The Florida Emerald Coast – An INTERNATIONAL REGION
By David Triana
Our Emerald Coast is composed of people, who either by birth or background, represent dozens of nations of the world. Just like that variety makes our U.S. Olympic teams greatly competitive, I think that variety is also key in making us the most successful nation in the world!
The recent Winter Olympics took place in South Korea, a nation I have been fortunate to live in and later vacationed in. I loved watching our delegation march in and seeing the different races and ethnic backgrounds of our AMERICAN athletes.
One of the great stories was that of 17-year-old Chloe Kim, who captivated the entire nation, and the world with her smile and more importantly, with her powerful performance in winning the gold medal in the snowboarding halfpipe competition. I loved watching the excitement in the faces of her father Jong and her mother Boran, as they looked on. The neatest part of the story is that Chloe’s parents, who emigrated from South Korea in 1982, grew up in Seoul…only two hours from Pyeonchang and where much of her extended family still lives.
The U.S. figure skating team is another microcosm of our nation, among its 14 members, one half of them had background from either Taiwan, China, and/or Japan. Including Mirai Nagasu, whose parents are not yet U.S. citizens. Mirai became the first American female figure skater to land a triple axel at the Olympics and only the third woman in history to do so! When Mirai, whose name means “future” in Japanese, reached the age of 22, she was required by Japanese law to relinquish her American-Japanese dual citizenship, Mirai chose U.S. citizenship!
Such stories abound also within our Emerald Coast, where people from all corners of the world, including refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia since back in the late 70s and 80s. I recall reading a touching story by one of my favorite reporters, Kari Barlow of the Northwest Florida Daily News featuring Tuoi Kim Pham (story dated Nov 21, 2015), who was 23 years old when she, with her husband Minh Nguyen, and their two small children, escaped Vietnam five years after Saigon fell. After a months-long journey that wound through Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, they arrived in Fort Walton Beach with no money, and only one contact, and no English. “America’s the best, and everybody was so helpful”, the story quotes Kim saying. Eventually Kim operated a gas station and ran a Shalimar restaurant. Her daughter also became an entrepreneur motivated by the hard work ethic and sacrifices of her parents.
People say the American Dream is “dead”, tell that to Chloe’s or Mirai’s parents, or to Tuoi Kim Phan!
The traditions and culture, whether European, Asian, Native American, Latin American, etc., come together to make us the great nation that many, rich and poor, would love to live in to achieve the still very much alive American Dream.
Those traditions and cultures are why we plan to celebrate, in UNITY, during the INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL Fort Walton Beach! Our hope is that as many people from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and creeds participate, and all to enjoy the varied music, food, folklore, art, and everything that entails a quality, family-friendly event. It will be FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
We hope the business community will support it for the “message of Unity” we are aiming to accomplish, but, we know that from a business perspective, it will offer them an invaluable opportunity to showcase their products and services to a large and varied audience. For more details about INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL Fort Walton Beach, go here: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalFestivalFortWaltonBeach/
We thank the Greater FWB Chamber of Commerce and the City of FWB for sponsoring the festival. A special thanks to Tienda La Mexicana in Destin for being the first business sponsor to sign up and to all the vendors who have already signed up too.
The World UNITES in the Emerald Coast! Be part of a special festival!
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Conexión Media Group, the parent company of this publication, is leading the organization, planning and execution of the INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL Fort Walton Beach. Leading up to the Festival, we will publish some stories about individuals living in our area who came to our nation escaping communism, poverty, war, dire economic conditions, etc. Too many people think the American Dream is “dead”, and we completely disagree with that. We hope these stories will help highlight the greatness of our nation and the variety of people and cultures that make us a great place to live.
