As immigrants, it was difficult for my parents to find stable work in the early part of their adult lives. Growing up, I attended four different elementary schools in Virginia, Michigan and California, and was often the only Asian person in my class. As the new foreign kid in school, I often got ridiculed or laughed at for what I brought to school, especially when it was smelly, funny looking, or just plain foreign.

I used to try to hide what I was eating, or eat it super quick (that’s probably where I developed my habit of scarfing food down). When I came home from school, I used to complain to my mom about how the kids at school made fun of my lunch. She would tell me to shrug it off, and pack me the exact same thing the next day. In hindsight though, I can see that the lunches she made for me were an expression of love and the desire to pass on our culture, loud and proud.

Thank you NBC Asian America and Jubilee Project for telling our story and letting me be part of this cool video!

Have you ever had carpet and wallpaper? It’s delicious.

(pork sung and seaweed ftw!)