A video of a Korean girl bringing seaweed and rice for lunch and eating it at school is touching the hearts of immigrants living in the United States. Unlike in the past, when immigrants brought unfamiliar food and were ridiculed by their friends, the response was that it was admirable to see a girl confidently making Korean food and eating it.
New York City recently posted a video on social media introducing lunch boxes for elementary school students in preparation for the new semester in September. Lunch boxes of various ethnicities and races, including Koreans, Dominican Republics, and Indians, have been uploaded, and among these, a video of Avery, a third-grader who appears to be Korean, is becoming a particularly hot topic.
In the video, Avery said, “Mom packed me foil, seaweed, and rice. “With this, she will make Korean food ‘ KimBap’ (kimbap),” she said, then took out the ingredients one by one from her lunch bag. She added, “‘ Kim’ means seaweed seaweed and ‘ Bap’ means rice.” Avery went on to make the food with his fern hands, explaining, “Put the seaweed on the foil, spread the rice on top, and roll it up to make kimbap.” Although it was not kimbap with various fillings, it was something Koreans would have eaten at least once on a busy morning.
New York City wrote at the bottom of this video, “Children learn more about the world by looking at their friends’ lunch boxes.” In the comments section of this 55-second video, immigrants who spent their school days in the United States poured out their experiences of racial discrimination during lunch and cheered for Avery.
A Korean netizen said, “During lunch, several female students came up to me and said they wanted to eat kimbap. There were only 8, but I gave them away one by one with a good heart. “But after taking a bite, she spit it out and said it was disgusting,” she said. “I was embarrassed, and I felt sorry for her mother who had prepared her lunch box in the morning. I remember from then on she only asked me to pack sandwiches. “After watching this video, I feel like the little girl inside me has been healed,” she wrote.
Similar experiences of immigrants from other countries followed. “I remember hiding in the bathroom with my lunch box every lunch hour because my friends were teasing me so much.” “In the early 1980s, I went to school with spaghetti and meatballs that my mom made for me, but all the other kids were eating sandwiches. That day, she just skipped lunch. “I also didn’t want to take Gum Tam (Vietnamese food) because of the smell. “I want my children to be different from me.”
There were many netizens who cheered for Avery, who proudly revealed her identity and introduced herself. “It’s nice to see that kids these days are confident in their culture.” “As a first-generation immigrant, I cry after watching this video. When I was in school, I had ‘Asianness’ .)’ I tried really desperately to hide it. She had begged her mom to make her a sandwich instead of some crazy food. “I’m really happy that this child lives in a world where he can bring and eat what he wants.” “I hope this becomes a world where minorities are not ashamed of their food.” “Kimbab, which was a trauma for Korean immigrants, has now become a trend.” .
“Why doesn’t Mom make the lunch box herself?스포츠토토” There were also comments expressing confusion at the unfamiliar appearance of kimbap, such as “Where are the fillings?” To these questions, answers such as “If you roll it in advance, it becomes soggy, but the seaweed should be eaten crispy,” “I think I didn’t add it because kids usually don’t like ingredients like carrots and spinach,” and “That’s Korean soul food.”
Meanwhile, as of the 14th, the video recorded 2.53 million views on New York City’s Instagram and had more than 1,700 comments. It is also posted on New York City YouTube and X.
