The Janchi Show

In today's episode we speak with Nathan Nowack, a professional photographer and one-third of the Janchi Boiiisss! We talk growing up in Bartlesville, OK, finding his biological family, and finding love in Los Angeles with a fellow Asian country-music lover. We also try Kimchi for the first time. It’s pretty great.

Show Notes

Meet Nathan Nowack

In this episode we talk about:
  1. Adoption story and Family History (0:00)
  2. Dad as a Role Model, Asian Identity, & Searching for Birth Family (7:25)
  3. Finding Siblings & Nathan’s Korean Name (20:05)
  4. doljanchi, Navigating Familial Cultures, & Dating! (26:12)
  5. What Nathan’s Learning Now (37:06)
  6. What Are We Eating Today? (44:50)

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The Janchi Show Quick Bio

We’re three Korean-American Adoptees spread out around the country and each of us are at different stages in life. We’ll talk about the Korean-American adoptee experience and learn more about our shared culture, usually with food. And it won’t just be the three of us; each week we’ll have other adoptees from all over the world joining us to talk about what makes us similar and what makes us unique. So join the party!

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Meet the Janchi Boys!


Nathan Nowack

Nathan was adopted from Seoul and raised in a small town in Oklahoma by a loving family and adopted sister.  After college in Colorado he later moved to Los Angeles to pursue a digital media career and eventually started 2 photography companies.  He has a wife and 3 kids and has reconnected with his biological family in 2014.
 
Connect with Nathan!
  • Website: http://www.nathannowack.com
  • LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/nathann/
  • Instagram: http://instagram.com/nowackphoto
 
Patrick Armstrong

Patrick was adopted from Seoul and raised in a small(er than Nathan’s) town in Indiana. After dropping out of college, he travelled around, working a variety of jobs before co-founding the All Times Are Local Foundation with his adopted sister in Chicago. He currently lives in Indianapolis with his fiancé and is 7 seconds into his journey of exploring his Korean-American adoptee identity.
 
Connect with Patrick!
  • Website: http://www.alltimesarelocal.org
  • LinkedIn: http://linkedin/in/patrickarmstrong219
  • Instagram: http://instagram.com/patrickintheworld

K.J. Roelke

K.J. was adopted from Daegu and raised in Dallas, Texas with his two biological, older siblings and his younger sister, adopted from Russia. He graduated from Greenville College and has served as the Worship & Creative Director at Schweitzer Church in Springfield, Missouri since then. He is married, with no children (yet!), and has been on his journey of discovery since 2015.
 
Connect with KJ!

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Listen to/Watch the Janchi Show on all major platforms:
  • Apple: http://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/janchi-show/id1529913015
  • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/11XsWgAtL9CnKoKMVPDMY6?si=SgZOCh6dRzafA0Wq-_TJyA
 
Follow the Show!
  • Instagram: http://instagram.com/janchishow
  • Facebook: http://facebook.com/janchishow
  • Twitter: http://twitter.com/janchishow

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Join the Asian Podcast Network:

 
The Janchi Show is produced by Just Like Media:

Executive Producer: Jerry Won
Creative Director: Michelle Nam
Audio & Video Engineer: K.J. Roelke

Creators and Guests

Producer
KJ Roelke
Co-Host, Editor, Web Dev of the Janchi Show
NN
Producer
Nathan Nowack
Co-host of the Janchi Show, snack provider
PA
Producer
Patrick Armstrong
Co-host, editor of the Janchi Show

What is The Janchi Show?

The Janchi Show is a podcast where three Korean adoptees explore what life is like after you're adopted by white people. Nathan Nowack, Patrick Armstrong, and KJ Roelke share their own unique journeys into discovering and learning more about their Korean and adoptee identities through conversations with each other and guests. Each episode they'll also try a Korean snack or drink! Join us each week and follow us at @janchishow across all social platforms.

Speaker 1:

What is more Korean than kimchi? Probably just Korean people or the Korean flag.

Speaker 2:

Or the country of

Speaker 3:

the world itself.

Speaker 1:

You know that one didn't make it on the list, actually. So nobody's perfect.

Speaker 3:

You're listening to the John Chi show, hosted by 3 Korean American adoptees diving head first into what it means to be adopted, Korean, American, and more. And now here's your hosts, Nathan, Patrick, and KJ.

Speaker 2:

Alright. Welcome to episode 1 of the John Chi show. I'm Patrick. I'm KJ.

Speaker 3:

I'm Nathan.

Speaker 1:

Patrick, why don't you go ahead and explain to our listeners what Johnchi means?

Speaker 2:

Johnchi in Korean means celebration, and that's really what our show is about. It's about celebrating our Korean adoptee identities and the discovery and journey that we are currently on. Today's episode, we're gonna be speaking with Nathan. We're gonna learn a lot about his family and the journey to find them, growing up in Oklahoma, and dating. It's gonna be a really great time.

Speaker 2:

A little bit later on, we're gonna be trying some kimchi. Somebody's trying it for the first time. I wonder who that's gonna be. It's Patrick. So stick around.

Speaker 2:

It's gonna be a really great show.

Speaker 1:

Nathan, I guess let's start with, a little bit of backstory and your journey to America and and your history with adoption. So tell me, you know, all of the the basic details. How old were you when you were adopted? Where were you adopted from? Maybe what agency?

Speaker 1:

That kinda stuff.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Sure. I was adopted at 5 months old and lived in Oklahoma. That's where the, Dillon agency was. So I was, adopted through Dillon International, and I think they were in conjunction with the Korean East Agency or something like that over in in Korea.

Speaker 3:

So, came over. My parents were at the airport, picked me up, and, lived there for 19 years before I went to college.

Speaker 1:

And what, is your adopted family like? Assuming So my 2 parents. Yeah. Right? Not a single parent, and then siblings.

Speaker 1:

And, yeah, what was that like?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So my my dad is a German Scottish. My mom is German Czech, and, they met back in college up in the the the Midwest. And my dad was a chemist, and so that's why they were in Oklahoma. He worked for the petroleum company there.

Speaker 3:

They, they adopted a another Korean girl, 3 years before me. She's she's just three and a half years older than me and, also from the same agency and, not blood related to me, but, but from South Korea as well. We were both adopted essentially out of Seoul.

Speaker 2:

Same. Right.

Speaker 1:

Okay. So where would you say not where. When would you say you were first really aware of your identity as a Korean?

Speaker 3:

Well, being that my mom is blonde, I would have to say fairly early on. At some point, I'm like, I don't look like my parents. But, honest I mean, honestly, at some point, whenever you realize that I know my parents are very open about it and they're never, like, hiding it or anything, but there is always, probably that thing is, like, where did I come from kind of element that they would, you know, talk to me about. So I was informed from an early age about what adoption even meant and, you know, how, you know, you know, the whole, your parents are the people who raised you, not necessarily the ones who are blood related to you. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So, like, for me, I remember being really aware of my being Korean, not just, like, adopted and being different from my family, but being Korean when I was, like, 10, I think, is when I it really, like those are some of my early memories and maybe even a little bit younger. So I didn't know. Was that true for you as well? Like, that you thought about like, you knew that you were different, but then you didn't realize that different and Korean were slightly, unique definitions of your identity, or were you just like, yeah. I'm different, and that's what it is.

