Pamela Green and Hyosung An
“I can feel the energy.” At StoryCorps, South Korean native Hyosung An talks with his “adoptive” mom, Pamela Green, about how she and her husband, Mike, exposed An to Aggie football and other A&M sporting events, while also helping An adjust to U.S. culture.
- [Pamela] I remember everybody came over and we did it during an Aggie football game.
- [Hyosung] Oh yeah.
- [Pamela] So we decided to have dinner and have you all experience Aggie football at home so we could kind of explain the game for you. Do you remember that?
- [Hyosung] Yes, definitely. I remember, just back to the kickoff event. Cause if I couldn't to talk to you at the kickoff event when the kickoff event started so my host families didn't come, so I just asked a step member and then they told me, maybe my host families can contact me later. And then they said, you can leave if you want, they said. But yeah I just wanted to say goodbye to you because I think it was good to see you. Because even though that's all, just a 15 minute, 10 minute, I just wanted to just say I really appreciate you for the conversation and I want you to have your happy time, either you are assigned a international student that's not me. Whether you are Turkish family, you can come. You just said Turkish color, blue color is almost the same.
- [Pamela] That's right. Same family.
- [Hyosung] Yeah. Think about it, so if I didn't approach to you to say bye, we maybe not connect each other. We cannot have the this kind of...
- [Pamela] Well, I think it was meant to be. Because as I said, we had eight students come over.
- [Hyosung] Right.
- [Pamela] Michael and I had both met you at the meet and greet. But my husband, he was home and we had these eight students and he got to talk to them all, and I remember at the end of the night, evidently, you and my husband Mike talked a lot during the football game.
- [Hyosung] Yes.
- [Pamela] My husband said, I really like this guy Ahn, and I told him, we're gonna take him to a live football game. And I think that's how this whole relationship started, because after the dinner we continued and you went with us to your first football game. So, what did you think about that? When you went to the first Aggie game and the tailgate. Tell us a little bit about...
- [Hyosung] I just kind of, even 2013, I was just busy with the, just class. There's a lot of coursework, and also I had to teach Korean too, just to catch up the English class. When you brought me to the Aggie football game, I just heard, the college Aggies really like their football, I got to know why the Aggie really like the football because their energy at the stadiums kind of yeah, made me kind of very kind of excited.
- [Pamela] So what kind of sports were you into in Korea?
- [Hyosung] In Korea, we usually have the kind of very professional baseball, so that's very popular. And basketball a little bit, and soccer is a kind of third popular sport. So we don't have the football. This is the first time to experience American football. That's definitely... Mike, he teach me, so I learned every rules of the football. Kind of, it's easy to yeah, getting bored, kind of, is to enjoy to watching.
- [Pamela] And then not only football, but you've been to some other sporting events.
- [Hyosung] Yes, you brought me the basketball, baseball, yeah. And also Michael's brought me to the Aggie soccer as well. So I think I experience most of the Aggie sports. Aggie sports is a kind of core things here, so they cheering their team, and I can feel the energy, so that's a kinda one way to away from my studies and I energize again, and then study up harder. So that's really helped me get through the...
- [Pamela] Yeah, I remember when you went to your first game, you ran to the store to buy a maroon t-shirt for the game.
- [Hyosung] Yes. Yes, cause I bought it, and then I wear it.
- [Pamela] And look what you have on today. You have on maroon and white.
- [Hyosung] So now I'm Aggie, I'm gonna get the Aggie ring as well.
- [Pamela] Yes.