Today is Children’s Day in Korea. My family and I spent the day at a Korean picnic that was hosted by a Korean church near where we live. I am constantly grateful for the support that the Korean American community in Michigan gives the adoption community. They are open, friendly and they go out of their way to help ensure that our children are exposed to other Korean people.

I had more fun this year at the picnic. I think it’s because my son was... more

May 5th is Children’s Day in Korea - a day to celebrate children. In Korea, parents take children to parks, zoos, etc… to celebrate the day. I found it interesting that these are the same things that my family has always done to celebrate our arrival days.

Last year, we didn’t do anything special. Since we have a tendency to lean towards spoiling our... more

Though Korean adoption is tied to South Korea, we can’t forget North Korea. They were one country a lot longer than they’ve been two countries. Our adopted children share a piece of that history.

I heard about Seoul Train last year and I wrote about it, but you can’t simply read about it. You have to watch the documentary. It is potent in its simplicity – the... more

Last year as I was writing about Korean holidays, I focused on the “official” Korean holidays. This year, for some reason, I started wondering how the Korean people celebrate some of the holidays that I celebrate. Are they the same? How are they different?

In my family, we’re getting ready for Easter. Easter was not listed on the Korean official holiday list, but I am aware that over half of Korea is currently Christian so I figured there had to be something out there about it. Here in the United States, Easter is often associated with the Easter... more

How much culture is too much? Someone asked me to comment on this a few weeks ago and I took some time to really think about it before I answered. I’ve written several posts on it, but I can’t remember where I put them all. There isn’t a great answer because a lot of it depends on who you ask.

There is a group of Korean adoptees who believe that their culture was stolen from them when they were adopted. They obviously would have liked to have more contact with their culture. There is a group (like my sister) who wants no contact... more

I found the following article in the KAAN newsletter about Korean Buddhism. Personally, I find Buddhism fascinating and I find it sad that it might be driven out by Christianity. I really believe that there are places in the world for all religions.

Link: Can Tourism Save Korean Buddhism?

I don’t anyone who is Buddhist. Religion in generally is fascinating to me and I tend to tag along behind people to learn a little more about different religions and different kinds of Christian beliefs – Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran… I would love to visit a Buddhist temple, but... more

I can’t find a definitive answer to that question. I’ve found everything from the late 1880s to 1903. 1903 seems to mark the first significant wave of Korean immigrants. They came to Hawaii to be laborers in the growing sugar industry.

The reason I was looking at all was because tomorrow I’m off to my once a year historical reenactment. I wanted to see if it was all possible that a Korean would be a part of a pre-1880 reenactment. For those of you who don’t know, the family business is on my father’s side deals with historical reenacting (the muzzleloaders, clothes, parts, books, etc…). When I was growing up, I was his little shadow and I went to many of the historical reenactments... more

I like kimchi. It’s definitely an acquired taste. My husband eats it, but he wouldn’t choose it and my son thinks it’s something I thought up to punish him with. The face he made the first time he tried it was priceless.

Whenever I’m at a Korean event or restaurant, I take the opportunity to eat it, but I’ve never considered making it at home. Of course, anyone who has read this blog for awhile knows my general opinion of cooking. Thankfully, if I ever truly want to bring it into my home, many Asian food markets carry it pre-made. I love... more

It’s Valentine’s Day and my son has enough sugar in him to hold him through Christmas. He was so excited to go to daycare today because they were having a party in his preschool room. At first he hated the move to preschool, but he’s settling in. We did have to stop in his old room to give Valentine’s to his friends that haven’t moved to the preschool room yet.

Anyhow, I thought I’d see if Valentine’s Day was celebrated in Korea. It turns out that the greatest Greeting Card Holiday of all is celebrated everywhere. In Korea, it’s celebrated a little... more

The Korean people celebrate both the calendar new year and the lunar new year. This year, the Lunar New Year celebrations will be on February 17, 18 and 19. The 18th will be the first day of the first new moon, but they also celebrate the day before and the day after. It is a time to visit your hometowns and pay respect to your ancestors’ graves.

Some things that you can do to celebrate the Lunar New Year:

1. See if there is a Lunar New Year party in your area. One of the organizations that I belong to (at least if I remember to pay... more