Koreanboy6's Musings

Beneficial for Adult Adoptees to Use a Homeland/Birthland Tour When Visiting Birth Country I believe it is immensely beneficial to visit your birth country as an adult on a homeland/birthland tour, especially if you have not gone before. I used to not think this, but going to South Korea on the inaugural Mosaic Tour hosted by Me&Korea changed my thoughts on this. Why? Because of the natural support group you have, and being on a tour uniquely catered for adoptees. I noticed on that tour that adoptees who had not gone back to Korea before dealt with many complex emotions and had to face thoughts and issues they had not grappled before or had swept under the rug for years. By being on a tour with fellow adult adoptees they could express their feelings and grapple with their issues among people who understood and could fully support them. It can be hard for an adoptee not having people who fully understand you and can empathize rather than sympathize. For instance, we vis...

Importance of Having an Adoptee Support Group When I was younger I didn’t realize what a benefit it was to know and be friends with fellow Korean Adoptees. I’m not saying they have to be your best friends, but it’s good to have a few adoptees you can confide in. Having fellow adoptees is such a good support system, which I believe is crucial for your well-being in the long run. I have pretty much always had a Korean adoptee support system my entire life. I started going to Korean adoptee culture camp when I was six years old and am still friends with someone I met that year. Shoutout to Jonathan! It helped to know there were other people just like me who faced similar issues, insecurities, and challenges. Since those culture camps I have kept in touch with a number of adoptees, but have also met countless others through birthland tours and local Korean adoptee groups. That’s a little background of my support system, now why is it important? I believe that all adoptees deal w...

Wish I Learned My Heritage Language When I was Young Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but I feel many older adoptees have similar thoughts as me when I think I should have learned my heritage language as a child. I was extremely reluctant to learn Korean when I was a child. It is one of my greatest regrets being so resistant to learning it. I ended up decided to learn Korean when I was 15, but I’m poor with languages, so while I am between beginner and intermediate, I still struggle with it. I wish I was forced to learn Korean when I was young. Would I have hated it then? Yes, probably, but with a lot of things you are forced to do when you are young, you end up appreciate it later in life. Now that I have embraced my heritage I wish I had the fluency in Korean to go with it. Sigh, I hope others don’t make the same mistake as me and learn their heritage language while young. At the very worst, it gives you another skill for a potential career. What is the harm in that?

Importance of Culture Camps I believe culture camps are extremely important for adoptees, especially transnational adoptees. I should clarify that I mean culture camps specifically targeting adoptees. There are other culture camps such as Concordia Language Camps, Supsogui Hosu!!!!! which are great, but I’m not speaking about them in this post. Culture camps provide cultural and heritage background for the adoptees, which I believe many appreciate later on in life. I for one am appreciative from the Korean culture knowledge I gained from the camps as I grew up.  I know many older adoptees who inform me they wish they had culture camps when they were growing up. Another benefit of culture camps is for the parents. Culture camps that target adoptees usually provide support and classes for the parents to learn more about their child’s heritage and culture, but also about issues that plague parents such as their child’s identity and potential birth searches. Finally, these cam...

After speaking with someone on the subject of Korean adoption, and specifically birth searches, I realized I wanted to record my thoughts on the matter. I have noticed Korean adoptees and their families have been initiating birth searches early on (13-17 years old). While I understand the sentiment behind such a move, I believe it is ill-advised. In my heart, I believe 18 year olds is the earliest someone should begin their birth search, especially for Korean adoptees, but other adoptees as well. My primary reason is that the adoptee is simply too young and not mature enough. Furthermore, they do not fully understand and are willing to accept all the potential scenarios and endings from a birth search, many of which, are not happy endings. To be honest I probably started my search too early. I began the process right after I got back from a birthland tour to Korea in 2007. I was 15 at the time. When I was in Korea and read my birth file and met my foster mother I felt a longin...