Red Velvet's Wendy mentioned being hurt by racial discrimination during her school years and while studying in Canada.
On the afternoon of the 26th, on the channel "Goeun unnie Han Goeun," Han Goeun invited Wendy, who successfully transformed from a girl group member to a solo singer, and they talked about various topics.
Han Goeun, who immigrated to the United States at age 13, established rapport from the start of the talk upon learning that Wendy also studied in Canada as an elementary school student.
Wendy said, "My biological older sister, three years older than me, went to Canada for a language study, and seeing that looked so good. So I asked my parents to let me go too, and I went as soon as I became a fifth grader. I went without knowing any English, and in 2005 there were basically no Asians so it was tough, but after a month I started speaking and began to understand English a little. Even though I couldn't communicate well at first, school was fun."
She continued, "After two to three years my parents told us to move from rural Brockville to the city, so we went to Toronto. The English level there was different, and the kids were haughty and felt like city snobs. I attended a Catholic school known for academic achievement, and the kids were very snobby. There were many different kinds of friends and the ethnicities were diverse, so I couldn't fit in. That's when racial discrimination started: I ate in the bathroom and there was nowhere to include me," she confessed that she experienced severe racial discrimination in Toronto.
Wendy also said, "When I asked the kids at my new school, 'Can I play with you? Can I play soccer?' they said, 'You can't! You're Korean,' and discriminated against me. I went to the teacher and said, 'They discriminated against me,' but the teacher told us to go out and talk. Even after the teacher gave us that time, they never apologized, and I ended up with a lot of time alone, always going into the closet to cry, eating alone in the bathroom, and I thought school life would become difficult. So I stopped studying and focused on making friends. I hung out with the kids who partied the most, and my style naturally changed. In seventh grade I bleached only half my hair, wore a skull necktie, and suits; it was strange. Back then I ate crazily overseas and gained over 10kg in a year," she recalled.
Wendy, who ultimately gained 15kg, said, "I went to the airport to meet my mother and sister, and when I got off at the airport having gained 15kg, my mother and sister didn't recognize me. They said, 'What happened to you? Why are you like this?' From that day on, my parents kept some distance. They were so conservative that when I next came to Korea I got a cut, dyed my hair, and completely changed my style," she said.
After finishing middle school in Canada and moving to the United States, Wendy said, "I didn't study at all in middle school, so I was almost failing. My parents thought that if things continued that way she wouldn't be able to go to college and that I wouldn't make it, so they told me to go to the United States where my sister was. They sent me to the U.S. right away." She added, "I lived in a dorm and attended a private school. Living at the private school I stayed with my sister, and she played the role of our parents. I gradually started studying. Although I slept in a different room from my sister, she always checked on me. At the time I didn't feel grateful to her; I hated her," recalling the many troubles in their sister relationship.
On the broadcast, Wendy, making a public marriage pitch for her sister, said, "My biological older sister is now a pharmacist in Canada. She is not married and is the top bride material. Please take her if you will," revealing her sister's full name and drawing attention by saying, "She's in Canada and her name is Son Seung-hee. She's very sharp."
[Photo] screenshot of "Goeun unnie Han Goeun"
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