Identity Crisis

Growing up, my best friend was a Korean adoptee. In a predominately white town, he was raised by his single mother who was born in Italy. I never saw him as being Korean, I always just saw him as Ray, who was equal as me in every way. Growing up, he started to associate himself as an Italian, completely writing off his Korean heritage. Once in public, someone referred to him as "that Asian kid" and he responded with, "ummm I'm Italian jackass." This made the crowd erupt in laughter. This Asian kid actually referred to himself as an Italian, which to these people was impossible. When we all split up for college, suddenly Ray began to associate himself as being Asian. He joined clubs and teams all centered around his heritage, and since he finally had fellow Koreans around him he could embrace his culture. I always found this incredible, how he was Korean, raised as an Italian, but eventually found his roots. Ray is leaving for Korea in June, one of his many trips to Seoul.