Korean Pension Refund Request Process (airport pickup)

*The information contained in this post is current as of March 2023.

*This post does not explain what the Korean pension is or how it works. This only explains how to request and receive your pension refund.

I recently moved back to the US after five years of living in Seoul, South Korea. I worked for the entire five years I lived in Korea and built up a decently sized pension. As the US has a pension agreement with South Korea, I was able to receive a full refund of my Korean pension when I left, which I picked up at Incheon Airport on the day I left.

The refund process was a bit confusing and the pickup was more time consuming than I expected, so I wanted to share my experience and give tips to make the process easier.

How-to:

1) Check if your home country and South Korea have a pension agreement.

*Photo taken from the National Pension Service website (click the link to see the most current list) 

2) Buy your one-way plane ticket!

In order to quality for the refund, you must be planning on leaving South Korea indefinitely aka you cannot have a return ticket. You can request your refund up to 30 days before leaving the country.

3) Print out a copy of your flight itinerary*

*It is important that you have a physical copy of your flight itinerary! A screenshot or picture on your phone will not be accepted.

4) Gather the proper identification and bank documents

You will need your passport, Alien Registration Card (ARC), and your Korean bank book*

*The bank book is technically optional, but the NPS worker may request to see it and/or make a copy of it so it is better to bring it if you have one!

5) Visit the closest NPS office with all your documentation

Search for either 국민연금 on Kakao/Naver maps or visit the NPS site to find the nearest NPS office. The Ansan Center for Foreigners is supposedly more foreigner-friendly, however, you do not need to visit the Ansan office to apply for your refund. You may apply at any office.

6) Apply for your refund

At the NPS office, give the worker your documentation (passport, ARC, bank book, and copy of your flight itinerary). They will give you the refund application form for you to fill out.

*Photo from Reddit

The refund application form will ask you how you'd like to receive your refund. You have three options: airport pickup, transfer to a Korean account, or transfer to a foreign account.

• Airport pickup*
• Given only in foreign currency (US dollars, Japanese yen, etc.)
• Given in cash
• Subject to airport currency exchange fees (2.5% as of March '23)
• Received the day you leave Korea (flight date)
• Transfer to Korean account
• Transferred directly to the Korean bank account you provide in your application form
• Estimated to arrive 4-6 weeks after you leave Korea
• Transfer to US account
• Transferred directly to the foreign bank account you provide in your application form
• Subject to current currency exchange rates
• Estimated to arrive 4-6 weeks after you leave Korea

Some people have mentioned receiving their pension refunds as quickly as 2 weeks after leaving Korea, but it is not guaranteed you will receive the refund that quickly.

I chose airport pickup so I could receive the money (in cash) straight away. I lost about 2.5% to the airport currency exchange rate, but I wanted to be able to deposit it into my US account straight away when I returned. There are pros and cons to each method.

7) Receive your "Certificate of Acceptance of Application for Lump-sum Refund"

After your application is completed at the NPS office, you will be given a confirmation paper. It will contain the following:

• Reference number
• Beneficiary's name (your name)
• Total number of months contributed
• Total amount paid
• This is not the amount you will receive
• Receiving bank
• 공항지급 if you are doing airport pickup
• Account number
• 공항방문수령 if you are doing airport pickup
• Date of eligibility
• This is your flight date

Do not lose this paper. You will need this paper if you are doing the airport pickup.

If you choose airport pickup, you will also receive a paper with instructions on how to pickup your pension refund in the airport.

The following steps are only applicable if you are doing airport pickup

8) Visit the Incheon Airport NPS counter the day of your flight

I ended up having to run around to do everything, so follow these steps so you don't make the same mistake!

• Get to the airport 4 hours early (or possibly earlier if your flight is in the evening)
• This is 1 hour earlier than the typical recommendation of 3 hours for international flights
• Check your bags first unless you are traveling with light luggage or have someone who can wait with your bags

The NPS counter is in Terminal 1 on the 1st floor next to Exit 2. Give the person at the counter the Certificate of Acceptance of Application for Lump-sum Refund and your passport.

