La Palma city employees learn about Korean culture

Orange County’s Korean-American population has more than doubled in two decades. That requires some adjustment, and understanding, from many people who work for public agencies.

KPCC’s Susan Valot says the tiny city of La Palma is the first in Orange County to offer training about Korean culture to municipal employees.

Susan Valot: Aluminum roasting pans filled with Korean barbecue and all the fixings line a table in the back of a community room in La Palma. About three-dozen workers – some in orange work shirts, others in suits – grab spots at tables or in rows of seats. Mary Connor of the San Marino-based Korea Academy for Educators launches into her presentation about Korean history.

La Palma City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto set up this cultural training session. Nearly 20 percent of La Palma’s population is Korean – the largest percentage of any Orange County city. Lazzaretto says he wants city employees to understand Korean culture.

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Dominic Lazzaretto: The thing we have with our Korean families is we’re having trouble identifying and connecting them to our services. You know, people still are going to all of our events and activities, but they tend to be the Caucasians that have lived here longer. So we’re always looking for ways to engage the Korean population and expand our different services to them. And we’re trying different things, new things.

Valot: The training session goes over Korean history, talks about the Korean population in Orange County, and gives people a chance to ask questions. Helie Lee is one of the speakers. She was born in Korea, but came here when she was a child.

Helie Lee: I think the barrier is language. And I was trying to explain to some of the city workers, the reason why Korean and a lot of immigrants don’t want to participate is because of the – simply because of the language barrier. A lot of them, before they come to this country, are highly educated. So when they come here and they can’t speak the language, they feel absolutely stupid.

Valot: Lee says she wants people to keep an open mind about Korean immigrants.

Lee: They come with this story that you may not know. They might be highly educated. They might be, you know, middle class from another country. And so when they come here, they lose everything and the reason why they chose to do that was because to better the lives of their children. So when you understand that, I think it paves the way.

Valot: Korea Academy for Educators co-founder Mary Connor says paving the way starts with understanding key differences between Korean and American culture. She says you see those differences in school.

Mary Connor: For kids, they’ve been educated not to look at people in their eyes. And teachers expect the students to look in their eyes, not to have them look away, because if kids usually look away, it means that they’re shy or they’ve done something wrong and don’t want to look you in the face. In Korea, you call your teacher, “teacher.” And teachers here want to be called “Mrs. Connor” or whatever their name may be.

Valot: Korean-American Helie Lee gives the small La Palma crowd a personal perspective, talking her life and her family.

Lee: Halmoni is the word – in Korean it means grandmother. Anybody over, like 60, we call them grandmother or grandfather out of respect. I know it really pisses off American women because 60 is the new 50. At 60 you’re a grandma!

Valot: Dr. Cindy Chaffee fits into that Korean “grandma” category. Next year, she’ll be the principal at Miller School in La Palma, which has a large Korean population. Chaffee feverishly takes notes during the Korean culture presentations.

Cindy Chaffee: Understanding that that’s part of who they are. The fact that they’re probably going to call me “grandma” because of my age and that that’s okay with me because I understand what that means. It’s piety and respect for age, and with it, you know, all of the hierarchical qualities that come with that. So when someone calls me that, I won’t be offended because I’ll understand that they mean it in a very positive way.

Valot: Sitting next to Chaffee is Dr. Lorraine Test, the principal at Los Coyotes School in La Palma. She says the cultural training strengthens the community.

Lorraine Test: How many other cities do you know of, small cities, would take this time and this effort to put into recognizing a part of their community and to find ways to make sure that everybody understands this different culture? I think that’s completely amazing.

Valot: Some local schools have expressed interest in similar Korean culture training. Teachers in the Cypress School District went through it late last year – training aimed a bridging the gap between two cultures.