'The City has changed me a lot'

Expat zone

Expatriates love Bangalore for its cosmopolitan lifestyle, salubrious environment, food and people.Hokyeung Kang, an expat from South Korea, shares his experiences here.

When you live in a City for as long as ten years, the place is sure to grow on you. And that’s what happened with Hokyeung Kang, an acupuncturist from Korea and his family.

From travelling around in autorickshaws and gorging on Indian food to learning about Indian culture, the Kang family says that they have found a home in Bangalore.

When the family decided to move to India, it was one of Hokyeung’s friends who suggested Bangalore would be the best option. But it wasn’t until they came here did they understand what India is really about.

Until then, they were under the impression that people here are poor and that they still travel around on elephants and camels. “It was then that we realised how blinded one gets by the image portrayed by the West,” says Hokyeung.

One of the main reasons for him to make this move was to do social work. He, along with his wife, Yesoon Paik, and a team of like-minded people, head to nearby villages and provide free medical aid, sponsor education and donate Kannada books to the children there.

“The real challenge was communicating with the villagers and familiarising them with acupuncture. I remember once after seeing the needles, one of the patients ran for his life — seeing him, rest of the patients too ran away,” he laughs. But now things are different. After putting in so many years of social work he feels that he has found a place in their hearts.

Even his daughter, Evelyn Kang, a student of St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, goes to the slums near her place and does her bit for the society. “The City has changed me a lot. I used to be a shy and reserved girl but after coming here and interacting with people in college, I have learnt to open up,” she says.

Mention the word auto to them and you can see them  rolling their eyes just like any Bangalorean. Hokyeung is shocked to see how some drivers alter the meter each time they get a passenger. Evelyn, on the other hand, used to be scared of auto drivers and give into their demands. Eventually, however, frustration against the drivers made her take a stand.

“Now I’m shocked at myself when I start bargaining and fighting with the auto drivers,” she says.

While she finds communicating in English a bit difficult, Yesoon Paik has found her way around the City. The curiosity to explore new places and cities has helped her understand the nature of the City and its culture. “I find the people here genuine.

They speak from their heart, which is something you don’t find anywhere else,” says Yesoon, who has also visited places like Chennai, Kolkata and a few other cities in India.

One of the biggest adjustments that they had to make was with the food. Being used to dishes made of less oil and spice, they found it very difficult to eat in the City.

“With time, we started to experiment with a few dishes and now I am a big fan of  biryani and my parents love kebabs. Though we go to a few Korean restaurants around here, I ensure that we visit one Indian restaurant every week,” says Evelyn.

One of the similarities they find between the City and their own  is the strong family bond. In South Korea — like here — they have a lot of family get-togethers and celebrations, where food plays a huge role.

“The funny thing is that we actually crave for Indian food when we are there,” says Yesoon, while Hokyeung adds, “but every time we go back to South Korea for one of these functions, we miss Bangalore and can’t wait to come back.”