My Korean Life #57: IKAA Gathering 2016

This past summer was the IKAA Gathering - the largest gathering of Korean adoptees in Korea that takes place every 3 years. The last time I participated, I was staying in Korea temporarily for a short term Korean language course. However, this time, I participated as a resident of Korea, having now lived in Korea for almost 2.5 years. Participating as an adoptee living in Korea, as opposed to just visiting, had a different feel to it. I was able to meet a bunch of new people, catch up with my adoptee friends that don't live in Korea, and also enjoy a good time with my circle of friends I've made in Korea.

I paid for the full registration as I wanted to attend as much as I could. A special weekend pass is offered for those that are adoptee residents in Korea however the weekend is only a short snippet of the full program. The first big event is the opening ceremony which features many distinguished guests. Below are some photos:

Chung Chin-Youb: Minister of Health and Welfare

IKAA President (Liselotte Birkmose) and President Emeritus (Tim Holm)

Roberto Powers: Consul General of the Embassy of the USA in Korea

Republic of Korea President Park Geun-Hye Video Address

Song Yong-Duk: President of Lotte Hotels

In addition to participating, I was also part of a workshop that G.O.A.'L hosted about its services and living in Korea. I talked about living and settling in Korea for adoptees. My coworkers talked about the organization itself as well as birth family search. Our workshop was very well attended and we also had many people ask questions after the session concluded.

G.O.A.'L Workshop Attendees

G.O.A.'L Workshop Attendees

I was also able to attend some of the film sessions however I didn't take any pictures there. I saw the film Twinsters and Approved for Adoption. The one I didn't get to see during IKAA was akaDan but I ended up seeing that film a little after IKAA. I've now seen a variety of adoption related films and I must say that each is different in their style and how they address adoption. While most of the films I have seen deal with Korean adoptees, I have seen the film Somewhere Between which documents Chinese adoptees.

Since I also had to work during the week of IKAA I didn't get to attend much else of the actual conference. There are many other events and workshops that take place during the Gathering including a scavenger hunt, age breakout sessions, and other social events. If you are a Korean adoptee that has yet to attend the Gathering in Korea, I highly recommend you go to at least one.

The IKAA Gala Dinner is the big closing event (in addition to the after party) where there are performances and a great meal to go along with it! Check out the pictures below:

손승연 Performance (Pretty sure it was her, will try to confirm)

Traditional Korean drumming

Traditional Korean fan dance (부채춤)

NCT 127 Performance

NCT 127 Performance

I look forward to the next IKAA Gathering in Korea during 2019!
~

My Korean Life #17: Over 5 months living here and the midterms are over!

Quack Quack

I thought I'd open with a picture of the big rubber duck that is visiting Seoul to bring some cheer to this post. The above duck has made its rounds to many different cities lately. Anyway, back to life since the last post which was about a month ago. Looking back at my calendar I have been rather busy and I'll try not to bore you too much with all the nitty gritty details.

During the beginning of October, a lot was going on with both school and my personal life. I attended a Korean adoptee art event which included works by some of my friends that live here in Korea. After viewing the works in the gallery and attending a short reception I went out to dinner with some friends and also walked around Samcheongdong. The following day was the world festival at school which is put on by the Korean language education center. The various classes cooked food from different countries such as Brazil, Japan, France, Spain, etc. They even had a raffle for some really nice prizes. One of my classmates won a vacuum cleaner! Another friend won what in the USA we would call a varsity jacket or letterman jacket perhaps.

The first weekend in October was a three day weekend which I spent hanging with friends before having to kick it into high gear to study for my midterm exams. I was quite stressed as there was a ton of material to study and we were tested on writing, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, grammar, vocabulary, and dialogue creation. I put in many hours into studying whether it be reviewing vocabulary or going back through book dialogues and worksheets. Sometimes I struggle with if any of the material is actually soaking in. The pace is so fast that often it takes me awhile for it to fully settle in my brain.

Right before midterms was my birthday. I got to enjoy a nice sushi dinner and cake the night before my actual birthday and then on my birthday I was basically studying most of the day except for in the evening where two of my classmates treated me to dinner and ice cream.

Come test time, I struggled most with listening comprehension and did best on reading comprehension (a perfect score ^.^). The midterm for speaking in level 3 was quite different than level 2. It seems they are more trying to gauge just how you may be able to survive the upper levels. The teachers gave individual feedback to each student via informal interviews that didn't count towards your grade.

Besides exams I saw a few movies recently, one of which is a film by an adoptee called In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee. In contrast to that I saw the horror film Annabelle and the action film Dracula Untold (For some reason this link redirects you to Universal Korea's Facebook page if in Korea, otherwise I think it should work). I also plan to see the movie Interstellar when it comes out the first week of November.

To wrap up, it's hard to believe I've been in Korea for over 5 months now. I remember when I was having Skype calls with one of my friends this past spring about my upcoming life changes that would be happening in the summer. Those seem so recent...

You may be asking how I've been keeping up with people I know back in the USA. I'll admit I've been better with some than others. Then again, there are those that I haven't heard anything from since moving here. On the other hand, I have met some really interesting and amazing people since moving to Korea. People I would have not otherwise had a chance to meet living in the suburbs of America.

Until next time...

~

My Korean Summer 2013: Day 33 - Snowpiercer!

I was excited to see this film because 1) it has no set release date in the USA, 2) it was a combined production Korean/American/French and, 3) it has some big name stars.

The general plot is that in the future, to stop global warming, humanity releases a chemical into the atmosphere to cool the Earth. Well, it works much better than expected and drives the planet into another ice age. Almost all life on Earth parishes (including humans) except for the chosen few that board a large train which runs a year long circuit across the frozen terrain. A class system develops over time with the tail end of the train being the lowest class and the front of the train containing the ones much better off. The movie picks up with a plot of the tail end of the train wanting to overthrow the front end inhabitants and take over the engine of the train - which the front end people seem to worship. How does this engine never run out of fuel you ask? Perpetual motion! (Google it ^.^).

Anyway - I met up with 3 of my classmates to see this movie at the Sinchon CGV. A very nice theater, we actually sat in what they call "Veatbox" seats. They actually vibrate during certain parts of the film like if some guy gets punched in the face on screen the seat shakes at the punch's impact. It is a novel concept but overall I could take it or leave it.

*SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT*