Package Delivery: completed

K: Awhile ago I posted that my mom had put together a Creative Memories album with pictures from my childhood through my wedding to send to my birth father. Talk about a SAGA.

My mom first started by visiting the Chinese consulate. A very helpful man took this 中国北京市海淀区动物园世纪天乐国际服装批发市场11层1109 . (ZHONG GUO BEI JING SHI HAI DIAN QU DONG WU YUAN SHI JI TIAN LE FU ZHUANG PI FA SHI CHANG 11CENG 1109) and wrote out a label that he claimed would be understandable. But when she took the package to the Post Office, they did NOT understand it and also warned her that China is a communist country and there's a possibility it could be intercepted and/or opened. So, she decided to send the package to my birth father's business in Korea instead. Well, to make a long story short, this involved calling Peter Yim (our translator at our wedding), having his wife call Korea and talk to my birth father, putting together a mailing label in Korean, having the post office tell us they couldn't understand the label, calling him back and having it translated in Korean, and then having him hunt down a postal code... Whew. My poor mother - it's a good thing she's retired!

Anyway, here's what the label ended up looking like:

Well, then my mom began stalking the post office's web site to see if/when the package was delivered. Then there were two failed deliveries posted. She was starting to get worried. So, Peter Yim came to the rescue again. She placed a call to him --- he called my birth father --- and found out he's on a plane from China to Korea and would pick up the package later that day.

And then I received a message from Sang Kwan letting me know they had (finally!) received the package. Now my mom can get a good night's sleep.

Inspiration

...courtesy of PostSecret

A very important missed call

K: Just thought I'd share... as mentioned in his last email, Sang Kwan actually called our house! We were both at work, so he just got our machine. Said "hello" a couple times. Gave me chills (in a good way of course) to hear my long lost brother's voice! Made it all seem so much more REAL.

Mark and I are planning to purchase a calling card to call him back. Talk about an expensive game of phone tag!

Email from Oba!

K: Just got an email from my brother! I had written him earlier to let him know about our plans to come to Seoul. Isn't it so cute that he's already thinking of stuff we can do? I think Mark and I are going to pick up a calling card and try to give him a call. Anyone have any advice how to place a call to China?

Kim: How are you theres days ! torday I receved your email It 's so great you will come to Seoul .but how's the working now? I am worried about that .so I think I will togther with you at that time .can you teach me english too?^_^ I have a lot of plans when you come to Soul .we can go to trivell .cooking togther , play togther ,and ...... I hope i wil togther with you all the times .... Torday i try to call you .but just Make 's message .it's so pity ! I Will call you next time .

loves
oba

Talk to me like I'm a child...

K: Last year we bought Korean textbooks with every intention of becoming fluent in the language. Easier said than done. We memorized each letter and what it's supposed to sound like. But Korean seems much like English in that there are exceptions to nearly ever rule. And then there is the oddest practice of just throwing letters that are not to be pronounced in the front of words for the heck of it. Anyway, we learned the alphabet and deciphered several words, trying to figure out what we thought they should sound like... and then we'd listen to the online tutorial and hear words that sounded nothing like what we thought. Needless to say, this became a very frustrating experience.

My co-worker, who also happens to be 1/2 Korean, mentioned that she was using the Rosetta Stone. Apparently it is used by ambassadors and is billed as the "fastest way to learn a foreign language." The program teaches you to speak the language much like a child would be taught, through pictures and immersion.

Mark ordered it today, so we'll see how well this miracle product works... Won't you all be shocked if our next post is in Korean!?!?!?

What we're perusing

K: Now that we're 99.999999% sure that we're going to make every effort humanly possible to get ourselves to Korea, we've been checking out blogs of people who are actually there. Our favorite so far is Lee's Korea Blog. Lee was also adopted from Korea but calls Australia his home. How cool is that?!?!? Mark and I just love his attitude: completely laid back and willing to eat anything, go anywhere, meet anyone. He also puts a ton of great pictures on his blog, which are fun to look at and to learn about the country. Lee actually works in Busan/Puson, which is where my American brother, Kevin, was born. If you have time, check it out...

The perks of being a kyopo

K: Lately it feels like we've been learning new information non-stop... this blog has never been busier! We've gotten a majority of our information from the message board I referenced in an earlier post. The experience of having complete strangers from all over the world who are caring in their messages and willing to take time out of their day to share their experiences and advice with us has been so refreshing. All I can say is Mark and I are going to be very busy sharing our experiences and advice with the "newbies" when this is all said and done.

We have learned that I am eligible for a returnee (F4) visa, which is a special visa for Koreans who have immigrated (or been adopted) living in another country. This would enable me to work as a private English tutor, which is far more lucrative than teaching in a school or hakwon. Plus, I wouldn't have to be tied to a contract with a school, which is nice because the school wouldn't "own" my visa - meaning if I hated my job, I could quit without being sent back to the U.S. From what I hear, this is the problem most westerners have when teaching in Korea - tthey get suckered into a bad contract and are stuck since the school technically owns their visa.

We also received this very specific advice today, which is so cool:

"Many organizations offer help for Korean adoptees wishing to visit or re-locate to Korea. KoRoot has a lovely villa near the Blue House, the Korean White House, where you or your family can stay for a few dollars a day. Only adoptees and their families can stay there and it's a great place to meet others in your situtation. Check it out online---- www.Koroot.org Also contact www.goal.or.kr This organization has around 200 active members who are currently living and working in Korea. They will help you with everything. And, on top of that, they're a lot of fun to hang around with as they have weekly activities, and occassionally score free tickets to theater, etc."

Mark and I looked at both websites. The KoRoot house is located in Seoul and looks kind of like a dorm, but the price is unbeatable at $15/day. They seem like a group primarily dedicated to helping to ease the transition for kyopos. They provide events for adoptees to attend to get to know each other, offer various tours of Korea, provide Korean language lessons, teach about the culture, and even provide career counseling for adoptees (like me!) who would like to stay in Korea and work. After seeing that web site, Mark and I were thinking it would be cool to possibly stay there for a month to acclimate ourselves and have the opportunity to travel and improve our Korean before trying to start full time jobs. Just another idea to throw into the mix. :-)

The other organization seemed like it would be helpful as well: it seems to have similar goals to the KoRoot house. From the website:

Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L) is a non-profit organization and a NGO consisting of overseas Korean adoptees (OAKs) and native Koreans working together to locate birth families and experience Korean life and culture.

Objective
1. Contribute to adoptees in identity formation and understanding Korean culture2. Share the anguishing experiences of unmarried mothers, adoptive families and adoptees3. Improve Korean domestic adoption culture and contribute to the betterment of adoptees' rights.

Just knowing that we would have these resources available to us to help ease the transition and provide support is so important. This information has sort of answered my decision (or rather indecision) from my earlier "Would you rather" post. There is no better time, this is something we can do, we can scale the hurdles and make this a reality. WE ARE GOING TO LIVE AND WORK IN KOREA FOR A YEAR!!!!!!