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GOING NATIVE

Korean Malayalis

Home ground Lee Ki Sook and Jang Byeong Su

Korean national Jang Byeong Su declares that he is a half Malayali and that his 18-year-old son, Hanee, is 80 per cent Malayali. Jang and his wife Lee Ki Sook have been living in Kochi for the past eight years. It was a friend of Jang’s who in troduced him to the city on one of his business trips.

“Of the entire coastal belt, which I had to travel in the course of my seafood business, it was Kerala that I found most comfortable to be in,” he explains. With their daughter, Jang Sae Ah, pursuing dentistry in Manipal and Hanee, in high school, the family is very much at home here.

But has the adjustment been easy? “Here everything moves at a slower pace than what we were used to but now we like this slow pace.” Lee, who is a writer, particularly loves the tranquillity of Kerala, its greenery and the people. Her neighbours and friends have introduced her to local ways and cuisine. Lee’s favourite is a crisp paper dosa. “Initially we missed our food, sticky rice and Khimchi, which is a cabbage salad. Now we get the rice from Delhi and the Khimchi cabbage is available in plenty here." Lee loves mangoes, a completely new fruit for her, and Hanee is more at home with local food than with Korean! They love the monsoon but not the mosquito menace.

Although Lee finds saris graceful, she cannot wear one herself. She wears “Punjabi dress,” the salwar kameez, happily and finds it practical and comfortable. “I cannot wear the mundu but I have worn it for a function,” says Jang. They have travelled to many places in India but Kochi is their favourite. Lee quotes lines from the Ramayana: ‘The wise say that he who takes seven steps with another person makes a friendship with him.’ “This sentence is the most impressive one in my life in Kerala and is my favourite proverb,” she adds.

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