Intercultural Life

Tag: korean inlaws

Will a Korean’s parents accept me?

We get asked a lot about how Hugh’s parents reacted to him bringing home an Australian girlfriend. We also get asked whether Korean parents are likely to accept a foreigner son or daughter in law and what can be done to make things go smoothly. We talk about the stereotype of Korean parents refusing to accept foreigners, hypothetical situations versus reality and some warning signs.

As with any video, there are many things we can’t cover. For example, we didn’t talk about incidences of Korean parents completely refusing to accept a foreigner (of course that can happen but we just don’t know anyone who has had that experience personally). We also didn’t comment on Korean American situations or Koreans who grew up in countries other than Korea. The stigma of single mothers is another serious topic and how that will affect acceptance from Korean parents is another topic that we weren’t able to cover this time.

Is this milk okay?

is this milk okay?

This was so funny to my parents-in-law because I had been speaking to my husband and I used informal language, but because of the timing it sounded like I had replied to my father-in-law with informal language which is really rude! They knew that I hadn’t done that on purpose but because it sounded like I had, they laughed so hard. Especially because my father-in-law had softly said, “It’s okay” and then I had yelled, “It’s not okay!!!”

It’s been the running joke in the house for a few days. Every time I walk into the room my parents-in-law say, “안괜찮아!”

At least I made them laugh!

Surprise

Surprise

It was like Christmas! Seriously, the last time I got a new bike was a Christmas a very long time ago. I was really reluctant to go downstairs at first because my husband hadn’t told me why. Often when I’m called downstairs it’s because someone in the village wants to meet me. Sometimes it is properly meeting – there was one nice guy who wanted so speak English with me – but sometimes it feels more like they have just come to stare at the white person. Sometimes I’m in a happy mood to deal with that, other times I’m feeling a bit more introverted. I thought it was a situation like that, where someone wants to see me because they have rarely ever seen a white person and I was worried how I looked. My mood changed instantly when I saw the pink bike!

My mother-in-law felt bad for me that I’m working in our room most of the time. I really like long walks but my husband doesn’t and it’s not a good idea for me to wander off alone around here. But now I have a bike to ride around the village! The neighbours joked that I’ll run away now that I’ll have a bike because they saw me racing up and down the road on it.

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