Interviewer: Sophie Nacht
Interviewee: Karen Shi
This is an interview with Karen Shi, a sophomore at Colby College from Qingdao, China. Karen was born in 2003 in California, moved to Qingdao when she was 30 days old and then back to California at age 13, and identifies as Chinese. In this interview, Karen describes growing up surrounded by Korean culture in Qingdao through Korean food, music, and television, notably at the international school she attended in 6th and 7th grade. She discusses her different experiences interacting with Korean culture in international school, in relation to China-Korea diplomacy, and in moving to California. This interview covers topics such as Korean food, community, China-Korea relations, and the Korean diaspora. I met Karen in our Korean history class during Spring 2023 at Colby College. The interview was conducted in person on Colby’s campus. This interview was conducted by Sophie Nacht, a senior Anthropology major at Colby College who is interested in the way that food plays a role in creating community.
Karen Shi was born in California, but grew up in Qingdao, China until the age of 13 when she moved back to the United States. Growing up in Qingdao, she was surrounded by Korean culture, largely via music and television, and through attending an international school in the 6th and 7th grades she was also exposed to Korean food, which she came to love. After moving back to the United States, she saw a different kind of Americanized Korean food, which she does not feel the same level of connection to. Through media and food consumption, Korean culture has come to be a big part of Karen’s life and has played a role in building the communities that she belongs to, both in Qingdao and in California.