About — Third Culture Perspectives on Saudi Arabia and Women.
My name is Sa-Eun Park, founder of MagpieVenture, a microfinance consulting and leadership coaching company {www.magpieventure.com}. I am an Adult Third Culture Kid, a Global Nomad, and an immigrant to the U.S. I am passionate about Social Entrepreneurship, Women Empowerment, and raising Third Culture leadership.
I couldn’t believe the unjustifiable hatred towards Saudis and muslims around the world in the aftermath of 9/11. The years of “war on terror” so much blame game has been pointing to this oil-rich giant and the leader of the islamic world. I see the recent documentaries and hear the descriptions in the western media and I think, ‘this isn’t exactly right. It isn’t wrong but this doesn’t paint the full picture of Saudi Arabia I know’. More and more people have been asking me about how I see Saudi Arabia and I realized I may offer a unique “third culture” perspective, a neutral yet up close and personal one.
On March 17, 1983 my mother took me, a-2-year-old (3 years in Korean age) to this desert land to join my father who had been working there for a Korean construction company since 1977. It was mother-daughter’s first flight to a foreign land, little did we know that we — the Park family- would still remain in Saudi Arabia to this day. My two younger brothers were born in Saudi Arabia and my father is due to celebrate 40 years devoted to life in this Kingdom.
So yes, “third culture” perspectives. What is that, you might ask? The best description I have read on the concept of third culture perspectives is offered by Dr. Young Yun Kim, known for her work in Theory of Cross-Cultural Adaptation, who describes third culture perspective as “an inclusive viewpoint that represents more than one cultural perspective — either the home culture or the host culture, but, at the same time, transcends both groups.”
I was raised strictly a Korean in our home and school in Riyadh, according to my “home culture”. However, a substantial part of my developmental years were formed by my “host culture”, Saudi Arabia. My first solid foods were Kimchi and Kabsa. (Off topic: Kabsa and Gochujang — Korean red pepper paste are a-match-made-in-heaven for those culinary adventurers out there) I see myself as belonging to both cultures and as not truly belonging to either of those places. In a way, I’m always seeing the world from both Korean and Saudi perspectives that has morphed into a new perspective of its own.
I wish to provide you a third culture perspective on Saudi Arabia and its people, especially about the fascinating lives of the women and girls that only other women get to see up close and personal. I wish to be creative in offering you more experiential ways of meeting Saudi Arabia. I want to turn up the voices of Saudi women without a frame of negativity, as they are fully alive, creative, beautiful human beings. With this, my hope is to break down walls and build bridges with Saudi Arabia from wherever you are. Follow me on this journey by liking, sharing, and commenting on my blog. I welcome your questions, topic ideas, and guest bloggers! (email me spark@magpieventure.com and twitter @saeunpark)
