Thanks for this response @mineopoly. Your perspective from living in Korea is very interesting. It reminds me a bit of how I felt in India, though my experience was much shorter so I didn't have the chance to get as deep into the culture as I'd like. The role of a foreigner as an intermediary is a beautiful, yet I would imagine frustrating thing. Beautiful because you are not expected to take sides, but frustrating because of the potential assumption by natives that you probably don't understand the subtleties since it's not your mother land.

When you talked about dissension in the family, I think a lot of your character was revealed. Being oriented more long term and choosing battles is often wise when it is tempting to prove that "you're right and the other person is wrong." That way lies death. I've experienced many relationships being weakened by an unwillingness to listen and understand. It's not easy, but it's worth it. If disagreements are extreme, the relationship may have to end, and that is ok too, but again—not so easy.