Speaker 1:

And then you just kinda went on from there. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I mean, I think I knew I was different because I was pretty much the only Asian in my my elementary school. I think there might have been one other somewhere in the school. I don't remember who they were. I mean, but it's a small town. My town itself, I think, had a 3% Asian population, and the the city itself was 33,000 people.

Speaker 3:

So it was pretty small, and most of them were, you know, there for the company. So their kids had to have been there somewhere, but I honestly don't remember, you know, having any other Asian friends or, you know, it was always just, me in kindergarten or me in 1st grade. It just didn't, didn't really, click that I was the only Asian kid in this classroom.

Speaker 2:

Never set up any play dates with the other 3% of the Asian Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Kids. Exactly. I know. I think I I think I might have known one every call, but it's been so long ago. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Now, Patrick, you take offense to, small being 30,000. Right?

Speaker 2:

Well, from I come from a town of 5,000, so I don't know if I take offense to it. I think it's more that I can't really wrap my mind around it

Speaker 3:

when people

Speaker 2:

recognize that as small. And then my fiance is from a town of 500, so that's, like, not even on the scale of registry for people that are 30,000 town full.

Speaker 1:

That's bomb.

Speaker 3:

I mean, that was my graduating class, I think, was 500. So yes. Ridiculous. But, yeah, it's it's, I say small town because, you know, we still we we knew each other. We only had one high school.

Speaker 3:

So one you know? So it felt like

Speaker 1:

a small town even though the population was fairly large.

Speaker 3:

It felt like a small town compared to what I've been used to since now that I've moved on in life, every city that I've lived in since then has just gotten bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, and now it's like, you know, LA Metropolis here.

Speaker 1:

So Gotcha. I just had an image of you doing, like, the tractor race from Footloose, and I was like, I know that it's probably not that small, but I was like, I bet I bet that's what it was like growing up. It was just him at a bunch of white cowboys doing tractor races out in the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 3:

Yes. And then at the end, I do a flip off of the the the bar, the high bar. Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm sorry.

Speaker 3:

I just had a dance, mom. I did that.

Speaker 2:

Hey. I literally did do tractor pulls in my small hometown. So

Speaker 3:

Dude, I did jump from hay bale to hay bale, actually. I I do admit that. My friends live near a a farm, and we would go in the field. I don't think we were supposed to, but we went in the field, and there was hay bales out there. And we would jump from one to another just for fun.

Speaker 1:

So That is incredible. So okay. So you

Speaker 3:

said that there were There's definitely some elements of that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So you said that there weren't, a whole lot of other Asians around you. So when you're that young, you probably didn't think about it that way when you were that young. But now looking back, who were some of the people that you look to, as role models? Or when was the first time that you, do you remember, I guess, the first time that you saw another Asian American or just Asian?

Speaker 1:

You're like, oh, I identify with this person. Like, that person is like me. And and did that conjure up a sense of belonging or was that I don't know. What was that like?

Speaker 3:

I wouldn't say I had any, I guess, Asian role models growing up. I I would say it was the standard typical kid where I did things like play video games and sports. So, you know, I might I I do recall watching a lot of sports, on TV, so I liked baseball. I didn't watch a lot of basketball, but, we didn't have, you know, the the thunder like Oklahoma has now. But there there was mostly football, you know, tennis.

Speaker 3:

I played tennis as a kid. I played pretty much any sport that my dad would teach me. A lot of what I learned, I I do hold, as my dad is the kind of the role model for everything and the things that he did. He started windsurfing, and so I wanted to windsurf. He played table tennis, so I wanted to play table tennis.

Speaker 3:

He could play piano with you know, he never really took lessons. And so I would try to learn the piano without really wanting to take lessons from an actual teacher. Yeah. And and it was always something that I I was doing just, based on whatever my dad was doing. And, you know, I think that maybe that's just typical standard boy, you know, dad relationship, but, a lot of a lot of what I do today is is based on the things that he's done, even from, you know, random things like memorizing pi to 50 places.

Speaker 3:

So Can you still do it? I could do pretty far. I don't know if I can get to 50

Speaker 1:

anymore, but I wanna see how far you go.

Speaker 3:

Oh, jeez. 3.14159265352 see, that's on the spot.

Speaker 2:

Already a hundred numbers farther than I would ever get.

Speaker 1:

That's as far as

Speaker 3:

I get. Okay.

Speaker 2:

Does he wanna do chemistry, though? You didn't take up chemistry, though, after him?

Speaker 3:

I didn't, but all of my science fair projects were definitely chemistry related, which was pretty funny. And I talked to my dad about it now. I was like, do you remember doing this project? And he goes, no. I was like, you pretty much did it for me, but, you know, I mean, my science projects were all like like acids and bases, electroplating.

Speaker 3:

I think 1 year we did, the electroplating one was actually really cool. We copper coated a a quarter, but and just little, you know, nerdy chemistry things. And, you know, I just those are the things that I did. I never wanted to be a chemist, you know, but, you know, that was the age of where computers were coming out. So I just I followed the computer path.

Speaker 1:

Nice. Just rode that rode that wave. That's cool.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Rode the wave at the beginning.

Speaker 1:

So you, said that you were adopted at 5 months, and you're in, like, your early forties now. Right?

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. Would

Speaker 1:

you say that you've been on the the journey of exploring your Korean American adoptee identity that whole time? Would you say it's been start and stop, or would you say, like, you really dropped it and then kind of came back to that later in life?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. No. I mean, I I know a lot of people always ask me when I was young, hey. Do you wanna search for your parents? Do you wanna find your parents and more heritage?

Speaker 3:

And and I didn't at the time. I, the most I wanted to learn was things like what the Korean war was, you know, cities in Korea. I never really even had any, definitely no ability to have any Korean food. And so I never had anything until, you know, I moved out to California. I might have had a little bit in Colorado in college, but but, yeah, I was always looking for, you know, just something to to learn, but there wasn't much.

Speaker 3:

There wasn't Internet. There wasn't a whole lot of resources. Yeah. I learned it from, Encyclopedia Britannica. So

Speaker 2:

Oh, I love

Speaker 3:

those. Yeah. We have the whole set. So but, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Just goes in my parents' lodging. Like, why why are they here? I don't understand.

Speaker 2:

They had the words and the pictures, though, which was the best part about the encyclopedia. Pictures? Yeah. They had pictures and stuff.

Speaker 1:

Lots of Whoever stole my parents those Britannicas? They did not get my copy.

Speaker 3:

Picture list Yeah. Edition. The pictures were more. You you should have gone with

Speaker 1:

the better option. And what's it around?

Speaker 2:

I didn't have any say.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I know. But, yeah. No. I I I would say that I at one point in college is really where I started connecting more with with, anything Asian American.

Speaker 3:

You know, I knew there was an Asian Pacific Islander club. They tried to recruit me, and I was like, maybe, but I wasn't really interested. So I I kind of just did my own research from then on whenever I needed to learn something more. I even did a study. Somebody was doing a master's paper in college about, Korean adoptees, and so I I volunteered.

Speaker 3:

I was like, sure, I'll do it, and I answered a bunch of questions, you know, listened to to some information and facts that they told me. Like, you know, one of the questions I always thought was really amusing that when they asked me is like, oh, how do you feel about the word banana or twinkie? And I was like, hungry? But I I didn't know. I'd never heard of any term or even in a derogatory term like that where I was, you know, supposed to feel something about being, you know, white on the inside and yellow on the outside.

Speaker 3:

So, a lot of my I think maybe it was just I didn't know, what kind of things were out there until college and and and then, of course, California. Do you

Speaker 2:

know what the name of that study was?

