Min Jin Lee

You found it hard to concentrate.

You said very little, hoping that if you tried to shrink yourself, you wouldn't be noticed.

And you've written that at that time, the world felt dangerous to you.

Do you still feel that way?

I do.

And I do think it's so strange because I'm not a small person.

I'm five foot eight.

I'm about 145 pounds.

I'm not small.

I'm not really big either, but I'm a very visible person.

And I do think it's so interesting that

In all my life, I've always been sort of big for my age, for my class and my size.

And for an Asian American, I'm unusually large.

So I'm aware that in some ways, if I'm not careful, I can be noticed and targeted.

Do I walk around feeling paranoid?

Probably not.

There's a part of me that, again, I'm deeply optimistic.

And I kind of think 95% of the time, I'll have a probably a positive interaction.

And 5%, it's very possible that something terrible can happen.

Your grandfather was a Presbyterian minister who went to seminary in Pyongyang and Japan.