Hi, I would say I would be the latter.
I do still stay quite close with a few of my high school friends. But a lot of them have gone in the wrong direction for me to try to associate with (drugs, etc.).
I think that in this (unique) moment of my life, where I am in such close proximity with many other Korean people due to my job and my situation, it’s fair to assume that it’s natural for me to want to get closer to the people I am around now. But it is very difficult as you said. A lot of korean people do think that I am not “Korean” enough, although they acknowledge that I am a bit unique for my case. This helps me appreciate those who do not care about that stigma and accept me for who I am.
Maybe it’s the Korean part of me that’s speaking here, but I appreciate that my current friends have similar moral values to me. It’s quite different than the friends I made growing up that were all over the place. I’m not saying that all Koreans are the same for that matter, but there is certainly a smaller range (범위) of diversity in comparison to Americans.
Thank you for your kind words.