Hello, everybody! What's up? My name's Andrew, my pronouns are he/him
and today I'm joined by a very special guest
Would you like to introduce yourself?
Hi guys! Nice to meet you
My name is Jihwan Park, a.k.a. Rookie
I'm Andrew's best friend from Korea
What are your pronouns?
He/him/his
And how do you identify?
I am gay!
Same.
So, where do you live right now?
Currently, I'm living in Canada, in Toronto. Yes.
In Toronto?
Yes
Um, where were you born?
I was born in Korea. In Busan
In Busan, South Korea?
Yes
Um, how old were you when you moved to Toronto?
I came here about, about four years ago
when I was 22 years old. Yes.
Okay. You moved there for college, right?
Uh, well, I wanted to study English
That was my main reason. But then I kinda fell in love with Toronto
So I wanted to go to college and after I finished my school
I wanted to get PR (Permanent Residence)
Yeah, that's what I'm doing right now
Alright, cool
Let's talk a little bit about what it was like for you as a gay Korean
When did you realize that you were gay?
Uhh, I'm not sure
but I'd been sensing that I like guys
when I was really really young
like, even when I was like eight years old
'cause like, on the street I thought, "Oh, that guy is really handsome"
"Oh, that guy is really hot"
But I didn't realize that I actually like guys
So, when I identify myself as gay...
Probably when I was twenty years old, nineteen years old
Yeah, I knew for a long time, too, but I didn't come out until I was 22 years old
So, have you come out yet?
I came out to my friends in Canada
and a few friends in Korea
and one of my family members
but not parents, no
Mm, not your parents yet. Understandable
Do you want to talk a little bit more about that?
About coming out?
About your parents
Right now, I'm not planning to come out to my parents
until I get a job or until I get, like
I can take care of myself
Then maybe I'm ready to come out to my parents
but right now I'm not planning on it
You want to wait until you're independent first
Yes, yes
So one question that I really want to ask you is: What experiences have you had with gay culture and other gay people in Korea?
Well, when I was in Korea, like, I don't know. I feel like people
don't really think that there is gay people exist
So, for example, I was in high school
and people - I was in the boy's school, so there's all male guys in the school
Like a thousand guys
And because I'm tiny, short, and kinda cute
You are cute, yes
So, so a lot of guys came to me, like touched me or
put me on their laps
or they hug me, y'know? They don't care about that
You know, if a guy does that in America, it's kinda a big deal, right?
but in Korea they don't think about that kind of stuff
In Korea, it's just "skinship," just regular physical affection between friends, right?
But, like, right now I feel like it's more...
Like the gay culture in Korea is kinda different
So people are trying to not, you know, touch other guys
Trying to be careful
Interesting
Have you experienced any sort of gay culture in Korea that's like
a pride parade or a gay club or anything like that?
Oh, actually I went to Korea two months ago
and my friend told me that there is a gay area in Busan
and, like, my city is really really far from Seoul
I heard there are a lot of gay clubs on a "gay street" in Seoul
Which is Itaewon, I believe
I'm not sure, but Busan is a really conservative country
or city, sorry
So, I was, like, surprised
'cause there is a gay area in Busan
and one of my friends recommended me to go there, so I went there
and was like, it was like just a general gay bar
Nothing special, but I was a little bit surprised
Okay. So for you, personally, what was the most difficult thing about being gay in Korea?
Everything, I would say
because I can't be myself in Korea; I always have to
lie or have to hide something
And I even went out with girls a couple of times
And even with my friends, my guy friends, they are always talking about girls, right?
So I have to, like, agree
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, I know girls are like this, yeah."
And I have to, kinda pretend I like sports or computer games, you know
It was like I can't be myself
You have to pretend to like computer games to make yourself seem straight?
Yes
Interesting. So, right now you live in Toronto, Canada, right?
Okay, so how has your experience been living as a gay man in Toronto versus Korea?
Well, it's a long story
I didn't thought - I didn't think Canada would be this liberty country?
You know what I mean?
- Liberal? - Liberal country, yes
Sorry about my English
So when I came here, I have one story
One of my English teachers, during the class, she's like:
"You know, my girlfriend and I, blah blah blah"
"My girlfriend and I went to trip"
Or like, she was talking about her girlfriend
And I was like, "What??"