Speaker 3:

I don't, but they did give me a copy of it, and I know I have it somewhere in my in, my file somewhere. It was, you know, it was pretty big study. But, have you guys done any of those things? Have you get you never done any other Asian studies, interviews? Or No.

Speaker 3:

Found found something at college? What about your Asian, you know, Asian Pacific Islander clubs? Do you have those 2?

Speaker 2:

I thought that was really funny that you said that because a lot of the things that I've heard is that some of these clubs in college, unless you were really, really leaning into your Asianness or whatever this the thing was, they were very exclusionary to adopt these because it was

Speaker 3:

like,

Speaker 2:

you're a little too different and not fluent enough in the language or not close enough to the culture. So I thought that was pretty interesting. You said they tried to recruit you. I'm like, they didn't try to recruit me.

Speaker 3:

Come on. Maybe they didn't know I was adopted. Oh. That's why. And then when they found out, they would have retracted that.

Speaker 3:

Oh. Interesting. And now if they're

Speaker 1:

forcing you into this major, then you really don't belong here.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. No. I I ended up going going into a fraternity instead. So, you know, that was that was a lot more fun for me.

Speaker 1:

Nice. So okay. So you said that your your journey really began in college, but what was the the impetus for that? Like, was there, like, a a specific moment did you remember being like, oh, I really care about this now, or was this just kind of like you woke up one day?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. For the Korean adoptee portion of it and actually moving forward with that, I would say about 6 years ago when I saw that documentary, AKA Dan, Dan Matthews, His his story and his journey of of looking for his family and and finding them and all of the stuff that they talked about really connected with me. I really related to that, and I think maybe that's what I needed was something relatable, something more like, oh, I can this is very similar to me. And so once I I saw that documentary and even met Dan at the premiere, I I decided that, I think it was the following week, that I would contact the agency that I was adopted through and start looking. And and, you know, I went through all the processes.

Speaker 3:

It still took me 8 months to to complete all the paperwork and discuss everything over. But finally, when I I did do everything, it, you know, it was only 2 months before I actually started hearing some, some stuff back.

Speaker 2:

8 months of paperwork must have been terrible.

Speaker 3:

You know, I was I was busy. This is also a time when I was, like, you know, doing other things, and I it wasn't you know, it took me 40 years to get to this point. I wanna make sure I read through all the the, you know, the paperwork that I

Speaker 1:

made sure. Fine print.

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Just in case. And it wasn't expensive.

Speaker 3:

That's something that I was, surprised about that they were like, no. This isn't gonna be a big process. It's more the paperwork cost. And, so I just filled out the the questionnaire. They wanna make sure you're in the right mindset, for it because there's a lot of potential, outcomes that could be, negative towards myself or toward the family even.

Speaker 3:

So, you know, it was a good questionnaire, I feel. And, yeah, that's you know, once I once I filled it out and paid my my dues, I was they I just waited for that phone call. So

Speaker 1:

Nice. Yeah. And so for those, you've you've talked a lot about your story, in other places on the Dear Asian Americans podcast. There was, an article that someone picked up. Right?

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. Yeah. On board Panda and Coriam also.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So, so people can go and and they can find that if they wanna, like, really dig into that. But I was curious, you know, so you you opened up your case, and you found out that your birth family was basically just waiting for you to open that case. Right? And just waiting for you to to begin that process to to hear back, so that you could get reconnected.

Speaker 1:

What was that like? Because I I haven't started my own journey. And from the paperwork that I've seen and my wife asked me what if she's like, do you know anything? And, like, I mean, I I saw a paper one time, but I haven't, like, studied it. I don't have a strong mental image.

Speaker 1:

So, like, I know that I have, a sibling, or I think I have a sibling, I think is what it says. But what was it like to when you heard back, to hear that your birth family was waiting for you? Did you feel excited? Did you feel, like, super anxious about that? Were you like, oh gosh.

Speaker 1:

I hope that I'm I don't know what was going through your head.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I've definitely felt anxious. I was like, oh, man. I I I should have done this sooner because of that. They've been waiting.

Speaker 3:

I I mean, I think all of this time, I always assumed that I wouldn't find anything or that I wouldn't, you know, especially after 30 when I did it, it was 37 years. You know? I was like, ah, 37 years. You know? There's not gonna find anything, or they're not gonna be there.

Speaker 3:

There's no way they could find it. They didn't find have computers back then anyway that would keep all the records and things like that. But, but surprisingly, they keep pretty good records, I guess. And, it it all they did have to do was connect the, the address of where, my parents last lived, and, one of my family members was there. And so, yeah, they they instantly connected with me because they had been waiting, and they, and even my brother.

Speaker 3:

This is something that I know someday we may talk about too in our show, but he had a there was a little bit of a superstition thing. He actually had a dream, the night before that somebody was trying to contact him, and he didn't know who. What? And so he was like, there's there's somebody trying to contact me in his dream, and he didn't know who. And so whenever he woke up, went to work the next day.

Speaker 3:

That day, he got the phone call that somebody had left a message

Speaker 1:

from him, like,

Speaker 2:

the person was looking for

Speaker 1:

him. No.

Speaker 3:

And so he I think he left work actually to get home, to get the message, and contact the agency as quick as possible.

Speaker 1:

Mind blowing.

Speaker 3:

Yes. Yes. We want to connect. And so they had to do their own portion, sign paperwork, do all kinds of things as well before the process actually completed. But once it finally did, then he could write an email.

Speaker 3:

It could get translated, and then he sent 2 photos. And so when I got those photos, I just remember it was just a surreal experience looking, at this photo because that was the first so first thing is the phone call, which was interesting enough. She asked me if I wanted to sit down, and, you know, this lady from the agency was, you know, just being careful because she knows. And I think in her mind, she knew this was a rare thing. And so she goes, your parents unfortunately have passed away, but you have siblings.

Speaker 3:

You have 6 siblings, and they've been waiting for you to contact them. And and it's just like I remember thinking, wow. I have 6 siblings? And so you know, I mean, I it was just it was it was surreal. And so I rushed home, waited for my wife to get home too, and we opened the email that had the the letter directly from him with the photos.

Speaker 3:

And I read the, the email, and it had detailed information. I mean, one of the first three things on there was, you know, how my parents passed and what years they passed. My my dad passed, I think it was in the late nineties, but my mom passed actually only 2011. So only 3 years prior to me looking for them, she passed away. And so I kind of, I felt bad a little bit about missing it by that, by that time.

Speaker 3:

But, but seeing the photo and all the details that, that he put in that email was just it was mind boggling because the first picture I saw was a picture of him with my parents, my brother and my parents, and then his wife. And I just looked at that photo of him, and I looked more like him than I looked like my parents. And so that really just connected with me. I'm like, wow. I have a brother?

Speaker 3:

I have a brother who looks like me. Yeah. And then I have 5 sisters. I mean, it was it was it was pretty amazing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Was it nice to have a brother after having grown up with an adopted sister? Were you always like, man, I wish I had a brother as well?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Yeah. I did. And that was something funny that I think not only I had that feeling that I've always wanted a brother, but he had that feeling. And that was something that, you know, is is an amazing thing because he not only, you know, grew up I grew up with 1 sister.

Speaker 3:

He grew up with 5 sisters. And so, you know, he's like, and not only that. They knew that I that I was around because they knew I was born and then adopted. So he knew that they had given the boy, the younger brother, away. And so I think he was like, oh, you guys gave away my brother?

