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I was born in Korea -- the land of kimchi; raised in Argentina,
我在泡菜之国--韩国出生；在阿根廷长大，
where I ate so much steak that I'm probably 80 percent cow by now;
可能因为吃太多牛排，我觉得现在我80%的成分是牛；
and I was educated in the US, where I became addicted to peanut butter.
然后我在美国接受教育，在这儿又对花生酱爱得无法自拔。
During my childhood, I felt very much Argentinian, but my looks betrayed me at times.
小时候，我觉得自己是个地道的阿根廷人，但我的外表时不时会背叛我。
I remember on the first day of middle school, my Spanish literature teacher came into the room.
我还记得上中学的第一天，我的西班牙文学老师走进教室。
She scanned all of my classmates, and she said, "You -- you have to get a tutor, otherwise, you won't pass this class."
她扫了一眼全班同学，说到，“你，你要请一个家教，否则，你肯定过不了这门课。”
But by then I was fluent in Spanish already, so it felt as though I could be either Korean or Argentinian, but not both.
但当时我的西班牙语已经非常流利了，当时给我的感觉就是，我要么是韩国人，要么是阿根廷人，但不可能两者都是。
It felt like a zero-sum game, where I had to give up my old identity to be able to gain or earn a new one.
这种感觉就像是非此即彼的博弈，我必须放弃自己的旧身份，才能获得新身份。
So when I was 18, I decided to go to Korea, hoping that finally I could find a place to call home.
18岁那年，我决定去韩国，希望找到一个能称之为家的地方。
But there people asked me, "Why do you speak Korean with a Spanish accent?"
但有人问我，“为什么你说韩语有西班牙口音？”
And, "You must be Japanese because of your big eyes and your foreign body language."
“你肯定是日本人，因为你眼睛很大，肢体动作也像外国人。”
And so it turns out that I was too Korean to be Argentinian, but too Argentinian to be Korean.
原来，作为阿根廷人，我太韩国范儿，作为韩国人，我又太阿根廷范儿。
And this was a pivotal realization to me. I had failed to find that place in the world to call home.
对我来说这是一个非常关键的认识。我找不到一个可以称作老家的地方。
But how many Japanese-looking Koreans who speak with a Spanish accent
但是看起来像日本人的韩国人，讲话又带着西班牙口音，
or even more specific, Argentinian accent -- do you think are out there? Perhaps this could be an advantage.
或者更确切地说，带着阿根廷口音，这样的人你们觉得有多少呢？也许这是一个优势。
It was easy for me to stand out, which couldn't hurt in a world that was rapidly changing,
我更容易在人群中凸显出来，在这个变化迅速的世界，
where skills could become obsolete overnight.
你的技能也许一夜之间就被淘汰了。
So I stopped looking for that 100 percent commonality with the people that I met.
因此我不再在遇到的人身上，寻找100%的共性。
Instead, I realized that oftentimes, I was the only overlap between groups of people that were usually in conflict with each other.
取而代之的是，我常常意识到，自己正好处于交叉地带，位于常常有冲突发生的人群中间。
