with them. With the COVID-19 pandemic, however, it’s been difficult for him to see his daughters often. When he retires, he hopes to travel around the United States and sightsee different natural landmarks.
Ann Rubin
Ann was born in 1971 in Tokyo, Japan to an American citizen and a Japanese woman. This effectively, as Ann calls it, "makes her half." Ann has wrestled with this status her entire life, whether at an international school in Japan (K-12), at Bryn Mawr College in the United States, at her corporate job with Sony, and now, as a Learning Support Specialist teacher in Tacoma, Washington. Ann lives in Tacoma with her husband, whom she met in college, and her son Daniel.
Ann's daughter, Mia, just recently started attending college at Bryn Mawr. The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted Ann's teaching career; the vital connections she values and the support she wants to give is now quite difficult. Ann spends about 16 hours a day, trying to provide extra support to students online. As one of two Asian-American teachers at a U.S school for international students, Ann finds that her childhood, her complex identity, and the demand to define your American identity to accumulate all into the year 2020.
Myung Hwang
Myung was born in 1946 in Masan, South Korea, as the second-eldest daughter in a family of eight. She spent most of her childhood in Masan before moving to Seoul for high school and university. As a social studies major, she has always been interested in learning about what makes up a multi-faceted society and how complex social phenomena emerge. Myung also lived near Wimbledon Park in London, an experience that she recalls with much fondness. After living in London for three years, Myung moved back to Seoul.
Myung immigrated to the United States around 2004 and has lived in Silver Spring, Maryland, ever since. As a true people-person who values relationships, she loves interacting with others and making new connections. However, with the pandemic binding her home this year, she has been spending most of her time painting, tending to her garden, cooking new dishes that she found on YouTube, and using Zoom to catch up with people. With a knack for learning, Myung finds herself gravitating towards the latest technological development—both for her own personal growth and for the sheer joy that comes from surprising her tech-savvy grandchildren.