Another Adoptee in Seoul: November 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just read a great post by The Korean from the Ask a Korean blog about why he loves Thanksgiving.

I hope you're all having a happy, stress-free holiday back home.~<3<3<3

Much love,

~s

Katherine Heigl doesn't understand adoption. It's too bad she just adopted a daughter from South Korea.

I am really angry right now. I just wrote an email to the Angry Asian Man, who has an awesome website. I don't know if he will have time to post my email, or any of its content, at all. So, I thought I'd post the email here, for those two of you that still read this blog. ~lol~

UPDATE 11/23: Thank you, Angry Asian Man! http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/11/katherine-heigls-adoptable-critters.html
He said it much better than I ever could.

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I'm sorry to bother you. I know you get a lot of email. I don't get angry very often, but this has infuriated me.

As you know, Katherine Heigl and her husband have adopted a baby from South Korea. According to the Huffington Post, the couple posted photos of their new daughter on Katherine Heigl's animal rescue foundation website. http://www.jasonheiglfoundation.org/index.html

In my opinion, it's bad enough that someone would post photos of an adopted human child on an animal rescue foundation website in the first place. Did the irony escape them (and their publicist)? This is not acceptable.

It is even more unacceptable when the adoption announcement of their daughter, a human child, is sandwiched between announcements about animal adoptions: http://www.jasonheiglfoundation.org/news.html They didn't make the announcement about their daughter a special news item. It sits between language such as "....partner with us to get animals adopted" and "Come meet some GREAT ADOPTABLE ANIMALS...." (The capped letters are like that on the website.)

I feel that by placing what is essentially the birth announcement of a human child between posts about dog and cat adoption events, a parallel is created in people's minds between human adoption and animal adoption. They are decidedly not the same thing.

Even worse, many people may see this website and think that it is perfectly acceptable. Adoption and transnational adoption are often misunderstood by the general public. As an adult Korean-American adoptee, I have experienced this first-hand. I just can't sit and be silent this time. I'm not saying that my opinions are right or wrong. This is simply how I feel.

I am angered and saddened that Katherine Heigl, her family, her publicist, and those involved in posting the announcement would think this was an acceptable course of action. Their daughter is a human being, not a stray dog or a lost cat.

It seems clear that despite the fact that Ms. Heigl has a sister who was adopted from Korea, she still lacks an understanding of transnational adoption and its issues. A discussion may help her and the general public think more carefully about adoption. The foundation website has a 'Contact Us' page at http://www.jasonheiglfoundation.org/cont act.html. I would like to ask people to write to the foundation and express their thoughts, whether they agree with mine or not.

Thank you very much for your time.

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I hope this makes sense. What do you think? Am I making a big deal out of nothing? I may be overreacting. I hope I'm not. Now I mostly just feel sad. It's like beating your head against a wall. Will adoption ever be understood? Sometimes it seems not. Hell, I don't even understand and I'm an adoptee. And, really, why should it be understood. Adoptees are a minority. Adoptive parents are a minority. We're not a racial minority, but we're definitely a minority. And to be a minority is to be misunderstood by the majority.

.... no? am I being too cynical?

anyway, please take a moment and look at the website. if you have an opinion, please take another moment and drop them a line.

thank you.

old vs new

when i think about it, i still really can't wrap my mind around the fact that South Korea was in ruins less than 60 years ago.

here's a really cool post comparing photos of Seoul from 1951 with the same locations today.

Seoul in 1951 during the Korean War vs. Seoul today

amazing.

>_<

i feel a little bit like this dude right now.

war memorial

pilots

i had no idea bombs dropped from airplanes could be filled with little bombs

you, too, can be a soldier in the war

photo room

the following are photos of photos, so the quality isn't very good. these photos were fascinating. and horribly sad.

seoul used to look like this. less than 60 years ago...

bridge over the Han River.

i highly recommend taking a trip to the war memorial. i haven't seen the whole thing yet, and it was too cold to go through the sculpture gardens. next time...

The War Memorial of Korea

Samgakji Station, Line 4 or 6, Exit 12

fall photos

i miss traveling and taking photos. was going through my favorites photos today on my photo website. i need to get some motivation.

went to see a wonderful photo exhibit today by Bae Bien-U. he is an amazing artist.

here are some random pics from recently.

han river park