The Journey...

Summer in Korea, Part 3

2011-07-31T12:28:00.004-04:00

I am a terrible blogger....To pick up where I left off... from Busan we traveled (minus our 10 year old interpreter) to Seoul on the KTX train. It moves along at 200 MPH, which is really cool. We had the middle seats that face each other and have a table. The kids played games together and ate candy, sharing with the family across the aisle from us. When we arrived in Seoul we retrieved our

Airplane Day

2011-04-10T12:43:00.002-04:00

Thirteen years ago today my son arrived at JFK airport. It is a day we celebrate and call Airplane Day. Yep. We celebrate it. I know that there are those who feel that this is wrong... how dare I celebrate my son being taken from Korea, etc. etc. To those I say, because I do! I fully acknowledge my son's loss that made him our son. I also work very hard to do what I can to help lessen that

Summer in Korea, Part 2

2011-03-06T21:02:00.003-05:00

I left off with returning to Busan with HoIk (my son's brother). We spent just about a week in Busan. My hosts had their 10 year-old grandson come and be our translator/tour guide while we were visiting. We went out just about every day to have an adventure. We rented an umbrella/patch of sand & intertube at Haeundai beach, went to an amusement park, saw a movie, and shopped at E-Mart. The

Single Mothers in Korea...

2011-01-05T23:01:00.001-05:00

http://www.worldvisionreport.org/Stories/Week-of-December-11-2010/Unwed-MothersInteresting link about single mothers in Korea. I think that this is why there is still adoption. I was glad to hear that 80% of single mothers who work with this organization are now keeping their children. That is progress.document.write(unescape("%3Cstyle%20type%3D%22text/css%22%3E%0Abody%20%7B%20background-image

Damned if I do... Damned if I don't

2011-01-05T22:08:00.008-05:00

There is an adult adoptee whose story I have followed, and who I have grown to respect sharing her journey and trying to change things. I even met her in Korea. Today I found a blog: http://transracialeyes.com which offers people considering adoption the chance to ask questions of adult adoptees of color. The post I linked to was called, "Is it my search to begin? How far should I go? How

Summer in Korea, Part 1

2011-01-02T22:50:00.003-05:00

Our trip to Korea this summer was many things. Hot & humid tops the list! We landed in Incheon around 5AM after our 14 hour flight from JFK. We flew out at 12:50 AM and thankfully were able to sleep a good bit of the flight. Korean Air is wonderful! Upon landing we found the our luggage, then the rental cell phone company and picked up the phone we had reserved. After a quick call home we

I'm Back!!

2010-12-31T01:01:00.002-05:00

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! document.write(unescape("%3Cstyle%20type%3D%22text/css%22%3E%0Abody%20%7B%20background-image%20%3A%20url%28%22http%3A//

Leaving soon!

2010-07-05T16:31:00.002-04:00

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

Bought the Tickets!

2010-05-24T14:32:00.002-04:00

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

2010-04-01T23:18:00.004-04:00

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

What do we owe our children?

2010-02-22T18:06:00.004-05:00

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

More drama...

2010-01-23T21:46:00.002-05:00

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

Worldview

2009-12-30T09:51:00.004-05:00

I should preface this post with this: I believe that International Adoption from Korea should end. I believe that all mothers should have the right and opportunity to raise their own children and be supported in this when needed. They also should not be discriminated against. That said....I am American. I have been raised with a worldview that, while it varies from person to person, has many

The Gift of Language

2009-11-10T08:55:00.004-05:00

한국어 Korean language - it is probably the most important, life-long gift I can give to my children. It isn't an easy gift to give. While learning the Korean alphabet is easy, there are many rules and sooo much vocabulary. There is also the time factor - finding time to study and go to class with so much else going on. It is hard for my son, who is studying Latin at school, and Korean at home.

Changes in Korea

2009-11-01T07:35:00.004-05:00

I have been following the work of TRACK (Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community in Korea)as they work to get legislation enacted to allow adoptees more information about themselves. This group is working hard to make sure the voice of the adoptee is heard in Korea as laws concerning them are being made. I hope they are successful. You can find them on Face Book at:http://

Dream Update...

2009-10-09T21:18:00.002-04:00

I have found out that I have a place to stay in Busan for a month next summer. Now I have to decide if I can really do this for a month. My husband cannot join us for most of it... he might be able to come visit for a week. The other mom who was thinking of going with us is now going to England instead. Can I live in Korea for a month by myself? In Busan? We would have our friends' parents

My new addiction...

2009-09-24T07:29:00.003-04:00

My name is Toni, and I am a Korean drama-aholic. I have discovered www.mysoju.com, where one can find Korean dramas with English subtitles. I love it. I am currently into Queen Seon Duk (this one is showing in Korea now, so I have to wait for two new episodes each week). I also enjoyed Boys Before Flowers and I am working my way through You are My Destiny - I think this one is a Soap Opera,

Chosuk

2009-09-24T07:13:00.003-04:00

The Korean holiday of Chosuk - The Full Moon or Harvest festival is coming up on October 3. This holiday travels around on the Lunar calendar, usually falling in late September. It is often compared to the American Thanksgiving, though I think it is a combination of Thanksgiving and Memorial Day. We have decided it is about time we added it to our celebrations. The tradition, as I understand

The Dream...

2009-08-18T17:24:00.002-04:00

I have come up with an idea that sounds a bit out there, but I think I shall pursue it. I am thinking of going to Busan next summer and living there for a month or so. We have friends whose parents have 2 apartments in Busan. We stayed with them when we were there in April. If they would let us rent their extra apartment for the time we want to be there, we could actually live in Korea and

What's in a name????

2009-08-16T20:44:00.006-04:00

The biggest mistake we made during the adoption process was not keeping our children's Korean names as part of their legal names. We use their Korean names at home, at Korean school, with our Korean friends, but they are not part of their legal names. I really regret this. Recently, my son asked me if we can legally add it, so we are investing how to do this through the court system. Poor kid.

Our Homeland Journey

2009-08-13T15:41:00.006-04:00