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family snapshot
Young Lee and Jessica Kim
Growing up in Seoul, South Korea, Young Lee and his brothers had the run of the neighborhood, playing in its unpaved alleys. “There weren’t many cars back then,” he says, “so it was safe.”
Young’s parents were “liberal, lenient, hands off,” he says. “They gave me and my brothers leeway to make mistakes.” According to Young, this was not typical of Korean parents, many of whom focus on their children’s academic achievement. “My parents didn’t care so much,” he says.
Young and his wife Jessica Kim were born in Seoul in the late sixties, both the eldest of three children. But Jessica’s upbringing was more typically Korean than Young’s.
Her parents were dedicated to their children, and very protective of them. “They were stricter with me and my sister than with my brother,” she says. They didn’t go out much, opting to stay home and do family-oriented activities such as cooking and helping their children with homework.
Both Jessica and Young came to America with their families, she at age 15, he when he was 10. Their parents left behind comfortable, pleasant lives, but they wanted more for their children. “I admire my parents’ bravery for doing that,” says Jessica. “I would think any foreigner’s dream would be to come to the U.S., especially for their children.”
Jessica and Young met after they graduated from the University of Washington, and married in 1996. They now have two children – son Skye is 5, and daughter Maya is 2.
- Teru Osato Lundsten
(Reprinted with permission from January 2006 issue of the ColorsNW magazine: www.colorsnw.com)
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