Lost in translation

Today was the BIG day. I visited Choonchun (Chuncheon), to see city hall (that's me in the photo) and to meet with someone from Ohsoonjul Babies Home-my orphanage (2nd picture).

I'm not even sure where to begin. It was a lot of fun in the beginning. I ate the famous Dakgalbi (3rd pic), I spent the day with a wonderful volunteer from NEST (big big thanks Gunyoung!!), I took some pics at city hall (still no record of my birth), and then BOOM...my heart practically stopped. Upon arriving at Ohsoonjul, I was prepared to simply visit the facility, which has changed a lot over the years and is now a daycare center, and talk with a staff member about the "old" Ohsoonjul when it was a babies home/orphanage. Instead, I met with a man who showed me an old log book. Now it was time to brace myself.

There I was. #279. Lee Keum Ja. Contradictory to my files, I was not born on June 18th. In fact, I was born on (or around) May 9th. Somehow, the dates did not translate correctly due to the number of children being "transported" or because of the desired adoption age issue. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. Ok, next. As it turns out, a representative from a women's organization called Jang Mee Hui, brought me to Choonchun city hall (no record) and I was then transferred to Ohsoonjul, where (according to the log) I stayed until July 19th. According to my "other" files, I was only there for 2 days. TAKE ANOTHER DEEP BREATH. The case worker said there could be some speculation as to whether or not the woman who brought me to city hall was my birth mother, but that is still unknown. He went on to say that my birth mother was Korean and my father was American, as (until recently) there was a U.S. army base in Choonchun. He wanted to reassure me that my birth mother did the "best thing for me" by giving me away since being mixed race in Korea, at that time, was very difficult. While I've accepted that, I'm not convinced that it is any better today, but such is life.

Well, I'm sure I could go on forever, but I need to get packing for my return to the States. While a part of the journey is coming to an end, another part is just starting. Stay tuned. Good day all!