Viewing page 2 of 2

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Transcription: [00:03:10]
JASMINE FERNANDEZ: Our last question is what are the classic stories, jokes, or songs in your family?

[00:03:18]
CYJO: I tend to shy away from personal stories that are dispelled, but I think I'll definitely use this question as an opportunity to touch on a few other stories that were told by the other people in the project. They're somewhat lighthearted and humorous and one incorporates a comment that Mary Choi had mentioned.

[00:03:45]
She was talking about how some cultures that migrate from homogeneous societies, who come to the States, tend to perform certain cultural behaviors with a certain kind of zeal and she said, "Of course, Koreans have to peel their Korean apples and pears in a long winding spiral that does not break, it's in one piece, and of course, they have to eat the fruit with a fussy two-pronged fork! Cause that's just part of their culture."

[00:04:16]
And uh, another one actually involves, uh some people call individuals of mixed ethnicities "Hapas" and she is Michelle [[?]] and she grew up in Oklahoma. She looked like a Native American Indian and was always mistaken for one, so she'd always have the question, "Oh, what tribe are you from?" And she'd always respond, "I'm from the Korean-Scandinavian tribe of Oklahoma, what tribe are you from?"

[00:04:49]
So, that was an interesting, funny answer and, another one she mentioned was, in the 1980's, she had a Chinese restaurant – in fact, it was actually a Korean restaurant disguised as a Chinese restaurant, so they made it look Chinese, they even brought a chef from China and had fortune cookies and this Chinese restaurant was voted the best Chinese restaurant in Oklahoma City during that time.[[laughter]]

JASMINE FERNANDEZ: Really?

[00:05:17]
CYJO: Yeah, it was very interesting and it kind of - obviously it touches on the fact that during that time there are a lot of individuals that could understand the Chinese ethnicity being prevalent but didn't fully understand the Korean ethnicity, so, um, that was an interesting story. There are plenty others, I can go into detail but I just don't know how much time we have, so... [[laughter]]

[00:05:42]
JASMINE FERNANDEZ: Um, so, how do you come to terms with, like, being Asian-American or what was it in your life that, you know -

CYJO: It wasn't

JASMINE FERNANDEZ: - made you form this?

CYJO: It wasn't really coming to terms with being Asian-American, it's just who you are, obviously. So, I think the exploratory process of that obviously began with this project, so that was when I was able to delve into more of the multiple facets that embodied the various identities of individuals who were Asian-American and that really opened up a lot of different socially related issues, also behavioral related issues, um that I wasn't fully exposed to.

[00:06:31]
I mean, I don't think a lot of individuals in their lifetime get to be exposed to so many different types of stories and experiences and unless they make a concerted effort to learn about them or they live in another country where there's more of a prevalence. But, to learn about their personal issues and their relationships with their identity and their heritage, in this case, the Korean culture, but also with the Irish culture and the African-American culture, and many others, was quite informative and educating. And, I'm hoping that the people that experience this project will be able to leave with answers and questions and really leave with some type of conversation, so.

[00:07:20]
JASMINE FERNANDEZ: So, out of my own curiosity, how long did this project take, and how many people did you interview?

CYJO: This project actually started in November of 2004 and the last individual was shot in May of 2009, so it was a very long process and it was all done through the free time that I had, obviously, and it was definitely a grouping of individuals that grew to over 200 people- 240 photographically, 237 textually.

[00:07:56]
And, the reason why there's only 237 textually is because the questions to answer were not easy to answer, and not everyone could actually put their thoughts onto paper. I mean, if somebody asks you, "So, what does being American mean to you?" or "What does being Korean mean to you?" How do you answer that? How do you put that on paper and how - and can you feel confident with putting those words into stone?

[00:08:20]
But I think the beauty behind it is the ever-evolving answers and experiences and opinions that individuals are experiencing. So, I feel like many individuals are going through a continual evolution of their identity based on their experiences and that's what makes it so exciting.

[00:08:45]
JASMINE FERNANDEZ: Okay, thank you!

CYJO: Thank you!

Transcription Notes:
Unknown word second paragraph