Martin Lee Interview Paper

The interviewee, Martin Lee, is currently 52 years old. He is a businessman who works in the communications field and is originally from downtown Seoul, South Korea. Lee immigrated to California in the United States on April 9, 1983, through the LAX. This interviewee was chosen due to his detailed memory when answering the questions. The interview took place at the interviewee’s home and has covered the topics about his experience when migrating.

Question: Where and when were you born?

Answer: I was born in Seoul, South Korea on May 26, 1964.

Question: What year did you emigrate? When did you arrive in the United States? How old were you?

Answer: I emigrated to the U.S. on April 9, 1983, around 10 in the morning in California through the LAX.

It was extremely difficult to transition from using mostly Korean to using mostly English. It was also hard to get used to the culture here as well. For example, I was a very shy and quiet child back in South Korea, which was actually respected, but when I came to America, I came to understand that you must be able to express yourself especially with there being more diversity. I struggled with building new relationships with others because I was very different from those who had lived in America their whole lives. My eating habits had changed when I came to the U.S. as I used to eat more homemade food in Korea, but I started to eat out more when I came to America. This led me to become obese, which I also struggled with. In South Korea, I also had to wear a uniform in school, but when I came to America, I had the freedom to choose what I would wear. My attire changed as the weather in Korea was completely different from climates in California as well. My relationship with other family members changed since we used to live together in South Korea, but as we came to America, we started to live independently because we got jobs in different locations. The ride to the nearest beach took around 4-5 hours in Korea while the beaches here were relatively closer, so when I came here, I had more opportunities to go to the beach during my free