We are ONE

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 by Yonah Kim Martin

"Dae-han-min-gook!" (Point index fingers towards the sky) Clap-clap - clap-clap-clap!
Repeat as desired.

As the festival reached its zenith of excitement on June 17, at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam, the track in front of the TD Main Stage of the 5th Annual Korean Heritage Day Festival was a sea of red, speckled with other colours. Toddlers to seniors moved in unison like a wave in the Ggok-ji-jeom dance (a line dance that has become the World Cup "Hustle").
I was most entertained by a Caucasian man who attempted to follow the dance moves being demonstrated by Bryan Im and his posse on the stage. Even though he stepped on a few toes and bumped a few bodies as he turned the wrong way, he never gave up.
The little munchkins that danced to the music and improvised their own moves in the front row were also absolutely delightful!
I couldn't see my daughter in the crowd, but knew that she was among the dancers somewhere. When I saw her singing the "Pil-seun Korea" song and re-tracing the dance steps the next day, I was pleased that she had experienced this magnificent cultural event.     
When I was my daughter's age and in Grade 5, there were two Korean churches and perhaps no more than a thousand Koreans living in the Lower Mainland. I had Korean parents at home, met with Koreans at church on Sundays, at the occasional picnic at Burnaby's Central Park, and went school with only one other Korean girl in my class. The closest thing to an annual Korean Heritage Day Festival would have been the picnic at the park.
Having grown up in Canada with a dearth of cultural activities, we - the 1.5/2nd generation Korean-Canadians who share similar stories - feel so committed to events like the Korean Festival and Camp Korea (which is taking place July 21 to 23).
For a proud Korean-Canadian like me, it is a dream come true to be hosting a festival that is open to the wider community in celebration of our rich Korean culture and heritage.
At one point during the festival, as I was walking past the grandstands, an elderly gentleman approached me and told me about how he used to play the Korean traditional drums. He suggested that we play the traditional drums in between program breaks so that people like him that felt like sitting in the grandstands rather than walking around could enjoy the rhythms and sounds and feel it in their veins.
"That's what we used to do in Korea. This is what Koreans expect at festivals! We're Korean!" he exclaimed. His eyes crinkled as he smiled broadly at me.
"Thank you for your wonderful suggestion," I replied. "We will look into doing it next year!"  He nodded his approval and walked away.
I saw grandmothers and grandfathers with their grandchildren in strollers dressed in colourful hanboks. I saw throngs of people waiting to get their personally crafted pots from Master Potter Jung Hong Kim. I smelled the distinctly smoky aroma of barbecued kalbi (like Maui ribs). I saw my daughter in her red "Newgen"-sponsored, volunteer shirt walking around the stadium with assuredness.

She is a proud Korean Canadian just as I am now.
I had a dream. We had a dream when we began C3 Society in 2003 to "bridge communities".
Since 2003, the festival has become one of our most important cultural projects and nearly 1/3 of the year is spent on preparing for this one day - the day when our community hosts the biggest jan-chi (banquet/festival). The day when we publicly celebrate our culture and heritage with invited guests, friends and neighbours. The day when we become "ONE" in hopes of keeping this spirit of community alive and strong until the next festival day arrives to remind us and refuel us.
There are no words to express my overflowing gratitude and pride in the incredible festival team of C3 executives and members, Hanin Heritage Society directors, team leaders (led by Jay Je Hun Sung), the hundreds of volunteers and the generous sponsors and donors, especially the Korean and mainstream media who were instrumental in promoting the festival far and wide.
Without me...without you...there is no community. Indeed, we are ONE.

Yonah Martin is chair of C3 Society and served as the festival director for the 5th Annual Korean Heritage Day Festival. For more information about C3, visit www.c3society.com.
To contribute a column, contact Angela MacKenzie at aymackenzie@gmail.com.

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