Speaker 3:

You know, the adoption? And so That is fodder

Speaker 1:

for just being picked on

Speaker 3:

by the drug. I know.

Speaker 1:

I'd be terrified of

Speaker 3:

my brother. They did say that. They said that they picked on him a lot and things like that.

Speaker 1:

And I'd be nice if you were like, oh my gosh. No. Voice related.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So it was it was an interesting experience to to hear the stories. I I've heard a few, but, Yeah. I mean, it for him again to wait all this time to find me, and then finally connect with me, and I've seen him now in the last 6 years. I've seen him three times.

Speaker 3:

And, one of those times when I actually went to Korea, to visit the whole family, he was there, and he toured, you know, gave me a tour of of all the areas. We went out to the east, Korea area toward the the mountains, and, I remember we were walking around at this, the mountain top. We took a little tour up to Saraksan, and we were walking around this amazing beautiful view. And he picks up a snowball and he throws it at me. And I'm like, what?

Speaker 3:

See, and I'm I'm at this time, I'm, see, I was probably about 39, 40 when when we met. I've lived 50 years. 11 years older than me, so he's 51. And, oh, here's the other thing. He has 2 daughters.

Speaker 3:

So, again, he's surrounded by women.

Speaker 1:

And so here I am with testosterone.

Speaker 3:

My brother. Yeah. And he throws a snowball at me because he's probably never either thrown a snowball or maybe he's got a lot of, you know, crap about throwing snowballs at his daughters. I don't know. It was just a

Speaker 2:

Was it a good snowball?

Speaker 3:

It was a good sway.

Speaker 2:

So he's been waiting for a while to to build that up and throw it.

Speaker 1:

Every year, we climbed to the top.

Speaker 3:

About 40 years. Yeah. He's been waiting 40 years to throw a snowball at his brother.

Speaker 1:

Just go and see

Speaker 3:

your wife.

Speaker 1:

And there's just, like, so many snowballs.

Speaker 3:

These are for you.

Speaker 1:

Get ready.

Speaker 2:

You here for this reason.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Exactly. He's like, there's the whole reason to go to the top of the mountain. It's like, But it was just funny. He was making up for lost time, I think.

Speaker 3:

And there was there was a lot of that on that trip, back to Korea. A lot of things I I saw that that, that he wanted to tell me, that he wanted to show me, but yet, you know, we couldn't really because we were limited on our our our, dialogue.

Speaker 1:

That your story is, like, such a fairy tale, almost. Like, it's really, really beautiful. And I know that not all, adoptees looking for their family stories go like that. So, I think it's really special to hear something with that positive and that uplifting. I'm curious.

Speaker 1:

So you mentioned, in in another podcast that your family brought you to the graveside of your parents, and that they had a a space saved for you, because they have, like, you know, like, a place for the names to be written, right, for the names of all the family. Right? And I was just thinking about

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I don't know. So so for me, when I was adopted, I my parents kept my Korean name as my middle name, and I know my, Korean family name. So I don't know. I guess, would, you know, would you put your Nathan Nowak name? Do you have a given Korean name or that you're aware of?

Speaker 1:

Would you put, like, your Korean name on that, or would you put, like, some combination of the 2? Or I don't know.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I'm that's it'd be a curious thing. I I think when they said, when we talked about it, they said they were gonna put my American name. Mhmm. But the funny thing is the very first time I met any of them, the I met my youngest sister first, and then I met the resident family.

Speaker 3:

And a lot of the times, they did call me by my Korean name.

Speaker 1:

Oh, it's just

Speaker 3:

Korean name. Sang, Sanggil. Mhmm. So Sanggil, the but, yeah, they they they called me that for the first few interactions, and I remember it was weird because no one's ever called me by that name. I've known that name, and I've used it.

Speaker 3:

I even used it as an email in college.

Speaker 1:

Yes. That's what I do, man.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I mean, they were they're I it's not a name that I've completely abandoned. I actually like the name. The middle name is actually funny. It's spelled k I l, so that's why, you know, pronounce they always pronounce it by, like, Gil Gil.

Speaker 3:

You know? But I used it when I didn't really know how to pronounce it. I was like, don't mess with me. My middle name's gil. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

See, that's what I feel like being ignorant of the Korean language really comes in handy. Like, my first screen name. So I used Joon Tae for all the things, but Kang was my original one. So my buddy was like, yo. AIM, Kang the fang.

Speaker 1:

And I was like, yeah. Don't come after me. Just that little, like,

Speaker 2:

12 year old

Speaker 1:

boy on AOL Instant Messenger. He'd be like, sup, fools. It was amazing.

Speaker 2:

I never used my name for that for anything like that. I was always like, nah. I'll just be Patrick, I guess.

Speaker 3:

What's your what's your name?

Speaker 2:

My Korean name is, Young Jin Kim, but I believe it was a given at the either the adoption agency or wherever. I don't know if that is my family name. So

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Well, it's never too late to start using it for something. That's true. Or maybe maybe you use it for passwords, and you're just not telling us. That's true.

Speaker 2:

Well okay. Can we edit that out?

Speaker 1:

Nope. Just, go ahead and list it off, though, if we can have that.

Speaker 2:

Do you need the spelling?

Speaker 3:

The spelling, please. Start from the start.

Speaker 1:

So you you've met with your birth family a number of times, and, I know that the family is really important to you. You threw a big party for one of your kids' first birthdays that your brother came to. Is am I remembering that correctly?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So, you know, the big Korean birthday is the first birthday of the. So the the I felt it was a thing that I should honor and, hold for my son. So we did. We we had the whole party and, did all the things that you would normally do.

Speaker 3:

We even had this dojabi where you you put the items on the floor, and he he crawls to the item and picks one of the items, and that's supposed to foreshadow his career down the road

Speaker 1:

and grab the stuff. So just start over for a second because this is super interesting to me because I don't have kids yet. And I I have no idea what a dojanggi is. And when we were talking about naming the show, Jerry was like, janggi. That makes sense.

Speaker 1:

I mean, celebration. And then you came in hot with the dojanggi. I was like, what is that? I only know bibimbap and go so bibimbap, so I don't think it's a hot stone birthday party. So still okay.

Speaker 1:

So Dojeon ji is

Speaker 3:

I love 1st celebration. Yeah. 1st birthday celebration.

Speaker 1:

Okay. And so that Yeah. So what are the you said you did all the things, heavy air quotes. What is all of the things? Yeah.

Speaker 3:

So there's there's different levels. This party is a different level, and I only know this because I photograph them, you know, throughout my career here. I've never been to one as a guest. Yeah. You've only worked I don't know that many people.

Speaker 3:

I've only worked Okay. Exactly, but they've been in a range from just a simple, you know, house party kind of thing to an elaborate restaurant with full on decorations. And, you know, they do family photoshoot. It's a lot of like gifts and, decorations. I mean, it's like the the biggest party for the the kid at the beginning of their life, they will never remember.

Speaker 3:

Wow. But, you know, it's it's a thing that I really thought was neat just mainly because of the one portion of this party called the dojabi where they have this foreshadowing portion of, you know, the kid's career in the future and their life and whatever they want to pursue. And they crawl across a mat to an item and you as the parent get to pick these items and place them out. So you can put a you can put money, you can put a gavel, you know, for something judicial. You can put a book for something in education, a stethoscope for medical, you can put a ball for sports, microphone, I've seen a pencil, microphone, I've seen microphone for entertainers.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. For any anything in the entertainment.

