Rachel Choi Blog #4 American

Just a couple days ago, my friends and I went on an outing to Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was really late and there were just a few customers including us.  As soon as we were seated, an elderly woman came up to me and asked me where I was from.  Now, on any other occasion I would normally say " Oh, I'm Korean"  but for some reason this time, I said "I'm American."  My reply didn't stem from  being ashamed to say I was Korean though.   Right after I said that I was an American, she asked me "I meant where are your parents from?"  I told her my parents were Korean and she then replied that she thought I was Chinese at first sight.   I know it might not seem like a lot when someone says that you look like another nationality, but Chinese people and Korean people have distinct features that I wish people would attempt to recognize.  It is not that I am offended that I was mistaken as Chinese but unsettling that a lot of people automatically assume that you are Chinese if you are Asian.
She then explained to me that she actually lived in China for two years and wondered if I was also Chinese so that she could practice a little Chinese on me.   Luckily, my other two friends actually took Chinese language courses here so they exchanged greetings.
 If someone were to see me in Korea, they would know that I was born in America.  Although I am told that I don't have a particular accent when speaking Korean, shop owners automatically pinpoint my accent and guess that I am from America.  I thought that if I live in America or Korea I could pass as an American or Korean, respectively.  But because of the fact that I lived in America all of my life, the values, mannerisms, and open mindedness made an imprint on myself that showed through my persona.  These "American" characteristics contrast to Korea's concept of a collectivist society.
I was taught to develop a sense of self- identity and shown how to make my voice heard while children in Korea are immersed within a society that enforces a strict education early on.  Korea's education system is found based on the Confucianism system.  The reason why Korean's stress education so much is because the mindset of the Koreans follows the idea that since parents will be taken care of the children, the children must have a successful education in order to gain a career that will reflect a positive social status that will in turn represent the family.
 I did not understand why my parents immigrated to America.  They knew that the move would mean that they would have to start all over in a whole new world in which they didn't even master the language of.  20 years ago, there was something about America that attracted hundreds of thousands of immigrants into a new land.  As a second- generation child who is only the second in my family to receive a full college education, I now know why my parents made those sacrifices.  America promises a future, one that is different from the ordinary path that was chosen by my parent's friends.   This future though, has become less promising as Americans have somehow reversed their priorities to satisfy current needs while sacrificing the future.  My question is, how long will it take to realize that if we don't turn back to our founding father's mentality to sacrifice the present for the future, our position as the world's leading power is most certainly likely to cease to exist?