Interview: Samantha

Hey guys!

We haven’t had an interview in a while, so I asked one of my close friends to do an interview.

I think that this is a really cool aspect of what we do as there is a ton of value in hearing about others’ experiences.

If you would like to be interviewed, email us at tcktimes.contact@gmail.com. We’d love to hear more of your story!

I’ll stop talking now and let you guys hear from Samantha.

Enjoy!

Rose

How old are you? 

I am 15 years old.

Tell me about your siblings. 

I have two older brothers. One is a high school student in Alaska, and another is currently studying at a college in california. 

What is your home country? How long did you live there and what is one of your favorite things from that country? 

My home country is Alaska where I was born and mostly raised. I had lived there on and off for around 9 or 10 years of my life moving between the States and other places. I can't choose one favorite memory, but one of my favorites is when I'm on the beach with my brothers and our family friends. I would say the best thing about living in Alaska is my small community of great people who I love and love me back just as much. 

What continent do you currently live on? How long have you lived there and what is one of your favorite things from that country?

I currently live in Germany where I am studying abroad with other fellow TCKs. I live in a dorm with my closest friends who genuinely care about me and push me to talk about harder subjects. I would say my favorite memory of living in Germany is the amount of different places I am able to visit and the great people I have met. 

How long have you been a TCK/lived overseas? 

I have lived on and off for about 7 years, I would say, but I’m also bad at math so… That’s probably not accurate. I first moved when I was 6 and then stayed overseas until I was 8. I left again to go to America after that, then moved back in 2020. So, it was a lot of back and forth… However, I would say that moving back home to Alaska was one of my favorite experiences, even if it was just for a year. I loved moving back to where my friends were and people could understand what I was saying. I guess in the long term this made me dislike other countries we moved to because I was constantly comparing wherever I was to Alaska. Of course, I always found something to complain about.

What type of school do you go to? What were your favorite parts and least favorite parts of this? 

I go to an international boarding school in Germany. I love my dorm, the people are great and I love having some one to turn to at any given time. I love that fact the we all have a little something in common , and that I have people who love me and know me well enough to hold me accountable. I love my friends even outside of school and how my relationships have deepened this year. I can’t wait to see what the future holds because I know that they will only grow from here. The harder part of living here is saying goodbye. I have never been good at saying goodbyes.

Last year, I wasn’t as close to the seniors as I am this year. I was very close with some but not that many in our dorm. But this year, I am really trying to savor every moment with the seniors because I love them so much. Even just the thought of not having them here next year makes me want to cry. I hate saying goodbye and I hate that they will have to leave, but I also know it’s inevitable.

What are your extracurriculars and hobbies? How do you like to spend your time? 

I play soccer and have been deeply considering wrestling this year as a sport. On a more regular basis, I go to the gym and go on a run after school. I love the gym and the people that go there with me. People keep me accountable for coming to the gym and the overall vibe in the gym is always amazing. I leave always with a smile on my face. 

A big part of my life is also talking with one of my older dorm sisters. She is super awesome and I look up to her so much.

How do you communicate with your friends in your home country? How often do you communicate with them.

I text most of my friends from Alaska pretty regularly. It’s hard with the time difference, but texting or even calling them is always nice. When I go back for breaks, I get to see them and it truly is like things never changed between us.

I have one friend who was my neighbor growing up and she has truly been the best. We have kept in touch over the years and now every break when I’m back home she is the first person I hang out with. 

What are some great things about living overseas for you?

I love the food and being outside. I also love to talk so getting to know new people and learning about them is so much fun. I also love how living overseas brought my family closer. I think that by us all living apart from each other, we definitely value our little time that we have together a lot more. 

What’s one hard thing about living overseas? Why? 

I miss my grandparents in the states. I feel like I’m gonna wish I had this time with them, especially because we don’t get to see them that often. I think I also miss the views too. In Alaska there are beautiful beaches and all these places I love to go on walks, but in Mongolia everything looks the same and I can’t really walk off on my own because it’s not the safest. So I guess I miss the freedom too, and the good sea food.

What’s one thing you miss about your home country? 

The community. I was the first Korean kid to be born there in probably decades so I was very loved in our community. This opened the door to develop such amazing relationships with people. I missed seeing them every Sunday and having dinners together, as well as getting to invite them to school events. I missed that community so much just because it was what I was used to, but then when we moved, that was taken away from me. 

What’s your favorite food from your home country and your favorite food from your host country? 

My favorite food from my home country is my grandma’s broccoli casserole. It is soooo good and she puts so much love into it because she knows that it’s my favorite. I love that about her. I think it’s also one of my favorites because I used to help her chop the broccoli and make it. That was time when we just got to talk which I love.

I think my favorite food from my host country is a Indian place that’s there. It is soooo good. It’s definitely one of my family favorite places to go out and eat. When we’re all in Alaska, we eat there at least twice a month.