Speaker 1:

Exclusively rapping though, actually. Yeah. Only

Speaker 3:

rapping. Yes. I I'm sure you could cater it to whatever you wanna put out there. I mean, I saw one family put out, like I think it was a stack of, like, $100 bills or something like that. I mean, you know That just seems unnecessary.

Speaker 3:

You're not gonna be rich. Exactly. You're gonna be rich. We don't want you to just grab a $1 bill. We want you to grab a stack.

Speaker 3:

But honestly, it's it's whatever you want to put out, and there's a whole list of things that you can that you can do. So, yeah, my first son grabbed the, the the stethoscope, so we think he may be in the medical career if as if this goes that way. My second son, when we had his, grabbed a calculator, and so maybe he's gonna be, you know, an engineer of some sort. But, for both of these events, my brother, well, actually, sort of the first one, my brother came to, all the way from Korea with his wife, and that was a really touching, you know, sentiment that he would come out here all the way to to experience my son's 1st birthday. And not only that, you know, he he brought gifts and stuff too.

Speaker 3:

So, from the family, because that's another thing that you always do is you bring gifts, into the to the children for their first birthday.

Speaker 2:

Was that your brother's first time to the states?

Speaker 3:

I think he had been a couple times before, but but meetings and things, I don't think it was, he definitely wanted to see a lot of, of the area as well. So we did drive around in a little bit and and stuff and showed him the beach and things. No snowballs in California. No snowballs here. So

Speaker 1:

And I took him out to Venice Beach, and I grabbed some sand.

Speaker 3:

And I pushed him in the water.

Speaker 1:

I found a jellyfish, and I said, get in there. I've been waiting 50 years.

Speaker 3:

Like, we have beaches in the

Speaker 1:

deep, bro.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. It was really nice that he came out for that, and he keeps, he didn't come out for my son son's my second son's, birthday, but he came out shortly after. And then he says he's gonna come out for my daughter's 1st birthday, which will be next year. So we'll see if he comes, you know, depending on the pandemic. So, that'd be that'll be interesting if he can make it out.

Speaker 1:

Fingers crossed that he can. That'd be cool. Yeah. So, let's switch gears, and we'll come back to because I'm I'm interested in how you've kind of manually manually. I'm interested in how you've tried to navigate the balance between, like, being an American family and being a Korean Asian family, because your wife is not white.

Speaker 1:

She is Asian. Mhmm. And not just one Asian, but 2 Asians. Right?

Speaker 3:

Yes. She's,

Speaker 1:

had a lot of people person.

Speaker 3:

She's still one navigated there. She is. She is one person. Okay. A a blend of those two cultures, and then I am a blend of Korean and American.

Speaker 3:

So in a way, we're, like, a blend of our children will be a blend of 4 cultures. I I don't know. It's I still think of them as, like, the trifecta of trifecta of Asian cultures.

Speaker 1:

Like a Neapolitan Twinkie. Yeah. Exactly.

Speaker 3:

There you go. That actually sounds really good.

Speaker 1:

Like, I mean, I'm not even, like you know what sounds good? A Twinkie. Never come out of my mouth. What?

Speaker 2:

Not even when you're, like, 7?

Speaker 3:

You've never had a Twinkie or used

Speaker 1:

a No. I've had Twinkies. I just don't really care for sweet stuff.

Speaker 2:

Give him a one star review up right there. I can tell.

Speaker 1:

I would prefer just, like, McDonald's fries. Interesting.

Speaker 2:

We're gonna we're gonna talk about that later.

Speaker 3:

Alright. That's gonna be yeah. Your Midwest is showing. What?

Speaker 1:

Y'all get out of here.

Speaker 3:

Dumb fries.

Speaker 1:

Anyways, so what I'm I'm curious. What was like, when you were dating, did you feel any pressure from yourself or from other people to date an Asian, or were you just like, I'm just gonna date who I wanna date?

Speaker 3:

Good question. Everyone I've ever dated before, my wife has been Caucasian. So, yeah, it's it's always been not not something that by choice or, again, options are limited.

Speaker 1:

Those are just the ponds you were coming in.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. There were more, you know, in college specifically, I do know that there were Asians out there. But there, I didn't really hang out with them as often, I would say. I mean, they're again, like, I was in a fraternity, and I was the only Asian in my fraternity for most of it. There was, you know, one other later at well, almost when I left.

Speaker 3:

But, so everyone I ever dated was was Caucasian until California, you know, my options were a lot more broad, and I, you know, met my wife actually through photography. Now I was taking some photos, and I met her and didn't even think about it. Mainly, it's because I was trying to be professional. I'm working. I'm taking photos.

Speaker 1:

Hey. Good on you, bro.

Speaker 3:

I was just gonna be the the professional guy. And then, yeah, and then after, you know, she she was actually, talking to her friend on the way home, and her friend kept saying, what? He's he's another Asian who likes country music? No. You like country music?

Speaker 1:

We are gonna have to have words after this recording. You can come after me for my enjoyment of McDonald's fries, and I'm gonna I'm

Speaker 3:

gonna talk

Speaker 1:

to you about that.

Speaker 3:

Oh, there are some stereotypes for my Oklahoma heritage. What? And I'll shout out to Brahms. No. So yeah.

Speaker 3:

I I definitely, you know, like country music, and she liked country music. She actually did some country line dancing up in, college. Do you do you? So, yeah, we've we've done a little, but, she does a lot more than I do. I'm not a very good dancer.

Speaker 3:

And, so her her friend was like, dude, ask him out. Ask him out. So she asked me out. And so when she asked me out, I I decided it was fair game. I was like, okay.

Speaker 3:

Love that. I I will I will go out on a date. Actually, I upped Andy. She just wanted to go out for drinks. I was like, let's just go to dinner.

Speaker 2:

So Oh, look at you. I like that.

Speaker 1:

Is that a thing? Okay. Here's the deal. So I have not dated anyone besides my wife. So, like, high school dating is all I know.

Speaker 1:

So, like, drinks being more or dinner being more than drinks would not have understood that. I'm just like, I don't I don't even know.

Speaker 2:

So is that a is

Speaker 1:

it upping the aunties? That It

Speaker 3:

was upping the auntie a little bit. Yeah. And because drinks gives you a shorter period of time in case things are not connecting where you can go, oh, look at the time. Gotta go. So, so there's a less amount of time.

Speaker 3:

Whereas dinner, you're kinda locked in, especially if it's if it's horrible in those first five minutes of sitting down. You're like, now I gotta wait for the entree to get the insurance down.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 3:

So That's ever happened to me. But

Speaker 1:

Interesting. So what was part of your choice to do dinner motivated by the fact that you didn't wanna become super red in front of her, or were you like, she's Asian. She gets it? She yeah.

Speaker 3:

I think she got the Okay. The the Asian glow thing. Anyway, it was more along the lines of, we had such a good connection during the photo shoot and and, just talking and interacting. I knew it was gonna go well. So, I didn't you know?

Speaker 3:

Even if we had just gone for drinks, I probably would have said, hey. Let's go to dinner after drinks and stuff. So, yeah, it was it was great. And, you know, apparently, it was the good decision because now 3 3 kids and 10 years later.

Speaker 2:

So I love the confidence. I knew it was gonna go well, so I just said dinner. Dinner, and we'll just call it right there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Dinner to marriage. It's a straight line. Right?

Speaker 3:

That should be a podcast. Dinner to marriage.

Speaker 1:

I think that's called love is blind on Netflix. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Have you guys watched that show? Okay. We're getting off topic. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know, so you've been you said especially in the last, I think, 6 years. Right? You've been kind of on this journey of, being Korean American and living with a hyphen and, exploring this part of your identity. What are you learning, or what are you most excited about right now with regards to that part of your identity? And it could be anything from, like, this is my new favorite food or TV show to, like, this cultural item or practice is cool or, you know, whatever.

Speaker 1:

Anything, honestly, that has

Speaker 3:

to do with Korean culture. I mean, I I'm a foodie at at heart in general, so I love food. I love snacks. I love drinks. You know?

Speaker 3:

I I can do a little bit of everything there. And so, I I constantly am going to Korean restaurants. You know, I love, all the different types of foods I've had. And so I try I try new things. I would love to pronounce some of them.

Speaker 3:

I'd love to make some of them at home. I have actually bought some items. Luckily, here in California, I have, access to Korean supermarkets. So I've been trying to make a little bit at home, but it's the it's funny. The the journey lately has been just that.

Speaker 3:

It's, like, exploring things that are at the Korean market and trying them out and and making thing them at home because I wanna give them to my kids. So we've been making a lot of things for my kids that, I definitely never had as a kid growing up. I had pizza. I had, you know, fried chicken and Mexican food, and that was what I was raised on, steak and potatoes stuff. I never had any real, you know, authentic Korean or Asian food in general until, you know, college and definitely until California.

Speaker 3:

So, so, yeah, well, like, for example, one of the things I my brother and his family taught us how to make was, gimbap, and I've never had that before. Korean sushi? Essentially, Korean sushi. Right. And I didn't know what that was, though.

Speaker 3:

You you had asked me that, you know, 2 years ago before he came, I actually wouldn't have known that. So I've actually only learned this within the last, you know, 2 years. And I remember eating it and just going, that's great. You know? And so since that time, that visit, we've been making it, and my kids love it because they actually like sushi.

Speaker 3:

But now if we you know, the little twist on it is, you know, it's it's Korean sushi, and, you know, it's a little bit different stuff. It's not raw fish. So you put that in it, and and they love it. And so, you know, now I've expanded my my palette and theirs as well at the same time. So whatever I can find out there, I'm gonna keep exploring and hopefully, you know, giving more stuff to them.

Speaker 3:

So

Speaker 2:

I wanna go on the record and say I definitely knew what gimbap was. Definitely knew. 100% knew what it was.

Speaker 1:

I only I remember this. This will forever stick out in my mind because, in middle school, I, like, really closely interacted with another Korean American, and he was like, yo. I was like, what can you tell me about my culture? Because I don't know. And he's like, okay.

Speaker 1:

Check this out. Gimbap is literally like rice punch. And I was like, what? He's like, yeah. It's kim.

Speaker 1:

It's rice, and bap is like this. And so I was like, what?

Speaker 3:

And he was like, yeah. That's the that's it.

Speaker 1:

And I was like, alright, man. So, yeah, I just was like, yeah. Kimbap. I know what that is.

Speaker 3:

That's funny. It I I like it. I mean, I'll eat any type of food, especially Korean barbecue. I mean, that's that's easy. Not many people dislike it unless you're vegetarian.

Speaker 3:

But

Speaker 1:

That's a large caveat. Yeah. So people hate steak. I'm scared. I haven't

Speaker 3:

been 2 or 3 or 4 hours with the vegetarian. Oh, okay. That's actually kinda funny too in itself.

Speaker 1:

I would just like the lettuce of the lettuce wrap, please.

Speaker 3:

Can I just get the the tofu soup, please? Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Hey. My fiance's vegetarian. So Dude, no shade.

Speaker 3:

That's just Then you should give her some more tofu soup.

Speaker 2:

Okay. She probably

Speaker 3:

likes it. Sundaboo. Sundaboo.

Speaker 2:

It's really good. Sundaboo. That's all good. Sundaboo.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. That's what the show is about. Learning.

Speaker 2:

I know. I've learned 2 food names now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. 2. They actually are. 2. Count them.

Speaker 2:

Wait. I mean, I knew what the gimbap was.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. You're on record as saying you definitely knew.

Speaker 3:

That's true. Oh, we're So

Speaker 1:

you definitely know. We're gonna have a lot more

Speaker 3:

Yep. Coming up. That's I'm gonna be trying them and eating them. Oh, I can't wait.

Speaker 1:

With your wife being you said Chinese and Japanese and you being Korean and American. And so, like, even just in the food game, how does that all play out where you're like, well, my kids our kids need to know about gimbap and also regular sushi and also the Chinese variant of sushi, whatever that is. It's like, do you just get like, do you make 3 rolls and one of them is each of them? And then, like, you also have, like, a pizza on the side. Like, what is that?

Speaker 1:

It's just in terms of giving your kids kind of that cultural heritage because they have so much to to draw from from just Yeah. All of East Asia, basically. Yeah. What is that like in terms of navigating their Asian American identity and the 3 Asian plus American identities?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Well, we never really, introduce it to my kids as this is a Korean dish or this is a Japanese dish. We just go, this is food, and we'll just be happy if they eat it. We will eat it. Eat it.

Speaker 3:

For any other parents until you finish it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. You

Speaker 3:

don't even know where it came from. The

Speaker 1:

2 bites, please.

Speaker 3:

Yes. You

Speaker 2:

know all those pictures I take? That this is what the production what produces from that. This is how it comes with this.

Speaker 3:

No. I mean, eventually, my kids are still young. I mean, 2 and 4. So, again, they don't But you really don't have

Speaker 1:

to have that conversation.

Speaker 3:

I don't have to have that yet. But it it will happen. And, I mean, they've actually helped make it, so they do know how to make it. They can eat with chopsticks. You know, there's definitely some elements of of the cultural, education that I do throw in there for them.

Speaker 3:

But a lot of it is is different. Like you said, I I have my traditions, and my wife has her own traditions. So, most of her traditions are are Japanese traditions. So, you know, for example, they they snack on a seaweed, and they just eat nori sometimes.

Speaker 1:

Yo. I would eat that stuff all day.

Speaker 3:

I never even had that until California. So for 30 years or so, I I was not aware that that was a snackable item. I mean, I knew seaweed was wasn't sushi. I would have never thought to eat it in a dry cracker

Speaker 1:

Like the the squares, rectangle. Squares.

Speaker 3:

I just never would have thought of doing that. So so they're learning a lot from her side, and and, you know, and I'll I'll bring in the old chicken nuggets and pizza side doing you know? And, I'll grab some nuggets and seaweed. I made some some Oklahoma dishes for them. This salty nugget needs more salt.

Speaker 3:

And my a lot of my family is also from Wisconsin. So, when we went back to dinner and visit. Hell a midwestern. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

So we went to Wisconsin, had cheese curds, which, you know, that's a You know, if

Speaker 1:

it's like, have this with me.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Have some yeah. Exactly. Let's fuse this together. It's Asian fusion.

Speaker 3:

No.

Speaker 1:

It's less it's less squeaky that way.

Speaker 3:

That actually doesn't sound bad. I probably would put a a cheap curd in some You've

Speaker 1:

gone too far. You've gone too far.

Speaker 2:

Pretty good. It's so fun.

Speaker 3:

Little green, little little healthy with the the bad for you. A little bit of

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Anytime anytime you say eat your greens. Like, can I have seaweed?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So I'll I'll give them seaweed all day long if that's it. Delete it. Sure. So

Speaker 1:

That's funny. Cool. Well, I would say thanks for coming on the show, but it's our show.

Speaker 3:

So Thanks for staying on the show.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for for co hosting this with us. And

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Thanks for

Speaker 2:

having us with us.

Speaker 3:

I appreciate the questions and all the, you know, the the the the back and forth.

Speaker 2:

We had a lot of laughs, and this is just episode 1.

Speaker 3:

I know. Looking forward to to drilling you guys now and asking some questions of the same nature.

Speaker 2:

I know I'm ready to be more than just the interjector. I like that name, though. I bust into sentences that need, explanation.

Speaker 1:

Like that. I did it. That. Okay. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Just like Nelly on any track he's on. Oh, yeah. Hey. It's going hot. What are we eating today?

Speaker 1:

K.

Speaker 3:

So today, we are eating kimchi, which is a Korean staple. I mean, it is honestly, I know maybe stereotypic that we are choosing one of the most popular Korean items that maybe everybody even knows or heard heard about, but probably a lot of people have not tried. And so, you know, I know crew a lot of Koreans, eat it at every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So I think it was only fitting that we chose this one as our our first, episode, food item.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Absolutely. I heard a rumor. Not a rumor. Just I heard a thing, that Koreans start eating this at, like, kindergarten.

Speaker 1:

Do you know if that's true? Can you corroborate?

Speaker 3:

I would say so. I mean, honestly, I I've tried to get my kids to eat it and Kindergarten seems so young. They're under kindergarten. My my kids are 4

Speaker 2:

and 2. I don't know.

Speaker 1:

I I didn't start eating spicy food until, like, I don't know, much later in life comparatively. So

Speaker 3:

I mean, there's different levels of it. Honestly, you you There is 1 year old.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. Get out of here.

Speaker 3:

It's there's different levels of spice. I mean, I when I was at the store looking, it had mild, medium, hot. And so and then on top of that, I know there's a a hundreds of different varieties of kimchi.

Speaker 1:

See that mine now says classic mild. Okay. There you go. So I feel

Speaker 2:

I don't have a heat sensor on mine.

Speaker 1:

Can't test if

Speaker 3:

it has COVID. Just regular, authentic, actually. Regular. And it's not made for caucasians. So

Speaker 1:

Good luck.

Speaker 3:

It's like, salsa does it. My we might as well put one on there for them. Yeah. So

Speaker 2:

Good. Amazing.

Speaker 3:

I mean yeah. So the one I I found is not even a very Korean name at all. It's just the mommy boss. I I I just thought that was a really funny, name and logo. It's very cute.

Speaker 3:

So it has a cute little label, talks it says healthy and fresh. I don't know. It looks tasty. So that's the one I bought at the store. I I almost went with a different brand, but they also had one which and, again, like I said, there's there's hundreds of different types of kimchi, and there's one of my other favorites, which is a cucumber kimchi.

Speaker 1:

So I

Speaker 3:

have that one just as a, for my own little, taste

Speaker 2:

that I love. Is it so many different kinds, or is it is it always just fermented like, spicy fermented, like, vegetables, or is it cabbage specifically, and then there's, like, you can put other things in there? I guess I've always just kinda wondered about that.

Speaker 3:

I mean, cabbage is the most common kimchi, but, like, as you can see, the the one with cucumbers is still called kimchi. It's just cucumber kimchi.

Speaker 1:

That one's my favorite.

Speaker 3:

And there's a soup kimchi, so it's actually, like a soup with, liquid and a little there's 2 different types, one that's clear and one that's got the, some color in it, some of the spice. If you go to, you know, a Korean restaurant, they'll have the the radish. Oh, yeah. Radish as well, little cubes, kimchi. I mean, honestly, like I said, if you look on the Internet, there's hundreds of types, but, yeah, the Napa cabbage is the most common one.

Speaker 3:

And, I I've I've loved it ever since I had it, but I've always loved pickled things. I think for me, you know, I I I like pickles, so I was gonna try kimchi.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I definitely did not like pickles when I was younger. I went to Korea when I was, in middle school, and that might have been my first experience with kimchi. And that was not for me. At that time, I was not eating spicy food, which was, much dismaying for my family because they were like, you don't even like salsa?

Speaker 1:

I was like, no. It's too spicy. I can't do it, but I'll eat the chips all day. So I didn't like pickles. I didn't like pickled things.

Speaker 1:

I didn't like spicy things. So kimchi was just a big no no. But I ate it because I was in Korea, and I wanted to try all the things. And it was cold, and I did not expect that because just for me, hot and spicy always go together. So, like, cold and spicy was not it was a weird thing for my 12 year old body to experience.

Speaker 1:

But now I've really come to love it. And, actually, as of recording this podcast just this morning, I made myself kimchi fried rice because I didn't have anything else.

Speaker 3:

So Yeah. That's something I've seen a lot more often too is that not kimchi is just the side, you know, banchan, you know, dish that you that you eat at the beginning. It's it's made in things like fried rice, omelettes. I have a scallion pancake that has kimchi in it. It's it's being used in a lot of other things that are not just by itself, which I think is really cool.

Speaker 3:

So that might be a good way of trying it first if if anybody was hesitant on on trying it just plain straight out of a a jar. But

Speaker 2:

I'm diving right in that jar. I'm diving right into that jar.

Speaker 1:

Have you

Speaker 2:

you've had it before. I thought I had had it, but I don't know. I think I might have been thinking of something else, and I really don't know what that was that I was thinking of.

Speaker 1:

So This is so exciting. So you actually keep me from Target. Right? Target kimchi. Which is means

Speaker 3:

it's amazingly expensive. Brand again.

Speaker 2:

Soul brand. Soul.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I've heard of that brand. Raw and healthy. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Our grandma's kimchi recipe with fresh Korean chili peppers, ginger, garlic, and bottled fresh. So I'm ready to get the bubbly zing of healthy probiotics. So I'm pretty excited about that.

Speaker 1:

Hey. Yeah. So real quick. Mine is, kangnam kimchi, which came from the Korean market here in Springfield. It's the one that I found.

Speaker 1:

That was the size that I want because it comes in, like, 40 gallon buckets. And I was like, I'm not that Korean. So, just a salsa jar is all I needed. So yeah. So there there that is.

Speaker 1:

I'm friends

Speaker 2:

with somebody on Facebook who has been posting pictures of the same jug of kimchi just slowly going down, and then it was it was, like, half full. And then one day later, it was all gone. I was like No. I was like, excuse me. Oh, like I said, you're not having parties right now.

Speaker 3:

Okay? No. When I was at the Korean market, I mean, there was a whole section. It's like it's larger than the dairy section at a regular grocery store, and it was this is a section just for kimchi. On top of that, I I've I'm a part of a a Korean Facebook group that actually is Korean cooking, and people were talking about, kimchi refrigerators, which I thought was really interesting because because kimchi is so pungent and and has such a a smell to it that you don't wanna keep it in the refrigerator because the smell could leak out to the other food in in your refrigerator.

Speaker 3:

So they have specific refrigerators just for kimchi. I'm

Speaker 2:

like, wow.

