Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nomad-ish]

i've met a lot of korean adoptees here who've decided to come and work in korea to connect with their roots (and in some cases, their biological parents). i hope this isn't too sensitive a question, but i've been wondering about it for a while.

to the adoptees or those who are ethnically korean, yet have been raised overseas, what's been your impression of living/working in korea?

[Yesterday]

Why don't you check out the KAD (Korean adoptees) websites -

From 1956 until today a total of more than 160,000 children have been officially adopted from Korea to fourteen different countries. The majority went to the USA and an unknown number of Korean children have been adopted individually.
Global Overseas Adoptees� Link (G.O.A.�L) is an organization that was founded in 1998 by Korean adoptees who returned to Korea in order to live here, learn Korean or search for their birth families.

Check out their website - http://goal.or.kr/eng/ read their forums...

[jvalmer]

I've noticed two extremes. They either hate it here, or love it. There usually is no in between.

[Tblake]

Hey, I'm glad to write a bit about my experiences and share a bit about it. I'll try not to make it into a big saga or epic journey!

I was adopted at six months with my twin sister and raised in the States. So, I guess from the get-go, my experience as an adoptee would be a bit different than others. Basically I always knew I'd be back and so I came here in August of 08 to teach English.

I'm 26 by the way. Graduated 2 and a half years ago, and taught English in Thailand last year. Anyway, I've found Korea to be really wonderful so far. I've also met some adoptees, but haven't made strong relationships with any of them. I'm trying to learn the language. Right now, I'm taking an intensive course at a Korean university...it's mad hard!

I'll be here for three years, learning the language, culture and trying to find my birth family. I've been slow to find them, but I am getting there. I'm actually more interested to see if I have any brothers or sisters. I get along well with my twin sister, but she's never wanted to search for our birth family. I hope she will visit me here in Korea, while I'm here or if I find any family.

Hope this quenched some of your curiosity!

[Crockpot2001]

[samcheokguy]

-Adoption is great. Two of my siblings are adopted, two aren't. One was adopted within the US, the other was from Guatamala.
-I have strong feelings about adoption, and find the general attitude asians have towards adoption to be misinformed at best, and sheer evil at worst. It disgusts me to see people using the 'unwanted' kids at a orphanage as a sort of ammo for their ultra-nationalist political slant.
-Most of the anti-adoption people are also strongly pro-abortion people, politically. The attitude is that a successful 'adoption' based culture harms women and childrens rights.
-In guatamala several politicians and NGOs admitted that
"adoption keeps the kids off the streets, and out of poverty. Without the kids on the streets, we won't attract the aid organizations and NGOs we need. We need street kids, even while saying the goal is to improve the lives of Children."
-In addition, while any fertile woman is allowed to raise a kid, adoptive parents are usually checked by the police, visted by social workers, and vetted by agencies. They pour thousands of dollars into hospitals, orphanages, and the child's country. Is their corruption and waste? Of course, but that is because these are poor countries.
-If the 'pro-women pro-abortionists' have their way, adoption would be illegal, and impossible. And millions of infertile, diseased, or plain unlucky couples would be left childless.

[Crockpot2001]

[quote="samcheokguy"]-Adoption is great. Two of my siblings are adopted, two aren't. One was adopted within the US, the other was from Guatamala.
-I have strong feelings about adoption, and find the general attitude asians have towards adoption to be misinformed at best, and sheer evil at worst. It disgusts me to see people using the 'unwanted' kids at a orphanage as a sort of ammo for their ultra-nationalist political slant.
-Most of the anti-adoption people are also strongly pro-abortion people, politically. The attitude is that a successful 'adoption' based culture harms women and childrens rights.
-In guatamala several politicians and NGOs admitted that
"adoption keeps the kids off the streets, and out of poverty. Without the kids on the streets, we won't attract the aid organizations and NGOs we need. We need street kids, even while saying the goal is to improve the lives of Children."
-In addition, while any fertile woman is allowed to raise a kid, adoptive parents are usually checked by the police, visted by social workers, and vetted by agencies. They pour thousands of dollars into hospitals, orphanages, and the child's country. Is their corruption and waste? Of course, but that is because these are poor countries.
-If the 'pro-women pro-abortionists' have their way, adoption would be illegal, and impossible. And millions of infertile, diseased, or plain unlucky couples would be left childless.[/quote]

Wow, I'm having a hard time believing that. I'm not accusing anyone of lying but my head is having a hard time going along with these statements.

[samcheokguy]

-It all boills down to this. Let's take a country with a high birth rate, and poverty, like Bangladesh. What is more important? To lower the birth rate so that the economic growth is level with population growth? Or to keep the people in poverty, but alive and healthy, by a influx of foreign medical/food aid?

[KoreaninKorea]

[KoreaninKorea]

[samcheokguy]

Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product.
CIA world factbook

[crsandus]

Wow. From asking about an adoptee's perspective to the economy of Bangladesh; Dave's at its best.

As for my take.

-I like the fact I can spend time with my family here.
-I like that my job is less stressful and more interesting than my previous job.
-I like blending in.


-I hate how I'm constantly sick.
-I hate how I have to work with sick kids that make me sick. My hate is for the culture involving illness not the actual kids.
-I hate how I'm one to two years older with the Korean age system. It makes me feel old.

[KoreaninKorea]