여기서 태어나고 자라 성인이 된 우리 애들 (소위 이민 2세)을 보면, 확실히 일반 백인들과는 약간 다른 생각과 관점을 가지고 있긴 합니다. 그런데, 친구를 사귀고 만나는 것은 이와는 관련이 적고 개개인의 성격과 더 관련이 있다고 보이네요.
The younger of my two kids is especially social. When we met him after the first semester in the college, he said he has more than one hundred people he regularly say hi to. He quickly cut the ties with almost all Korean and Korean-American kids as there were so many with strange attitudes, which he describes to be unique to Koreans kids. He still hangs out a lot with his high school buddies whenever comes home. Many of them have known each other since their elementary school years. Don’t you have any friends like that?
The older one is kind of socially awkward. Nevertheless, she made a small number of very close friends in college. I think she still keeps in touch with several of her high school friends. She worked in a setting where she was forced to interact with many random people and that helped her develop interpersonal skills somewhat. She said she learned how to carry on small talks and not being awkward. I think she met up with only one friend while visiting home this holiday season. They also have been close from the elementary to the high school.
I hope you have good experience meeting people, especially Koreans. Some of them can be really mean and criticize you for “not being Korean enough”. Some even think it is some kind of competition. I say it’s all stemming from their own insecurity. Don’t get too discouraged by that. You are not flawed as they may claim. It seems Koreans have tendency to say such things, more so than people from other cultures. Just ignore them. There will be people who will appreciate you as who you are and enjoy your company.