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!
~
Last night I hosted a small dinner party for 3 people! My cooking post gathered a lot of attention and I offered to cook for a few people recently and they took me up on my offer. They even brought me a few gifts :) Check out the photos below!
Table setting - disposable everything since I don't actually own that many dishes :/
Take a seat!
Vegetables all prepared
That close up shot
The finished product! Tuna and vegetable stir-fry with rice, topped with roasted sesame seeds
Thank you so much for the wine and fruit!
The dishes aftermath, all fit on the rack except for the cutting board
Thanks again to Cook Smarts for the tasty stir-fry ideas!
I'm still not fully employed right now but keep quite busy. I try my best to keep myself busy through a mix of tasks (learning, working, social, etc). Below is the current mix I have going for myself. Some weeks are busier than others but I tend to get booked up quite quickly as one weekend approaches and a new week begins. I am very meticulous about keeping a schedule and calendar to give me structure in daily life and to better plan the future. I know some things are better left more fluid and unplanned but my nature is to plan and keep a calendar going.
What am I up to lately? (In no particular order)
Online TESOL Course
Self-Study for TOPIK and general Korean language skills
Blogging/Vlogging/Video editing
Social media
Reading
Meeting friends and expanding my network
Job searching, applying for jobs
Adoptee community activities
Helping friends with their English resume and language skills (Korean friends)
I recently completed some more vlogging sessions with the same Korean language learner which you can view below.
In other news, the weather has gotten quite hot in Korea as is customary for the summer. The humidity has not hit yet but don't worry, it is just around the corner. Normally in July and August the humidity skyrockets and wallpaper begins peeling off the walls because of all the moisture in the air. The other thing Korean summers are known for are mosquitos.
Last summer I didn't have that much of a problem with mosquitos but where I live now there are a lot of them. There is also a family of cats that live on the premises as well. I've seen the mother cat (I assume it's the mother, but you never know, they may have a stay-at-home Dad) and the kittens frolicking about at night. The parent cat loves to hiss at me when I walk up the steps in front of where I live.
Also, the neighbor's dog, who used to bark at me every time I passed by, has finally chilled out. Today he just stared at me with no barks at all.
In regards to language school, I have almost no written homework which is good in one way but makes it hard in another. Now I have to really force myself to study a lot and preview the next day's material...with no worksheets or exercises to really guide me through the process. Considering I've become quite busy with a few other endeavors lately, I don't mind having anything to hand in every class.
Class in general is still structured but also more driven simply by student participation. There is a lot of chatting both by the students in class and by the teacher especially during the main block of time (reading+speaking). Writing class is quite casual as it was in level 5. Actually I rarely use that complex of grammar when writing. A lot of times the prompts just don't call for it either. There is quite a lot of vocabulary though so, I've been trying to at least integrate that.
I am 5 weeks into my new life here in Korea and have been really enjoying it. I am now fully into my language studies at Sogang University and hopefully it won't become too overwhelming. I bought a set of flash cards to help review vocabulary since the list seems to be never ending. We are a little over halfway through the first part of level 2.
Besides school I've been going to a variety of events to meet new folks. Namely adoptee related events and the TTMIK/SeoulTube meet-up!
Yesterday (June 21, 2014) I went to the Talk to Me In Korean/SeoulTube meet-up at Han River Park in Seoul (http://www.talktomeinkorean.com)! I went with a friend from my time at Sogang University last summer. It was cool seeing all these YouTubers in real life. There were quite a few foreigners there but also a sprinkling of local Koreans. You can see the short video I took below. Many Korea-based YouTubers can be seen:
After the meet-up I went to the reception for ASK's 10 Year anniversary (Adoptee Solidarity in Korea) http://www.adopteesolidarity.org. It was hosted at The BEASTRO restaurant right across form the Hongdae Children's Park. The food was absolutely delicious and I got to meet even more folks from the adoptee community.
This coming week has almost become fully booked up for me as many other friends from overseas are visiting Korea during the summer. I am excited to meet them all and to continue to have fun (and study ^.^) in Korea.
[끝]
This will conclude the series on my summer in Korea.
Day 37 was my last and final day in the motherland. It actually took a while for it to hit me - that this was my last day. I was actually quite busy in the morning packing and cleaning. After checking out of my room I went and visited the InKAS office to have lunch with one of their staff. After eating I quickly went back to my guesthouse to pick up my luggage and head to the airport.
I had wanted to say goodbye to the guesthouse proprietor but I ended up leaving earlier than expected...luckily I had done a semi-goodbye the night before. I hope to pay a visit to the guesthouse whenever I return to Korea - it was my home for all this time and the staff was wonderful!
In the subway station I ran into one of my classmates and one of her Korean friends. We all chatted on the 45 minute train ride to the airport. I tried out some of my Korean skills, just a few phrases but, apparently those sounded pretty good as I was complimented on my accent~
Unfortunately I didn't manage a formal goodbye to my classmate or new Korean friend as we were all running around the airport returning cell phones and such. I actually changed clothes because I had sweated through my original set due to the oppressive Korean summer heat and humidity.
Long story short I made it back to the USA via Canada...
[Epilogue]
It was the summer of a lifetime. I met so many amazing people from around the world; people I would have never met had I not participated in this program. I experienced a classroom setting for the first time in many years and had great teachers who were enthusiastic about teaching. I got better at a language I wish to improve even more on. I experienced a culture that I have a great affinity for...
I also got to meet adoptees from around the globe. I found that Korea brings so many different people together - the common bond we share. I continue to expand the network of adoptees I know and made some great friends.
I hope to share more adventures with you all soon.
