Sewn
Together a memoir
Written and Illustrated by
Cynthia Rhee
For my Mom, Dad, and Mongchi, with love
I was born in Englewood Hospital in New Jersey.
It took my parents ten years to have me, so I grew up with a lot of love and attention. My family moved back to South Korea before I turned one because of my dad’s business.
I attended the same international school from second to twelfth grade. Before I started middle school, my dad gave me a necklace and said,
The world is going to throw you some hardships, so use these keys to open all the locked doors.
Eomma [Mom], What is that thing you are making?
This is called a Jogakbo. It is a traditional Korean wrapping cloth. It can be made from a variety of materials. They could be used as gift-wrap, household item storage, table cloths, wedding gifts, and so much more. A lot of people nowadays do not know about Jogakbo. Remember the time you wore a Hanbok?
Towards the end of eighth grade I had a parent-teacher conference with Ms. Harssema, my social studies teacher. She called me "quiet," and I was shocked.
Promise me you will ask at least three questions this quarter.
I wanted to prove her wrong, so I ran for class president. It was my first time speaking in front of a wide audience. But, I overcame my fear and acting became my new passion.
Then freshman year came.
I don't know why, but ridiculous rumors spread like wildfire.
She’s so fake and such a big flirt.
She acts as if she can rule the world. Look at her smiling like that.
I bet her mom’s also like her. Like mother like daughter, you know?
Though I acted as if I didn’t care, I spent my lunch breaks in the bathroom on the other side of the building.
One day I remembered the necklace my dad gave me years ago and thought about what he had said back then.
Eomma, tell me more about Hanboks. The Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) was the peak of making Hanboks. Traditionally, Hanboks were colored using natural dyes extracted from flower petals. Though these hand-processed colors took longer, these colors create much more depth than artificial dyes.
Up until 100 years ago, people wore Hanboks daily. Now they are worn on festive days or special anniversaries only. Children wear them on their first birthday and adults wear them for their wedding ceremony and on their 60th birthday.
With a fresh perspective,
I attended college in America. I was so excited to finally make new friends and be in a new environment.
I realized how Americans grew up differently even though I had attended an International School. Birthdays were celebrated differently, people ate pulled pork without...anything. People shook hands or casually hugged each other when they first met.
But despite these differences, I became friends with some great people. I’ve been hurt by people in the past, but people have also supported me. My friends in college have shown me what friendship and love means and that no language or culture can act as a barrier.
While everyone admired the beautiful Hanboks that mothers created for their families with love, a lot of scraps of cloths were left.
One mother noticed them and collected those scraps into one pile. They were different sizes, colors, and textures, and were made of silk, hemp, and cotton.
During my sophomore year I went back to Korea for summer break and volunteered at a museum. It was my first time interacting with Koreans who did not attend international school.
안녕하세요! 반가워요~ 잘 부탁드립니다!
저 분당에서 왔어요.
저도 반가워요. 혹시 어디서 오셨어요? [ HI, NICE TO MEET YOU! ]
[ NICE TO MEET YOU TOO. WAIT, WHERE DO YOU LIVE? ]
[ I LIVE IN BUNDANG. ] (CITY IN KOREA NEAR SEOUL)
저 미국에서 다니고있어요...
아 어쩐지ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 한국말이 너무 어눌해서 사투리 쓰는줄 알았어요.
대학교는 어디서 다니세요? [ HOW ABOUT UNIVERSITY? WHICH ONE DO YOU GO TO? ]
[ I GO TO SCHOOL IN AMERICA... ]
[ LOL THAT MAKES SENSE. YOUR PRONUNCIATION IS WEIRD. I THOUGHT YOU HAD A DIALECT OR WERE FROM A RURAL AREA. ]
They mocked me when I didn’t understand some words in Korean, or if I didn’t know how to do something. I lived in Korea for almost my entire life. So being talked down to in my home country felt so strange.
This mother thought about what to do with these scraps. After some consideration, she started to place them together on a bigger rectangular cloth and tried to find the best composition while wishing for her family's happiness and health. After she assembled the fabric, she folded, creased, and ironed the seams with traditional Korean stitching techniques. She added one scrap at a time until she made a complete piece, finishing the Jogakbo.
During my last year in college I realized that I was going to graduate soon. But, I did not know what I would be doing after college. So I talked to my friends from Korea studying in the States just to joke around about our unpredictable future.
OMG I’m just going to work at Starbucks after college if I can’t find a job.. YOLO
Hey, at least you can do that. I’m going to get deported.
I didn’t know what to say back. I turned to my international school friends, who all have dual-citizenships like me. I’m actually going to move back to Korea. Why stay here?
Where are you going to move to after you graduate? SF? NY? LA?
What?
I don’t feel like I belong here. I want to be in a city full of people who look like me.
And at last I talked to my friends who live in the states. Ha, what are you going to do right after graduation?
I’m probably going to go back, live with my parents for a while and then move somewhere else. What about you?
Oh
Wow
I’m going to be a first generation Korean-American here by myself.
I have encountered a number of experiences where I noticed I was different from others. Although I don’t belong to a single group, I have the keys and my persistence to unlock the problems that I have faced and will be facing.
She wished for her family's well-being while making these. Each Jogakbo is a unique work of art assembled with different scraps and shapes. In the end, these small scraps of cloth create one whole cloth that has a great value.
I am just a collection of different scraps bounded up together that makes the person I am now. I’ve noticed that I’m a bit different from others, but that just means I am special and everyone’s just different. These small pieces will make one bigger and stronger piece.
I am ready to create my own home. And I have my keys to unlock all doors.
Special Thanks to My Family for supporting me; Professor Dowd and Vidhya Nagarajan for pushing me to finding my own style; My Studiomates for always inspiring me; and My Friends for showing me what friends are for. Typeset in Avenir and Chaparral Pro. The artist used traditional media and Adobe Photoshop to create the illustrations.
Cynthia Rhee likes to draw and actually sew things together. She wants to inspire people to realize they are not alone through her illustrated stories. She studied Communication Design at Washington University in St. Louis. This is her first written and illustrated book, and there are many more to come. Visit her online at cynthiarhee.com