unearthing roots

After more than six months, I finally got to meet my extended family on my mother's side in Korea. I got a phone call Sunday morning from an aunt saying that it was my grandmother's birthday and that I should come to her house. (One thing about Koreans is that they don't plan in advance. They just expect one to be able to come.) At the time, I was with my aunt and uncle from my dad's side who were visiting Korea. Being the flexible person I am, I left immediately to go meet the family.

I found out that I have two aunts, three uncles, and six or seven cousins. (I actually wasn't sure who was a cousin or not. A little bit of miscommunication I suppose. I might actually have more cousins.) One of my cousins did not talk to me, presumably because he didn't feel confident about his English. The funny thing is I was speaking Korean the whole time. Two others were either seniors in high school or just out of high school. They were extremely shy and after subsequent conversations with my uncle, I found out that they were the rebellious type and had been giving him a hard time. 

That night, I rode the bus back to my aunt and uncle from my dad's side who were in the city of Jeonju. The following day, I took a tour of Jeonju and got to see the places  that my dad saw as a young boy. In Korea, clans are based out of towns, and I was told growing up that I descended from the Jeonju Lee clan. (This clan was the last royal family of Korea and apparently, our family descends from one of the first king's concubines.) Things began to make sense when I got to see the monuments and palaces that this family had made throughout its history. Everytime we saw tablets and old portraits of former kings, my aunt kept referring to them as great-grandfathers. A strange feeling. Really.