One of 10 - Nicole Lee Snsd

1.Baby Baby Baby

I was born on September 15 1989 in Daegu South Korea.Up until the 1987 democratic uprising the country was led under a corrupted political regime. The first president Park Chung Hee was the country's leader from 1963. In 1979 ,After 16 years his reign was cut "short" by assasination.Political coups were put into place by army generals as the country's citizens were left to watch. Martial law was put into effect and like many other countries in East Asia angry protesters were arrested and sometimes shot by the military for acting up. This of course instilled great fear in their citizens. By 1987 the people of South Korea had had enough and asked for a democratic election. Elected forward was the then dictator Chun Do Hwan's closest confidant Roh Tae-Woo who served as president from 1988 to 1993. Despite martial law ending, the country was in turmoil and in a lot of uncertainty. At this time in history, the country struggled to catch up to the massively growing financial trade of Japan, Hong Kong and China who were making massive deals with the USA and Europe.

I don't know anything about my biological parents at all. All I know is that I was raised for my first 4 months by a grandmother.In my mind my biological mother had a fling with a fella at college and got pregnant. He refused to marry her so she was going to give the baby up. A child out of wedlock is still very often frowned upon and looked down on in South Korea even to this day. Not to mention raising a baby is expensive and time-consuming.My adoptive mom and my so called "dad" picked me up at an orphanage at 6 months old and off I flew to the States and never came back.Untill years later,obviously. 

I was kinda raised as a princess when I was little.I always got what I wanted but only on my birthday and Christmas so I wasn't spoiled rotten. My mom wanted me to grow up healthy so I would eat bread and egg with juice or tea for breakfast and was only allowed sugar cereals when sleepovers took place at friends.

Mom hilariously thought kids tv was trash and hated the goofball "Bad girl falls into a swimming pool of whipped cream as the main character yells 'OOOPPSS' and fake laughter is heard in the background".  You know the channel whose name starts with a "D". Kid movies about adventure or being detectives or doing sports was always welcome. As was the Harry Potter films later on.

I'm very thankful for that today I think it left me with a grounded spirit that can look at aspects and tell if it's real truth or fluff. Growing up my mom was my best friend and we had a lot of fun together. My so called dad was not around often. He was in the educational field and would be gone for 3 weeks at a time. My mom was always the one who drove me and picked me up from pre-school and took me to doctor appointments or drove me to ballet class. I think I was always begging for my dad's attention when he was around, he was often cold or uninterested in many things that didn't include art or philosophy. I used to sit in my dad's lap watching the evening news and the second it was over I would get a kiss goodnight, then I would brush my teeth and mom would tuck me in and read for me.

Despite my mom being the definition of peppermint tea drinking, knitting, hike in the woods for hours, book reading grounded type of person she always let me be the opposite of her. On Saturday mornings I would quietly sneak down to the basement to watch my vhs tape of Sailor Moon.I was obsessed with all things princesses and sparkle.In the late 80's early 90's a new wave of TV, movies ,books and toys for girls hit higher then ever. As I have gotten older and now reflect back I realize what an HUGE impact Sailor Moon had on me. They were girls that fought the bad guys together,The were never rescued in fact the only male hero "the masked rose man" was actually useless but a good distraction as the girls literally brought the fire and thunder.

I really liked that they never toned down their femininity or beauty to be taken more seriously by their enemies or people around them. They were different girls with very different personalities that would clash but when push came to shove they all banded together and individually contributed to a force that was unbeatable. Something I later in life would be Veeery familiar with.