I am the bouncing baby boy of two wonderful Hapa parents.
My mom is Korean and English and my dad is Chinese, Hawaiian, Scottish and French.
Despite my parents both having brown eyes and dark hair, I inherited genes that go back quite a few generations on both my parent’s sides. Isn’t that cool.
Being that my parents are both proud Hapas I know I will be raised to appreciate all the cultures that make up my wonderful ethnic background.
My mother is Korean and my father is Irish, German, Scottish, Dutch, and Native American.
Growing up multicultural and multiracial in a town where there were not many other Hapa folk (I knew one other Hapa growing up) created some confusion for me; I never felt comfortable in the Korean-American community (I look so white) and yet much of my upbringing that was influenced by Korean culture always left me feeling a bit out of place among my very western White American peers.
I remember that the Asian-American kids in school would not believe me when I told them my mother was from Korea and would ask me to prove it with pictures. On the flipside, there were many occasions when Caucasian-American kids would tell me I looked “funnny” and ate “funny-looking” foods for lunch.
My mother is Korean and my dad is Korean/Irish, both were born and raised in Korea.
When they came to the states they moved to a small town in Northern California where we didn’t have many Asians.
Growing up, I thought I was full Korean until around middle school I found out I was mixed. I always told people I was half Korean/German only because I had a German last name, but up until probably end of junior high I found out I was only a quarter white and my last name was not my real last name. (Confused yet?)
I grew up learning two languages (Korean and English) which was very difficult at a young age. People always told me I looked exotic or unique while growing up which I liked because I loved being different. I grew up knowing the Korean culture but as I got older I became more Americanized. Overall, I am happy to be Hapa!
Hi I’m Levy Reynolds and my Korean name is Yung Choi.
I’m an adoptee from Seoul, South Korea. I don’t know who my birth parents were expect that my birth mom was Korean and my birth dad was Mexican and Native American.
I haven’t really looked that deeply into any of my cultural backgrounds, I’ve just lived my life as a typical American. However, recently I’ve started exploring them more. I hope to visit Seoul, South Korea, the Lakota Nation in the Dakotas, and Mexico, especially the Northern States.
Hello! Lovely to see so many beautiful, diverse and interesting faces!
My name is Shannon. I’m an American who usually answers the “What are you?” question with, “I’m a quarter Korean and a whole lot of white!” My mother is Korean/German and my father is Irish/German/French.
I’ve always embraced my heritage. Perhaps somewhat to my detriment as a child. I grew up in Massachusetts in a very white neighborhood and used to talk with pride about being Korean. It didn’t take too long however, for kids to start making fun of me with racial slurs. I think having undergone severe discrimination makes me identify with my heritage even more. I can at least say that now my peers are always interested by my distinct background and consider it pretty cool.
My mum is British and my dad is half Korean and half Vietnamese. He was born in Korea but moved to England in ’94 where he met my mum. Soon they were engaged and I was on the way, and they decided to move to Korea to get married and raise our family there.
But my dad’s parents did not take to my mum, and when I was just 3 months old my mum left me in Korea with my dad and went back to England, thinking that she would give me a better life.
When I was 1 my dad married a full Korean woman who also had a daughter my age. Being so young I didn’t notice any differences between me and my stepsister until I started school and kids would ask me why I was so white and where I came from.
My mom is fully and entirely Korean. She was born in Korea and raised in Korea. My dad on the other hand is Russian, Romanian, and British. He was born in New York.
While I was growing up almost everyone identified me as Asian. No one ever had any doubts. I had the eyes, the face, and the straight hair. Growing older the lines blurred though.
My hair became more curly and my face became more of the structure of a white person. If people ask I’ll tell them all the things I am, but usually I mostly go by Korean since it’s the most obvious in my features.
I have always embraced my Hapa heritage, and fortunately I have never faced any real challenges because of my ethnicity.
My Dad’s side of the family is from Hawaii, and as you can imagine being hapa over there is not uncommon.
My Mother’s side of the family is from the Philadelphia region, so culturally I am all over the place.
Usually people who are one hundred percent Asian have a hard time believing that I am part Korean, while others can usually tell. Continue reading
I was born in California and lived in Hawaii from the age of 11 to 18.
Being half English and half Korean, it was hard as a kid growing up in SoCal.
Even though my school was very diverse, I was the only Hapa. Moving to Hawaii changed that because it was a place where I didn’t feel like I stood out. Continue reading