They will give you a "Declaration of Currency or Monetary Instruments". Do not lose this paper.

9) Visit the Woori Bank Foreign Exchange booth 

Terminal 1:

• Less than USD 10,000 (9AM-9PM)
• The booth is in front of Counter J on the 3rd floor across from security (not towards the exits)
• It is a small stand-alone booth (not a built-in counter)
• More than USD 10,000 (9AM-4PM)
• Woori Bank Airport Finance Center on B1

Terminal 2:

• Less than USD 10,000 (9AM-9PM)
• The booth is in front of Counter A on the 3rd floor across from security
• More than USD 10,000 (9AM-4PM)
• Woori Bank Terminal 2 Business Office on B1

Give the worker the Declaration of Currency or Monetary Instruments and your passport. They may ask to see your boarding pass to confirm you are actually leaving.

They will then verify the total amount you are to receive and will give you a receipt that states:

• A. Total refund amount (KRW)
• B. Total value in chosen foreign currency (USD)
• C. Exchange rate on that day (KRW)
• D. Total value from foreign currency to KRW (USD->KRW)
• E. Difference between A & D

Important! Make sure the date of departure is visible on your boarding pass. If it's not, they will not give you the refund receipt (국민연금 공항지급 명세표) which you need to actually collect your cash.

10) Go through security

11) Go to gate the Woori foreign currency counter next to Gate 25

This is a tiny counter kind of hidden in a sort of cubby near a stairway. Give the worker the 국민연금 공항지급 명세표 receipt you received in step 9.

They will count and then give you the cash.

12) Go to your gate and finally relax!

It's a lot of steps, but it's worth it to get that cash!

Important Notes:

1) If you choose airport pickup, make sure to look up whether or not you need to declare the cash when you land in your home country. (In the case of the US, anything up to USD 10,000 does not need to be declared.)

2) According to the NPS worker I spoke to, there are (very) rare instances where the airport may not have the full amount of the refund in cash on hand (usually only if the refund is extremely large). In this case, you will receive whatever cash they have on hand and transfer the remaining balance to the bank account provided on your application form.

3) Make sure that you have a way to store the cash safely! It's recommended to either separate your cash and put in several different places throughout your luggage or to keep it in a bag either under your shirt or jacket or otherwise close to your body.

----

Thanks for reading! I hope this post was helpful to you. Feel free to leave any questions you might have in the comments, and I will try to answer as best I can.

#WorkingInKorea | How to Find Non-Teaching Jobs in Korea + What to Expect

How to get non-teaching jobs in Korea, is a question that I see all over the Internet. People who are on the job hunt for non-teaching careers often find themselves stuck when it comes to finding professional opportunities here. Teaching English is definitely an easy way to get your feet on the ground in Korea since many schools sponsor some of the moving costs if you sign a one-year (extendable) contract. However, not everyone is interested in teaching English and/or qualified to do so.

That doesn't mean that it's impossible to find job opportunities here in Korea. There are many foreigners who transferred to Korea to work at the Korean branch of their company, but there are also quite a number of foreigners who work in Korea that got their jobs after moving to Korea. I am one of the latter. I'm currently interning at a marketing agency, I previously interned at a skincare company, and I also have been contracted by a tourism and culture-related non-profit.

I've compiled some tips to hopefully help others who are going through this same job hunting process!

Side note: every individual's job hunting experience is going to be different. There's no magical formula to land you jobs, and finding a job does take some amount of time whether that's a week or a few months. So, please remember that the advice I give is purely advice.

---

I. Use Your Resources

Take full advantage of job hunting websites (for those that can read and understand some Korean already), LinkedIn, Facebook groups, recruiters, and even Craigslist. Many Korean companies that are searching for foreign workers post ads on non-traditional job hunting sites hoping to reach a wider audience.

Check these sites several times per week to make sure you are up to date on all postings!

Specific note on Craigslist: on the home page, click on "Jobs" and then filter out "Education/Teaching" to look at all non-education jobs. Also filter out any other categories that are not specifically what you're looking for. However, beware of some the shady job ads. If the poster hasn't included any identifiable information about the company, such as the name/address/contact information (aka something you could find by Googling them), keep scrolling!

Here are some links to the top Korean job sites!

Saramin

JobKorea

Incruit

#ThoughtsInKorea - Why Diversity in Media Matters

In the last few years, there has been a big push for more racial diversity in Western media. This isn't a new topic to most people. There have been cries for representation for years, but usually when you do see racially diverse characters in media, the stereotypes pressed upon those characters are so clear that it's almost painful to watch. The push for inclusivity has been only semi-successful so far, though some progress has been made. There is still quite a ways to go, however, before minorities can say they are being truthfully represented.

I was lucky enough to be introduced rather early to media that wasn't Western made. The greatest example would be the first time I listened to Yoon Mi-rae, otherwise known as Tasha. It was 2007, and she had just released the music video for her hit song 'Black Happiness'; one of the songs that would help put her on the map in South Korean media. I was 10 at the time, and though I didn't understand anything she was saying, I thought she was amazing. In my eyes, she was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Today, I still consider her so. This song would later play a huge role in the beginning of my road to self-discovery and introduction to the entertainment world outside of the purely black and white Western media.

Yoon Mi-rae's mother is Korean, and her father is Black. During her childhood, she was bullied and harassed for her mixed race in both the USA where she was raised and later in South Korea where she would end up overcoming the odds and building her career as the country's most successful and popular female rapper. Her song 'Black Happiness' is about her experience growing up being rejected by two different racial communities for being of mixed race, something she had no control over. This video was the first time I had ever seen a Korean person, or even really an Asian person, being portrayed as someone cool and unique; someone you would want to emulate.

Unlike Yoon Mi-rae, I was adopted as a baby from South Korea and grew up with a Korean adoptee sister and three other Korean adoptee friends. While I always knew I looked different, for the early years of my life, I was blissfully unaware of the fact that people viewed me as different purely because of my looks. I was home-schooled for most of grade school, but after starting college in 2012, I was taken aback from constantly being asked questions like the following:

1. "Where are you from?"
   "No, where are you really from?" or "Oh, well, where are your parents from?"
2. "Oh, you're from Korea? How do you say _____ in Korean?"
3. "I heard that Chinese people eat dogs. Is that true? Have you ever eaten dog?"
4. "Wow, you look just like that girl from Suite Life of Zack an Cody!"

Do any of these sound familiar? Or have you ever asked someone these questions? I learned to be really good at hiding what I was really thinking when I was being asked these questions that I would prefer to never hear again. But throw these questions about my race on top of the ones I was already asked all the time because I am adopted, the child of a pastor, and home-schooled, and you have a perfectly confused (and thoroughly annoyed) young person with no idea where she belonged.

Though Yoon Mi-rae lived a life completely different from mine, I realized that I could still identify with her struggles. I held on to the same hope that she did that I could someday be able to find acceptance and use the hard times I faced to push beyond the stereotypes of my race. Following along with her success in the South Korean entertainment industry made me want to be like her that much more. I wanted to see more people like her, people who looked like me, and people who experienced the same things I did.

After discovering 'Black Happiness', I quickly thrust myself fully into the world of Korean entertainment. I loved listening to Korean pop songs and watching the videos of perfectly made up Korean idols dancing and singing their way across big stages with flashy lights and coordinating outfits. It was different, and I was obsessed, to put it simply. I was completely mesmerized.

It's easy to look at young people, and not-so-young people, and laugh at their obsession with singers, artists, movie/TV actors, fictional characters, etc. It seems silly that people are willing to dedicate so much time from their lives to people they don't know and probably will never meet. While I do laugh at myself now for being so invested in the lives of Korean idols and entertainers, I also look back thinking about how lucky I was to have access to YouTube, and later the general internet, during a time when being Asian wasn't desirable or something that people envied in the West. Perhaps one of the reasons I was so thoroughly invested in the lives of people that lived on the other side of the world was because there was no one at home that was like me to look up to.

