By Captain Jenn Jackson
As Her Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Ottawa conducts its deployment on Operations NEON and PROJECTION, within its bulkheads a small community with personal ties to some of the many ports visited has developed.
HMCS Ottawa currently has aboard six members born in the Republic of Korea, many with close family still living in Pyeongtaek, Incheon and Busan – three of the ports visited during the deployment.
“One of the highlights of this deployment for me was being able to come alongside Busan. I'm glad Ottawa had a chance to appreciate my family's hometown and it made me proud to be Korean-Canadian,” says Sub-Lieutenant (SLt) Hyunji (Ann) Lee, bridge watchkeeper-under-training.
“Another highlight of the deployment for me has been going into Pyeongtaek,” she adds. “It was a difficult time because I was exposed to a much higher level of Korean than what I am used to, but acting as a translator proved to be a valuable experience and really made me appreciate the efforts my parents had gone through to make sure I still retained Korean as a language.”
All six Korean-Canadians aboard Ottawa speak Korean and grew up speaking it at home. It is not uncommon to hear them speaking Korean in the flats or messes of the ship.
“I grew up speaking Korean at home, although my vocabulary could use some work,” says SLt Jong Won Joseph Hahm, marine systems engineering officer. “It's good practice to have an opportunity to speak Korean on the…
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