North Korean | Russian

I grew up in Moscow till I was about nine and then we moved to the UK. I think I feel more British than I feel North Korean. I feel Russian and speak Russian at home but culturally I don’t have any real Korean connections. I don’t know… When I was younger I didn’t want to be Asian at all, I had such an issue with it because my whole family that I was living with just looked really white and I had small issues with it, like my eyes or whatever, but it doesn’t bother me now. I think it interesting. I feel like I was definitely embarrassed of it when I was younger. I think I sort of alternated between thinking it was something interesting about me and then on the other side hating it because I didn’t want to look different. I wanted to have lighter hair or whatever. I have not really had anything negative come from it recently. I’ve never been discriminated against for it apart from very minor bullying at primary school when I first moved to England but thats more because I didn’t speak the language very well - it was more of a language barrier issue. I’ve had a number of people ask me where I’m from in London. Or say something like are you French? - I had that the other day at the market. I’m from Reading originally and thats something i’ve never had before. People are always wrong when they ask me anyway. It’s kind of funny at times i’ve had South American which is very far from the truth! I dunno I dont feel embarrassed about it. I think it is more of a funny thing because people are interested in it. It’s not like they want to offend me, it’s just a genuine interest. I think things are getting more positive. Overall there is a much bigger movement to stop thinking about race as the be all and end all of someone’s identity which is a positive thing. I feel like society is getting a bit more tolerant of our own differences.