"How... What did you say? What girlfriend?"
How can she be so honest in front of her students?
How can she be so proud of herself?
It was like, kinda a culture shock
It was like, "Wow."
And then I noticed that I want to be like her
I want to be proud of myself
I want to be who I am
So it was a good shock, not a bad shock?
Yeah, it was a good shock, yeah
Yeah, that was kinda like the starting point
that I realized, "Oh maybe
this country can provide me [a place] to be who I am"
Who I want to be
And were you able to do that?
And, actually, like a few - a month later
I texted her
Like, even though I know that she is gay
I can't really come out, because I had never done that before
And I was still afraid
So, a month later, I was like:
"I want to to that, I'm gonna do that." So I texted her
"Uh, hey, I've been thinking about this
a long time, and I can't do this, blah blah blah.
I'm gay like you." So this is my very first time coming out
Blah blah blah, so I texted her a long text
And she's like, "Oh, I'm so proud of you."
"You're gonna be fine." And then she gave me a lot of good advice
So, since then, I was starting to come out to my friends in Canada
Not in Korea
That's really great. I'm glad you had such a supportive teacher
However, what's the most difficult thing about being gay in Canada?
Difficult thing... Um, I don't know
I feel like it's such a perfect place to be gay, you know?
You can even hold hands outside. You can kiss. They don't judge
But there are some people who still have, like
Uh, what is it? Like, homophobic people out there
But most people are really nice. They support gay people
Yeah, I don't see the negative things in Toronto
Mm, that's really great. So what are the positives of being gay in Canada?
As I said, you can be who you want to be
And the best thing was I can go out
with my partner, and I don't have to worry about other people
I can hold his hand. I can - I mean
I've never kissed outside, in public
I can - I'm kinda still nervous
with doing that, but I think it's just a personal issue
You can be who you want to be
And you know, there's no - there's nothing that says you have to
kiss in public or show PDA
Do whatever you're comfortable with
So we talked about the positives of being gay in Canada
Were there any positives of being gay in Korea?
Uh, I feel like it's easier
Because Korean culture, it's like pretty gay, you know
What do you mean?
They don't care about guys putting makeup on or taking care of their fashion and skincare
If you do that here, people might think, "Oh, he is gay," you know?
But in Korea, it's kinda common
And I like enjoying - I enjoy doing that, so they don't really think that I am gay or something
Mm, okay
You know what I mean? You know?
Yeah, so in Korea, you can enjoy your hobbies without people thinking you're gay
Yeah
Ok, that makes sense
Like, for example like wearing pink pants. People think it's stylish
So here's a question for you: What advice would you give
to young queer people living in Korea right now?
What's something you wish you had heard when you were younger?
I mean, probably you guys are really afraid of
who I - who you are
And probably, you might think that's wrong
"There's something wrong with me." But trust me,
It's not. It's not your fault or anybody's fault. Its just
You're just born like that, and
I think you should be proud of yourself and
and try to be who you want to be, you know?
There's nothing wrong, and I'm here to support you guys
So don't be afraid
Do you want to say anything in Korean to them?
Uh, sure
I love you
Alright, last question
Do you wish any of your life experiences were different?
From the time you were born up until now
Um, I always say this:
That I wanted to be born a hundred years later
That would be easier for me
But actually, I want to change the perspective of being gay
So that's why I'm doing this
You know, I'm kind of afraid of, "What if this video goes viral?"
And my parents or family members watch this video, you know?
But, I think we have to go through this together
And I can't hide forever
'Cause it's not going to change anything, so yeah
I don't want to complain. "Why was I born in such a bad time?"
But I don't want to think about that, I want to change it.
So, yeah. We can do it!
Awesome. Well, um, do you have a YouTube channel?
Ooh, yes I have a YouTube channel
What's it called?
It's called Rookie Canada Life
Subscribe to my channel! I do blogging, sometimes I do challenge videos
Or like music video stuff, yes
I will link that video in the description for all of you guys to check out
Well, thank you so much for joining me for this discussion
And thank you guys for watching. Leave a comment and subscribe
And I will see you guys in another video very soon
- Bye! - Bye!
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét