Sophomore Olivia Kim

“Right before we moved [from Korea to America] we had to move into a hotel because we lost our apartment in Korea. That day was, unfortunately, my birthday — I couldn’t do anything. I had to just help move boxes; the only [special] thing I got to eat was the traditional seaweed soup that Koreans eat on their birthdays, miyeok guk. It’s ox bone broth, and you cook it for a whole day. It has rice cakes in it, dumplings, shredded eggs and seaweed. It’s really rich. It doesn’t have a strong flavor, but it’s full. You can just feel it like in your soul. Eating seaweed soup, my day is just made. It’s just, ‘Wow, this makes me happy.’ 

Even in the busiest times, my mom will not forget about that seaweed soup. Even in the moving process, when everything was so hectic — they were unplugging our refrigerator, taking off paintings, moving mattresses — even so, she still woke up early to make my seaweed soup so I wouldn’t miss it. We had to keep that tradition, you know? And we still do it every single year. It represents my Korean heritage. Every Korean household does this, and you can instantly connect with other people [through it], so it definitely brings a bit of home here.”