Japan, Korea, USA: Are we all the same?

What do you think I would answer if you asked me if I sometimes feel like I don’t know where I belong?

Let me introduce myself a bit. I have a unique background: I am from South Korea and Japan. I was born and grew up in the former till I was 19 and then moved into the latter because of my family circumstances. At the age of 26, I moved, again, by myself, to the United States to learn English and obtain a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. Recently, I got a governmental job, only a few months after graduating last May.

So, going back to our initial question, I would say I OFTEN feel like I am lost in my cultural identity but sort of proud that I feel that way. And I always think that we are all global citizens as we share that beautiful place called Earth. The culture in which you grow up highly influences the way your beliefs and values are shaped. As a result, it is hard to say that you can describe yourself without telling about your culture. However, it seems to me that many people are limiting themselves by their own thoughts on cultural differences. What is acceptable in one culture may not be the same in another one. But that does not necessarily mean that we are fundamentally different because we are culturally different.

We are all different in a way that we have our own preferences, desires, needs, interests, abilities, thoughts, and ideas, etc.  But we can also say that we are all the same regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, culture, socioeconomic status, age, and disability, etc.  I do not mean that I do not embrace individual differences.  What I mean here is that I am an individual with feelings as you are.  Yes! We all are human, aren’t we?

As a person who has been actively interacting with people from different cultures on a daily basis over the past 6 or more years and who has been trying to shift the focus from differences to similarities while interacting with them, by trying to understand their perspective without letting my prejudices and stereotypes take over, I can say, in confidence, that we are all the same at the end of the day. If we need to deal with cultural issues, we can try to communicate and use the flexibility in our cognition to better understand one another, rather than being automatically defensive or even judging.

YM