Bayside, Queens in New York - 1997

In 1997, South Korea underwent massive financial turmoil as the value of the Korean dollar, the won, plummeted. Several large Korean conglomerates, or chaebols, went bankrupt because These companies had borrowed large amounts of foreign money that they were unable to repay.

My grandfather owned a successful chemical manufacturing factory in Busan, South Korea. However, his company went bankrupt due to the 1997 Korean financial crisis. Unable to support his family, he was forced to close his business. He took his wife and three daughters to New York.

My grandparents were in their 50s when they settled in Bayside, New York. Both of them were unable to speak English and had no family in America, so they were forced to navigate alone. My grandfather was unable to obtain work as an elderly immigrant who lacked the skills and education. My grandma took on the role of provider to support her three daughters, who were still in school.

“No nail salon would hire an inexperienced woman in her 50s, I was too old. So, I lied, told them I was 40 years old, and I finally got hired.”

My Grandma began working at the nail salon, by washing people’s feet. She worked 7 days a week, leaving home at 7 am and coming home at 10 pm.

After 8 years at the nail salon, she opened her own salon in Long Island with her two friends. Many of her customers were unable to drive, so she would take a van and drive people to her nail salon. Sometimes she would take up to 15 people in her van, take them to her salon, and drive them all back home.

Eventually, her three daughters all got married, allowing her to obtain her American citizenship. My Grandma finally retired, but her two friends still own and manage the salon they founded together.