Thoughts from Korea

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd share some more personal happenings here in Korea- no I don't have a boyfriend. :) (sorry mom and dad) ^^ It's more along the lines of why I wanted to come here in the first place- learn about the culture, because I was born here.

Last week I went and visited my adoption agency. I had contacted them about a month earlier wanting to visit the orphanage where I was when I was born. It took them forever to get back to me- I actually went through another center before they contacted me. I made an appointment and spoke with a social worker who said really quickly on the phone that the orphanage had been closed for the past 15 years, but that we could visit the place where it used to be if I wanted. I was a bit hurried, but I set up an appointment.

I arrived at the office and she was ready to whisk me away, but I wanted to take things a little bit more slowly. I inquired about my file and got to see all the original documents surrounding the first 3 months of my life. It was neat. The social work spoke English very well and was able to point out some of the things written in Korean for me. Such as my name, which I already knew.

There was only one piece of new information in my file in Korea than in the records I already knew, my birth mother's name and date of birth. The social worker clearly had done her work, because she informed me that she had already tried to contact a few different places to track this woman down. I was taken by surprise, because this was not my intention when I had called to visit the orphanage. I told her that if she found anything not to contact her before she spoke to me.

We then got in a van and drove (about an hour) to the site where the orphanage used to be. It wasn't all that exciting- the space is now filled with apartment buildings, but it was good to go- I'd never have been able to find it myself and she had taken notes with what the orphanage looked like, what buildings were here and there. Then we got back in the van- got caught in a lot of traffic and went back to the office.

That was the end of the end of the trip and I'm glad I went. At the beginning of my time in Korea I never had any intention to go, but after volunteering at the center and meeting so many other adoptees and hearing their stories I wanted to go and see the orphanage (or what was left of it). There's no news about my birth mother, so far she hasn't been able to find any information. There's really only one other place she can look and I'm still waiting to hear from her. I'm actually relieved that there isn't any information because I wouldn't know what to do if there was.

I start teaching next week and still don't know my school schedule. * sigh * Oh well. I've sent in some documents for the grad program and almost have it completed. I've also finished the online application for a school district and just have to send in some paperwork, and I'm nearly done with the online app for another district- then I'll have to send in some paperwork, but it's coming along and I'm still excited for the possibility of teaching and living back in CO. :)

-me