Speaker 3:

That's dedication. So it's

Speaker 2:

Mine says to keep refrigerated, so sorry my other groceries.

Speaker 1:

Sweet. Dude, Steve.

Speaker 3:

Alright. I have to eat it.

Speaker 2:

Are we doing this? Just to

Speaker 3:

eat it because I I mean, I love it, but I I'm curious to try this brand. Whoo.

Speaker 1:

So I'm immediately hit by what's that smell. I know. Which I forgot, but it's just so concentrated in the jar.

Speaker 2:

So And it's overflowing.

Speaker 3:

Oh, nice. That that's probably a good thing.

Speaker 1:

I had a big sticker that said bubbling may occur. So

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So don't fill it on your pan. Amazing, just the just the fermented juice. I licked it off my hand. That tasted great.

Speaker 3:

I think as a kid, the reason I didn't have it the first time was because it was called fermented. And I think in my mind, I think fermented just seemed weird to me. But if they had just said pickled, like, it was pickled vegetables because I loved pickles, but they didn't call pickles fermented. You know? It's it's

Speaker 1:

I think they just needed

Speaker 3:

to say something different to me than would make me try at a younger age.

Speaker 2:

I'm not even gonna use this fork. I'm gonna use my hands and just eat these pieces off the top.

Speaker 3:

Nice. Okay. Eating eating it with authentic metal chopsticks, whereas Patrick is eating it with a metal fork. So

Speaker 2:

Nope. But to each their own oh, I'm just gonna It's my natural chopsticks. These ham, baby. And

Speaker 3:

I'm gonna This

Speaker 2:

is actually great. I was really worried about trying this, and this tastes amazing. Yeah. I'm reverting back to my

Speaker 1:

12 year old self. I don't know if I could eat this on its own. As a side dish, I love it in stuff. I love it on its own. Don't love it.

Speaker 3:

A lot of the time when I've had it, I I like having it with rice. Right. So I like the the going back and forth from spicy to kind of just a bland, sticky rice. But I

Speaker 1:

think I need that because this is a little hard for me.

Speaker 2:

If I could put this on some rice right now, heaven. Let me get some rice.

Speaker 3:

So I also bought the one that had the cucumber just because I wanted to try some of that, and I haven't had that in a while. That's pretty good too. I really like the the cucumber. It's not like a pickle. It's a little I would say it's it's it's mushier than a a pickle.

Speaker 3:

Pickles, sometimes they're crispier. And this one's just kind of more of a maybe, again, it's not fresh, but I want it to be in a jar. So

Speaker 1:

Okay. So

Speaker 3:

that's all good, though.

Speaker 2:

I wonder if it's the Target brandness of it that's making me like it so much.

Speaker 3:

Again, there's a lot of different kinds. I've seen ones that are less less red that have less of the, chili pepper flakes in it. So gochujara, I believe. I'm gonna we're gonna be butchering Korean words, I think, on this show. So one of the things that I keep looking up and seeing all these words, I'm like I

Speaker 1:

don't know. Take them take them to the back and just chop them up.

Speaker 2:

Notice I haven't said a single Korean word. But, yeah, this, the you

Speaker 3:

can tell. Some are more red than the others. Yeah. I This is pretty liquidy too.

Speaker 1:

I feel like mine isn't as liquidy as I expected.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. I also read that consistency.

Speaker 3:

I also read that, that also depends on the region too. Some areas of Korea have more, liquidy, and some areas are more salty and pungent.

Speaker 1:

Alright. So maybe I'm just not cut out for the Gangnam region. I like Gangnam style by side, but not your kimchi as much.

Speaker 3:

So

Speaker 1:

Well, at the Gangnam area

Speaker 3:

Cooking it in things. Throw it in some soup. Throw it in your rice. You know? Fried rice kimchi fried rice is great.

Speaker 1:

So I don't know that I could really what okay. Someone Jerry probably holler at me if this is wrong, but kimchi soup is kimchi jjigae. Right? Jjigae. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Right? Is that familiar to you? I feel okay. Here's the deal. So I go to a Korean restaurant.

Speaker 1:

I've been I've had Korean food before. I eat a little bit more than just the basic bulgogi and bibimbap, But then I go and, like, I I look on the list, and it says kimchi jjigae. And I'm like, I know what kimchi is, and I don't like it enough for it to be the main flavor of a thing. And then the picture is just like stew, and I'm like, I don't know that I want I know I said earlier that, like, cold spicy was weird, but I don't know that I would want hot spicy kimchi either. But if you're into that, when you go to a Korean restaurant and it's, like, doing its best to be authentic presenting or it actually is authentic, then chigae might be the word that you're looking out for.

Speaker 1:

Side note, do y'all's noses get sweaty if you eat spicy food, or is that just me? It depends on how

Speaker 2:

much and how spicy it is.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Right. Oh, so Definitely if it's really spicy. And and, luckily, I have not found a a kimchi that is too spicy for me yet. And I almost because when I said that the at the store, there was mild, medium, and hot for this one Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I almost bought the hot just to see if I could take it, and I think I would be able to because I can take some pretty hot spicy want. I love the heat. Give me that. Yeah. Okay.

Speaker 3:

The I Compared to Thai Thailand and the food there, like, I've had some really hot stuff that made me almost die, I feel.

Speaker 1:

I feel like I've come a long way since I was a young kid, but this, classic mild is making my nose sweat. So Oh, well, there you

Speaker 2:

go. I know it's cotton spicy if, my pores on my forehead open up to the size of manhunt. Yeah. Okay. Drenched in sweat.

Speaker 2:

Just drenched in sweat.

Speaker 1:

Perfect. So that was, kimchi. Patrick, wait. Had you had this before, or is this your first time eating kimchi?

Speaker 2:

I think it is my first time for real. Wow. This is great. I want Welcome. I wanna try that cucumber though.

Speaker 3:

Go to Target and get kimchi more often. I know. I said I bought

Speaker 2:

the, one of the 2 the other the second bar or jar that they had. They only had 2 left, so I only bought 1.

Speaker 1:

Hot demand in Indianapolis.

Speaker 3:

So I also heard that the there are some kimchis that aren't as fermented, so that are just more fresh, made fresh. So, maybe those are less pungent and also, I don't know, just crispier probably. But I I I'm actually curious now. As I said, I love to cook, so kimchi might now be on my list of things to make myself. I've never tried it.

Speaker 2:

So Yeah. I can be beaten this.

Speaker 1:

Dude, go nuts.

Speaker 2:

I'm gonna shut it.

Speaker 1:

It's really great with egg roll the rice if you just make your own fried rice.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Mix it in with stuff, honestly. I think that's just take this

Speaker 2:

and eat it at work, and people be like, what is happening?

Speaker 3:

Kim Chi.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. And they'll be like, you'll hear your coworkers be like, what's that smell? And be like, I've made it as an Asian American.

Speaker 3:

How you know?

Speaker 2:

That's me.

Speaker 1:

So that is the show. Thanks for hanging out with us for episode 1 of the John Chi Show, where we explored kimchi and got to experience Patrick eating kimchi for the first time. So I hope if you are listening to this, that you if you haven't had it, go out to your local Target or Korean market, whichever one is easier to get to, and get yourself some kimchi, and, and let us know what your experience was with that.

Speaker 3:

I hope it wasn't as great as mine. And definitely subscribe to our show. Follow us on, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, where our handle name is John Chi Show, and you can find us there and, see what's, coming up in the next episodes. We'll see you next week.