It seems as though that my love for foreign and exotic places starts with my family. Out of all the places in the world my newly-wed Korean parents decided to start their journey on the furthest bit of land they could find from their home country. On the island of Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud; more commonly known as New Zealand.
Luckily enough, this decision instilled in me my curiosity for the world that we live in. Growing up, my playground was almost always open grass plains or dense bushland reserves, my pets were the wild rabbits and birds we would leave carrots and seeds or whatever vegetable scarps we had left over from last nights dinner, and our primary method of cooling off in the summer was going for a dip in the nearby river or lake.
Perhaps this is why I always found myself gravitating towards occupational dreams that would allow me to continue this way of life. The first thing I remember I wanted to be was an astronaut, then an archaeologist, then a speleologist. However, it quickly became clear that the occupational aspirations of a curious kid wouldn't and couldn't be fulfilled by something that fit within the confines of a pre-existing job tile. But one thing was very clear. I realised that being able to articulate – to manifest – and share what I loved about the world was the most important thing to me. So I started pursuing performing arts, photography and videography; my chosen mediums of storytelling.
Fast forward a year to now and my love, passion and appreciation for my mediums of storytelling have not only grown but made me who I am today. It's provided me the incentive to travel, it's given me the honour of meeting the most amazing human beings from all over the world and it's given me a way of expressing my feelings, thoughts and beliefs. And for that I am grateful.
So if I had to sum up who I am right now, I guess it's this. I'm just a curious 19 year old kid that likes to tell stories - however possible, whenever possible and wherever possible.
And yeah...I guess that's me!
Tony