Yellow on the Outside

I was compared to a banana once – yellow on the outside, white on the inside.

Jong Dae is born in South Korea in 1983. Nine months later, he is reborn in Sweden as Patrik Lundberg. The adoption results in Patrik growing up in the small town of Sölvesborg, with his loving mother and sister. The interest in writing comes early on, the questions about his roots far later.

Patrik is raised like any other Swedish boy and grows up with friends, good grades and an inner pressure to belong. Go home, yellow bastard. He is Swedish yet does not look the part but is still accepted by his local community – he is Swedish enough. Where are you from, really? By making racist jokes about himself, he shields himself from being made fun of by others. Ching chong. A conflicted childhood creates confusion and low self-esteem, marking his early adulthood as seeping with darkness.

In a swift decision, Patrik applies for an exchange term at a Korean university during his media- and communications degree. He reaches out to the adoptive firm that his parents used twenty years earlier and finds out that his biological family is alive. Journeying to South Korea, Patrik sets out to explore his roots and begins grappling with the internal and external questions regarding adoption, racism and ostracism.

Yellow on the Outside is a poignant portrayal of growing up as an outsider, seeking a home and one’s roots, and the racism that is simmering beneath the surface. With an acute eye, Patrik Lundberg analyzes his own experiences and portrays our societal flaws with raw emotion and a dose of humor. A burning question is infused on every page – where do I belong?