This week, Melanie writes in a poetic style, answering the question “Where is Home?” If you are a TCK, an MK, or a CCK, I am sure you have been asked this question and wondered how I can answer it. Maybe you’ve come up with your own fragmented version – but each city name listed below, visions, smells, or perhaps even a specific sound, may come to mind. Home is complicated, but it’s nice to recall all the places with people we know.
"when i am asked where “home” is, i say…"
by Melanie Hyo-In Han
my family and i moved around a lot
after we left korea in the 1990s
from seoul
to london
to morogoro
to dar es salaam
to stellenbosch
back to dar es salaam in the 2000s
then to kijabe
and back and forth and back and forth
between
dar es salaam and kijabe
for almost a decade
i left my family in the 2010s and continued moving around
from wenham
to klaipeda
to valparaiso
back to wenham
then to gloucester
and revere this time with my partner
and (back) to seoul
and in the 2020s (back) to london
where i will be
for a while
probably
Born in Korea and raised in East Africa, Melanie Hyo-In Han recently moved from the U.S. to the U.K. She is the author of Passing Notes in Secret ; Abecedarian: Banff, Canada ; My Dear Yeast ; and Sandpaper Tongue, Parchment Lips. Learn more about her at website.
