Being an Adopted Korean in South Korea, Part II

By:

Austin Johnson

Published:

Countries

Demographics

Majors

,

Regions

Ok, time to finish up this more emotional blog post. I promise that future posts will be full of happy thoughts, experiences, and food!

I know in my previous post, I really laid it on heavy with things that were bad. I donโ€™t want to give you the wrong impression of South Korea. It really is a great place to visit and live. I had a conversation with an Irish bartender turned English teacher about how South Korea is the perfect capitalistic society in the world. You work hard, you spend money and you monitor one another to help maintain social cohesion. Here in South Korea, people are so willing to help one another. Since coming here, I have met a lot people at school and through other people that have been a real blessing in my life. I have noticed many Koreans are very shy when you first meet them, but once you make the effort to get to know them, their willingness to help you knows no bounds. Comparing Koreans to Americans, most Koreans have the mentality of โ€œWeโ€ versus the American mentality โ€œIโ€. Let me describe this further by saying this: Most Americans think of things that will be benefit oneโ€™s own wellness (mentality of โ€œIโ€) and most Koreans think of things that will benefit the wellness of others (mentality of โ€œWeโ€).

Willingness to Help

Some of my Korean friends from New Mexico, who are now back in South Korea have on many occasions offered their help in any capacity. For example, it was around 1am and I got lost some where in Hongdae. I contacted my friend and he helped me get home without being upset with me. I have begun my search for my birth parents by contacting the respected organizations who have information about my birth. On many occasions, by friends and complete strangers, have offered their assistance to help me with anything. One person I met at the Hyundai Department store gave me his phone number and told me to contact him if I ever needed any help with locating my birth parents. If I needed a translator, he said he would gladly do that for me. This meant so much to me in so many different ways. For someone to be so willing to do whatever they could to help, it is truly something that puts me for a loss of words. I have no words for their great gestures of kindness. The thing that almost puts tears to my eyes is that they truly want to help me. No matter the situation, from helping me look for my birth parents to helping me find the correct trash bags, they are genuinely willing to help without looking down on me or pitying me. They treat me with respect and a kindness that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Thank you all who have helped me get here: past, present, future.

์•ˆ๋…•ํžˆ ๊ณ„์„ธ์š”.

PS: I just set up to post a blog post for the next two days. I am trying to catch up on the blog posts and be more consistent. Wish me luck!

Austin Johnson

Hi! My name is Austin Thomas Hyun Sei Johnson. I am a junior at the University of New Mexico, pursuing a double major in History and Asian Studies. I am studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea at Dongguk University from spring 2015 to fall 2015. My goal is to finish up my Asian Studies major while over in Korea. I was adopted from South Korea when I was six months old. I grew up in California, later moving to Idaho and then to New Mexico. I chose to study in South Korea because it has always been a dream of mine to visit the place of my birth. I plan on visiting the orphanage where I was adopted from and the hospital where I was born. I am excited to experience the South Korean culture and history. I plan on going for my Masters in Korean History after I graduate the following year. My plan is to teach Korean History at a University. Studying abroad will help enhance my knowledge and give me great cultural experiences that I can use later in my academic career. I look forward to learning the Korean language in the intensive language course offered at Dongguk University. One of my other goals is to be proficient in the Korean language so I may teach it to my future children. Also, I am super excited about eating all the wonderful and delicious tasting Korean food!