Search Results for: blog backlash against korean adopteesfamilies

Adoption Blog Month in Review, April 2007: Part Two

Please see Part One of this blog for updates on adoption blog writers and highlights from late March and early April. In Feeling Different from Family? I muse on finding the right balance between acknowledging our daughters’ different ethnicity and heritage and overemphasizing them. My daughter puts my fears at least temporarily at rest with this zinger—check it out. In How Do You Introduce Yourself to Your Own Child? -Part One: Prepare Them I talk about things adoptive parents can do, even from a distance, to prepare their child for the transition, such as sending photos, tapes, and even a … Continue reading →

North Korea Leader Kim Jong-Il Dies – Part 3

North Korea is the perfect example of a country that has perpetuated the cult of personality. A cult of personality is achieved when an individual uses media, propaganda and any other method to idolize themselves to the public. Needless to say, as far as government goes, a cult of personality usually occurs with a dictatorship. Think Hitler. It started in North Korea with Kim Il-sung. He ruled North Korea from when it was founded in 1948 until he died in 1994. Kim Il-sung was referred to as the “Great Leader” right up until he died. Then, he became the “Eternal … Continue reading →

North Korea Leader Kim Jong-Il Dies – Part 1

About seven years ago, I wrote an article about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, i.e. North Korea. Despite the fact that my uncle had been in the Korean conflict, I really didn’t know much about the country. After doing research for that article, I became more interested in what was going on in North Korea. I ave watched many documentaries since then and when you talk about human rights, or rather, lack thereof, you cannot ignore North Korea. North Korea is one of the most reclusive countries in the world. The rest of the world really has no way … Continue reading →

Will Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Affect Adopted Children?

School conferences were a revelation to a mother of a middle-school daughter who had been adopted from Guatemala, but even more of a revelation to her teachers. The girl had reported that the teachers never called on her class. The mother sent a note to the homeroom teacher which was never answered. The mother said that the teachers were surprised to have anyone show up at the girl’s scheduled conference time at all—let alone a white professional woman. The teachers had apparently assumed that the girl was an illegal immigrant who didn’t speak English. (For another blog on racism in … Continue reading →

Where in the World is Kim Jong Il?

In a year where America is so wrapped up in the upcoming presidential election, there is another leader missing in action – North Korea’s Kim Jong Il. The leader of the country didn’t make an appearance last Monday on Korea’s Thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok, causing speculation that about his health. Japan’s Kyodo News agency is reporting that Jong, age 66, suffered a stroke in mid August and he underwent emergency surgery. The agency said it received this information from unidentified Chinese sources who said that five doctors were requested to help perform the surgery on Jong. The same sources are … Continue reading →

Group Apologies and Ethnic Shame Part Two: Can We Understand Each Other?

Part One of this blog told of the apologies being offered by some Koreans, Korean-Americans, and adoption agency officials in Korea expressing shame that a Korean-American student could massacre students at Virginia Tech. Many of us wonder why someone would feel the need to apologize for or feel shame because of the behavior of someone they don’t know. I believe there is a cultural difference, at least in degree, between “majority” Euro-American culture and some other cultures. America is a society that really values individualism, individual rights, freedom. Other countries have more of a communal outlook, I think. Of course … Continue reading →

Group Apologies and Ethnic Shame?–No Thanks

The director of my daughters’ adoption agency in Seoul has issued an apology on behalf of Koreans for the actions of Seung-Hui Cho, the young man who killed 32 fellow students and faculty at Virginia Tech University last week. (Cho was a South Korean citizen but a legal resident of the US who came here at the age of eight.) The apology was disseminated by an American adoption agency in Virginia which partners with the Korean agency in placing Korean children for adoption in the US. My local newspaper featured a Korean-American state legislator issuing a public apology and a … Continue reading →