Chaerin
Chaerin is a junior at New Covenant Academy in Koreatown. She was born in Ulsan, Korea, but came to Koreatown, Los Angeles, when she was 3 years old. She has been living in Koreatown for about 13 years, but she does not know its history or background. She is very interested in photography because she loves taking pictures of her family members, friends, food, and herself. She is a starting setter on the school volleyball team and loves dancing to K-pop and hip-hop. She has been on a dance team for four years and has won many competitions. In the future, Chaerin hopes to become a pediatric nurse.
Where is your hometown?
My hometown is Ulsan, South Korea. I don’t really remember my life in Korea because I came to America when I was 3 years old. Now, I live near Madang and HK Market. I got sick of Koreatown, but I still like it here because I have a lot of favorite memories. When I was in second grade, I cried at Madang Mall because I thought the CGV [movie theater] was a haunted house. My favorite movie from there is Hide and Seek, a Korean horror movie. I’m really into horror movies, but that movie gave me the chills.
Do you live or work in Koreatown?
I’ve been living in Koreatown for 14 years. I go to a high school called New Covenant Academy. I have been going to New Covenant Academy for the past three years. I like this school because I like the people here. I wish there were more people in our school because we have a small number of students. The students in my school are mostly Asian, particularly Korean. It is a small school, but its education and the relationship between students and teachers are incomparable to other schools.
What are your thoughts on Koreatown?
It’s kind of boring because I’ve lived here for 15 years. I am used to everything in Koreatown. The streets, buildings, and views of Koreatown are [no longer] special to me. Every time I go somewhere, it is always a place that I have been to at least once. I want to live in other cities where lots of non-Koreans live.
When I first came to Koreatown, it was very new to my family because my parents had been living in Korea for a long time. When we moved, it was very different culturally. Many non-Koreans were living in Koreatown, but at the same time, Koreatown reminded my parents of Korea. This impression has changed a lot over the years. Koreatown has become much more diverse, meaning many more non-Koreans not only visit but also have come to live in K-Town.
Non-Koreans coming to Koreatown is not new to me at all. Starting from middle school, I had many non-Korean friends living in Koreatown, which I thought was very interesting. Now that a lot more non-Koreans live in Koreatown, the Korean culture is spreading more and more each day. Because of this, I feel grateful and proud that our culture has come this far.
What has been the most challenging part of this experience?
Living through this period made me feel less like myself. I’m not a totally different person now, but I’d characterize myself as outgoing and extroverted. Staying home all day is really challenging because I’m used to going out and hanging out with my friends every other day. I don’t go outside very often now, but sometimes I go to my friend’s house.
I want to be active and meet new people, but I can’t; all I can do is FaceTime and message. I really, really miss my friends. It made me realize how special [they all] are to me. This period has made me feel sort of lonely and isolated. I’m stuck in my room for six hours because of online classes, but at the same time, the day passes by so quickly. It’s all made me realize how important social interaction is.
[If I could ask anyone for advice about getting through the quarantine], I would talk to a person who lived in South Korea during the SARS outbreak in 2002. They would already be used to this kind of environment. They’d know how to deal with this type of isolation. I’d ask about the activities they had done and how they coped with staying inside.
Where is your favorite place in Koreatown?
Karaoke is my favorite place because I get to scream, yell, and be crazy. It became my favorite place because, back in the day, karaoke was for adults only, due to alcohol and other factors. But now, karaokes in Koreatown allow a lot more teenagers and young adults to come and have fun. I first went to karaoke when I was in the eighth grade. The first karaoke I went to was Rozen Karaoke. It was $20 an hour, and it was very expensive for me as an eighth grader. It’s closed now, but it was very nice there. Not a lot of teenagers would come and go, but that was the place where I spent a lot of my free time. It was pretty clean and huge.
I went to karaoke because I got really bored with the places in Koreatown, and right when I heard about the new karaoke place, I went with my friends. Now, I go to this new karaoke called Youngdong Karaoke. This place is located on Normandie & 6th. I also like the Yupdduk that is next to the karaoke. My favorite dish in Yupdduk is the tteokbokki (떡볶이 — spicy rice cakes) with Chinese flat noodles, but now I am kind of sick of it.
What’s the biggest way your life has changed because of the pandemic?
Before the pandemic, I used to be able to predict what was going to happen in my future. I saw myself going to college and getting a job. Ever since the pandemic, my life has become so unpredictable. The virus doesn’t even have a treatment or cure, so you don’t know what’s going to happen to your loved ones. I’m afraid my dad [will catch COVID-19] because he still goes to work. He goes to the airport and delivers stuff, so I’m scared that he’ll catch coronavirus, and he’s been coughing these days, but I don’t know if it’s coronavirus or just his throat, so I’m really worried about that. Many of my parents’ friends have been affected by the coronavirus. Now that the protests and the riots are happening, 2020 is becoming really unpredictable. I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
What have you learned from this experience? What memory of this time do you think will stay with you?
I’m a Christian. I’ve been struggling really hard with my faith and my relationship with God. Through this experience, I have the time to reflect and strengthen my faith with him and my trust [in him]. I think this was the time for me to learn more about his love and trust in us, and even though a lot of people are dying and recovering and stuff, I think God is always with us.
The quarantine helped me become closer to my family members because they are now home 24/7. I’ve had a few arguments with them because tension boils up with everyone so close together for so long, but I’ve still gotten closer with my mom. My dad is usually working, so I watched a lot of movies with her and talked about life. I’m going to miss having that mother-daughter relationship when the quarantine ends.