jayroop

i met my friend heejin in 2006, just after i had returned from studying abroad in japan. being an adopted korean who grew up in the suburbs of eastern tennessee and later on in the shadow of baltimore and washington, d.c., my exposure to koreans or korean culture was understandably limited.

although we struggled to communicate across the language barrier, she took me in as her dong-saeng (literally, younger sibling in korean) and invited me to her apartment where she would cook meals for myself and several others. i can fondly remember eating rabokki (korean ramen noodles in a pepper-paste sauce and rice noodles) followed by refreshing asian pears. this was my introduction to korean food, culture, and language; albeit, in baltimore.

over the better part of the next year she heard many of my stories and dilemnas, but eventually wound up in new york to take her masters degree and our unconventional and unlikely friendship slowly faded to occasional e-mails and the rare text message every 6 months.

this card is what i made for her upon her graduation, creating the type myself and screenprinting it in my girlfriend’s studio before bringing it on the airplane from san francisco to new york. i really wanted to make something special — something that showed how much i appreciated her friendship. the last time i had seen her i spoke virtually no korean, but since then had been taking classes and had picked up enough to write her a simple congratulatory note.

i chose to print it in the colors of korea — red and blue — with type made of simple geometric forms. i used a ruler to tear the edges, as the straight edges were harsh and created a nasty feeling against the type which has been softened significantly by using dyes instead of inks on the paper.

translation:
heejin
congratulations
on your graduation!