User:Riri.r

Kowi
A young New Zealander of Korean descent. Defining characteristics of a Kowi can be described as someone who has comfortably and confidently assimilated to both Korean and NZ, or ‘kiwi’ culture; embracing the cultural and social characters of both Korean and New Zealand lifestyle. The term Kowi originates from a fusion of the words Korean and Kiwi.

A Kowi shares attributes of an 'edgewalker' as described by Kreb (1999): The product of genuine and thoughtful cultural crossing is known as an edgewalker, Edwalkers have significant lived experiences with different cultural communities through which they develop solid cross cultural competence while maintaining a healthy understanding of self. The exhibit the following qualities 1)	Comfort with a particular ethnic, spiritual or cultural group

2)	Competence thriving in mainstream culture

3)	Capacity to move between cultures in a way that an individual can discuss with some clarity

4)	Ability to generalise from personal experience to that of people from other groups without being trapped in the uniqueness of a particular culture

= Further reading = "Return Migrants or transmigrants? Return migrations of 1.5 generation Korean New Zealanders", Ellie Hyun-Kyung Seo

“Korean immigrants’ return to Gohyang (homeland): Placed experiences of home”, Jane Yeon-Jae Lee

Kowiana Association of New Zealand website

New Zealand Herald article http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10517952 ‘It's hard to be a Kowi - but fun too’

Famous Kowis Daemang Jang (founder of ISBIM creative fashion industries) (http://www.isbim.co.nz/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1hstUyB6n0&feature=channel_page)

Melissa Lee (Politician)

Danny Lee (Golfer)