#preadventure

And so, I have my ticket. I’ve actually had it for a few days but I just finally got around to writing about it. I’m also finally on spring break, so I finally have some time. 

There’s not much else to say other than our housing is also finally getting situated. It was a little bit up in the air there for a while where we’d be staying. The professor had thought we’d have affordable rooms at a university that we partner with over there, but apparently that didn’t work out. So she started looking at hotels but they’re pretty expensive. But while she was setting some of our volunteer activities up with the Ilsan Center they asked her why she wasn’t staying at the Holt House. As you can probably guess, we’re now staying at the Holt House since there’s three of us going on the trip who are eligible to stay there and that makes our whole group good. So, praise God once again. I’ll be staying right next door to the Holt offices. 

Hello again!

So, since it’s been a little over two weeks since I sent off Post Adoption Services request form. I went ahead and emailed my contact at Holt International. Just to see if they made it and if they had an estimate on time.

They haven’t made it into the system yet.

This is for good reason though. With the latest news on immigration, Holt sent out this blog post as an email to it’s adoptees. As a result, they had quite a few request come through for these papers and rightly so, they’re a priority.

That leaves me with an estimated 5 more weeks or so of waiting to hear back about the search. I was waiting to throw this blog out to my friends and family till I knew on that so I guess this blog will stay under the covers for a little longer than I intended but that’s okay. It’s good that I have a place to dump my thoughts until then.

Yes, I started this blog last night. Yes, I’m posting again already. I should’ve have started this blog a couple months ago when I first realized going to Korea was more than likely for me this summer. It’s been a whirlwind since. 

Anyway, the decision to go to Korea as a study abroad, even for just two weeks, was a really hard decision for me in and of itself. I had always said I wouldn’t go to Korea for school. Academics make up a lot of my life and I really wanted Korea to be for a different part of me. I wanted it to have a focus of fun and relaxation and a different kind of learning, if that makes any sense. 

But then this opportunity presented itself. I’m getting through college at a rather fast pace, graduating with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science in three years. I knew I wouldn’t have time to spend an entire semester abroad. That left my school’s May Term program, and from what I could tell, this program didn’t have an Korea tracks. 

However, it seems God knew that deep down, I really did want to go sooner rather than later. Sooo... April of 2016, I receive an email. One announcing the launch of a new May Term for 2017. One going to South Korea. And it gets better. One focused on social justice for children (hello, Korean adoptee here) and Korean culture (again, Korean adoptee here). ALSO! It counted as exactly the kind of credit I needed to pick up for my gen eds (Writing Emphasis, Diverse Culture Perspective). 

But guys, it gets better. After contemplating it for a couple days I decided to just go talk to the professor and let her know I was at least thinking about going. The professor has two adopted children through Holt AND she and her boys had attended the same Korea KAMP (Korean Adoption Means Pride) as I had growing up AND my mom knew her! So wow. Can’t get much better than that, right?

Wrong. It gets even better. The summer came and went in a separate whirlwind (that’s a whole separate adventure) and I had plenty of time to forget and then remember and then contemplate this May Term. When August rolled back around though, I got in contact with that professor again and finally at the end of September, I put in my deposit and I was enrolled. Now somewhere between then and now I found out another thing about this trip. We’re spending a couple days of our time at the Ilsan Center. Y’all. Guys. This is Holt International’s special needs center. Children with special needs live here until they are adopted or forever if they’re not. Not only that, but this is where the founders of Holt International is buried. And I get to spend time volunteering here. Built into my study abroad.

So, first things first. My name is Anna. I’m a Korean adoptee, adopted through Holt. Also, this May I am going to Korea for the first time since I was adopted at three months old. That’s the main point of this blog, that’s the main adventure. Before that, however, I have found myself on a little bit of a pre-adventure.

Two weeks ago this morning I sent the paperwork to Holt International authorizing and requesting a birth family search. From what I know from my paperwork, it’s actually going to be a birth mother search. I really highly doubt my birth father is still in the picture but that’s okay. Hopefully she’s found someone else and started a family that I can meet. It’s been 20 years, she’s almost if not already 40…

So I guess that was sort of a big thing to just kind of spill onto the internet. But I’ve really needed a place to just spill it so here it is. I won’t lie and say it hasn’t caused a lot of emotions and I won’t lie and say it wasn’t one of the hardest decisions I’ve made. In the end, I really do think that at least trying to find her will be better than just pretending she doesn’t exist which is what I think I’ve been trying to do for a long time.

I wanted to blog my Korean Adventure once I got to Korea, but I think the adventure is starting a little bit early, so here I am.

Talk to you (? I don’t know if addressing the internet as a whole or someone in particular but I guess to anyone reading) soon…