I'm Back!!

I have been gone from my blog for too long! I will post soon about our 3 weeks in Korea this summer. It was good. It was hot & humid. It was emotional, and sometimes confusing for my kids and myself. I have had to process it before I could write about it... I will soon!

Leaving soon!

I just realized how quickly my trip is approaching! Next week the kids are at Camp Chin-gu (friend) - a local Korean culture camp. A week from Sunday we leave for our 18 days in Korea. While I am very excited, I am suddenly hit with the realities of dealing with leaving for almost 3 weeks and with getting everything figured out over there (subway, buses, guest house, etc.). Lots to do. Right now we will land in Seoul on 7/20 and spend the night at the Holt Guest House. We will have 2 days in Seoul. In the afternoon of the second day we will take the KTX Train to Busan (so fast!), where we are staying with the parents of a friend of mine - they are so sweet and kind to us. The next day we will take a bus to Goseong and pick up my son's younger brother who will come to Busan to stay with us for several days while my son's Halmoni is working. This is great!! We were not expecting to be able to do this. This will allow my son to have lots of time with his brother. I am planning to run out and pick up some board games, a frisbee, etc. so that they have plenty to play with.

Bought the Tickets!

I finally bought our tickets to Korea this summer. Due to my father's death and some obligations in relation to that this summer, we had to move it and shorten it a bit, but we will be one for 18 days. I'm really looking forward to the trip. Now I have to figure out how to get from the airport, to Seoul. Last time we had a tour company. We get in around 5AM and will have our luggage plus my daughter's donations for Holt that she collected as part of her Girl Scout Bronze project. I am off to search the Internet for options.

A friend I want to start a group like KAAN (Korean-American Adoption Network)in our area. Our goal is to bring together all in our larger region who support Korean culture in one way or another. One of our goals is to start a youth group for middle school kids and high school kids where they can learn about Korean culture, talk about issues that relate to them as Korean-Americans (and sometimes address adoption issues with the adoptees) and just have a fun time hanging out with kids like themselves in order to build a support group of sorts. We are trying to figure out how to get the ball rolling... Any and all ideas welcome!

What do we owe our children?

A Korean friend has told me many times how much she admires how hard I am working to learn Korean and about Korea. I finally tried to explain to her that I feel that this is the least I can do for my kids. While our family coming together has much joy, there is loss and pain involved as well. My children lost their first families and their culture. While we now have ongoing communication with some of my son's birth family (not my daughter's - yet), I cannot give them back their first families. I can, however, work to give them as much Korean-ness as possible - language, customs, food, holidays, art, music, etc. I am always floored by the adoptive parents who choose not to do this. Who choose to say, "My kids area American now." Or say that their children have no interest in Korea. Most kids don't have an interest in religion, but most families educate their kids on their religious beliefs anyway - it should be the same with education about the child's birth culture.

As adoptive parents we have to do our best to "become Korean" - Korean culture should become OUR culture and be a part of homes and our everyday lives. It cannot be just on Lunar New Year or an occasional dinner out at a Korean restaurant. Our kids need to know that "Korean" is not foreign - it is who they are. They need to know that Korean culture is valued and respected. And the parents who deny it are cheating their kids, and setting their kids up for all kinds of identity issues later on.
(stepping off soap box now)

More drama...

While my husband and brother (who lives with us) have been watching football, I watch Korean TV. To add to my list from before, I enjoyed You're Handsome/Beautiful, Will it Snow for Christmas and IRIS. We now get KBS World on our satellite - I love it! There are travel shows, kids shows and IRIS. The Music Bank show is great as well - my kids love seeing the latest music from Korea. Now we are trying to find out how to buy it and download it.