a history lesson

This is my grandmother on my father's side on the small plot of land they owned in S.Korea and worked for survival. Back then (circa 1950s) everyone in S.Korea was poor. Luckily, my grandparents had the foresight to leave the only country they had ever known, sell all their belongings, and flee to South America on a boat that took them 3 months around the African continent before finally arriving in South America. They thought South America was like North America... Clearly they were mistaken but my dad lived in Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil for most of his teen years and so he claims to speak Portuguese and Spanish. Finally they realized they were in the poorer, still developing America, and so they moved to California. It was hard to find a job and get citizenship out there, apparently, and that's how my dad's family ended up in Chicago for a few years. It didn't take them long to figure out that the weather in Chicago pretty much sucks major ass and so they moved back to California, but by then they had become citizens. My dad stayed behind though and went to Southern Illinois University where he met my mother:

This is a picture of my mother when she was also at SIU, getting her masters in education. She finished college in S.Korea (Ewha University) and decided to pursue even higher education in the United States. We found this picture when my family was visiting my parents' college friends in Seattle. I couldn't believe my eyes. Here is my mother, probably around the same age as me... and the rest is history...