Penguins on a Wire by Soobin An
Interviewee: Soobin An
Interviewer: Joey Lam
Soobin An is a Korean-American university student studying in Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia. She was born in the unincorporated U.S. territory of Guam in Micronesia and raised in Georgia in the U.S. from the age of two. The Korean community and church life in Georgia instilled in her a sense of belonging to a Korean American identity through food and summer camps. This interview covers topics such as growing up as a Korean immigrant in a community that shares many of her cultural values and ways of playing, learning to manage family and personal values at the intersection of being Korean and American, and witnessing the growth of Hallyu within the last decade.
Soobin and I met online through a common fandom-focused and creative space, and we met once in Georgia with another close online friend. The interview was conducted via Zoom due to our different locations.
My name is Joey Lam. I am a third year Biology major at Colby College interested in East Asian studies and in visual art. As a second-generation Chinese immigrant and first-generation college student, I am passionate about the ways Asian Americans play and interact with their cultural identity and the mainstream American culture.
Soobin An is a Korean American student studying in Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia. She was born in Guam where her extended family lives, briefly brought to South Korea, and then raised in Georgia in the U.S from the age of two. Her art ranges from from digital paintings to architectural landscape designs, shaped by her desires to capture both the real world and memories of nature from her childhood.