Korean, Sa-Eun Park, on Growing Up in Saudi Arabia, Austria, & Identifying as "AsianAlien" [Ep 29]
Description
Sa-Eun Park was two-years-old when her family moved from South Korea to Saudi Arabia, where there were work opportunities for her parents, both of whom had struggled to survive the poverty and hardships of post-war Korea. In contrast to her parents early years, Sa-Eun spent her childhood adapting to the cultural and social mores of life as a veiled girl in Saudi Arabia, before transitioning to the very different culture of boarding school in the Austrian Alps. At 17, she relocated independently to UC Berkeley, California for college and so by the age of 20, Sa-Eun had adapted to four very different cultures. Now 41, she has moved with ease 32 times across 46 countries for study, for work, for adventure, and to satiate her curiosity and restlessness. But as was the case for many young nomads, with the onset of the pandemic her peripatetic lifestyle came to a halt.
In this final episode of Women Who Walk, I bid farewell to podcasting (for now). Throughout the three seasons and 48 episodes, I’ve had the honor of interviewing globally mobile women, who shared stories of courage, adaptability, and resiliency moving multiple countries for work, for adventure,...
Published 05/25/23
Jo Francis Penn is English, currently living in Bath. As an 11-year-old, she lived in Malawi, Africa; in her teens she lived for a short period in Israel; and as a young adult she lived in New Zealand and Australia. Once back in the UK, she made a career change, moving from tech into writing...
Published 05/11/23