I had the privilege of seeing Yoon Mi-rae live in concert in Seoul, South Korea this past summer. It had been ten years in the making, but I remember standing there in the crowd thinking, "This is it. I'm really going to see her live." I was shaking. Even though I wasn't close to the stage, it was the mere fact that I was about to see, in person, someone I had admired for so long that overwhelmed me. When she came onto the stage, my heart was pounding. She performed 'Black Happiness', a song about her struggle for acceptance, while being cheered on by a hoard of adoring fans: people who didn't care what she looked like. I will never forget it. After the show ended, I immediately turned to my friend and burst into tears. I left the venue still crying, and those who know me know that I'm not someone who cries easily.

I know I will most likely never meet Yoon Mi-rae. She'll most likely never know what she means to me, and that's okay. She doesn't have to, because irregardless, I will be forever grateful to her for pushing through the hardships she faced to be who she is today. Without her courage, I may not have become the person that I am today. I may not have ever traveled to South Korea on my own and met the amazing people that I did. I may not have ever started learning Korean. But most importantly, I may not have ever met my birth family, something that will continue to change the dynamic of my life forever.

All this to say, this is why diversity in media is so important, for young people especially. It’s so important to be able to look up to people that are more than glorified props or the brunt of a low-reaching joke. The media is extremely powerful in persuading how people should be viewed, which makes it that much more important to show the beautiful diversity that is present not only in the USA but also around the world. Different people all have something unique to offer, and that's what I hope the world will continue to learn.

Of course, there are non-Asians that I look up to just as much, but there's something about seeing someone like you on the screen that makes that much more of an impact. Watching people who looked like me perform on those big stages and be cheered on by thousands of screaming fans that also resembled me in some way helped me finally realize that being Korean maybe isn’t a bad thing as I had believed for a long time growing up. It took a long time, and I’m still processing, but I believe I’m finally at a point in my life where I’m comfortable with who I am and my racial identity.

~

"Sometimes it’s hard to see all the good things in your life

But you gotta be strong and you gotta hold on and love yourself"

Yoon Mi-rae/윤미래 - 'Black Happiness'

Potato in Seoul - Zapangi Tin and Bottle Cafe (Seoul)

Seoul is known for having dozens upon dozens of unique cafes, many of them created based on a specific theme. There's dog/cat/raccoon/meerkat/sheep cafes, color-themed cafes, Hello Kitty, comic or board-game themed cafes...literally everything. As someone who likes exploring places that offer good drinks and good food, it's the perfect city for me. There's always a different cafe to go to. (The repercussions of having so many cafes in Seoul is a different story.)

With my 베프, I headed out to a rather new cafe not too far from Hongdae called Zapangi: Tin and Bottle. It's a cafe that focuses on its milk tea and small cakes that come in little tin canisters. The milk tea and cake were both delicious!

Menu:
They offer a few different flavors of cakes. Melon, cherry, peach, and blueberry were the offerings the day I went. My friend and I decided on a blueberry cake to split between the two of us and then a drink each. I'm a big milk tea fan, so I went with the Original milk tea, while my friend went with a coffee.

Special summer drinks came in floaty stands!

Potato in Seoul - Gyeongbokgung/경복궁 (Again!)

If you're friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram (@lilea_ishere), you've probably seen all of these photos already, however, you're about to see them again! Yay! I decided to make a post using some of my favorite shots from this trip to the Palace.

Last month, I went to one of the palaces that I went to last summer, but this time, I was dressed in traditional regalia. I went with two friends, and we made a quick stop to a hanbok rental place that was right next to the palace where we got all dressed up before heading to the palace. Though palace entry isn't expensive to begin with, if you go to the palace dressed in traditional Korean clothing (hanbok), you get free entry! The hanbok place that we went to was small, and I didn't get any photos of the inside. The staff spoke a variety of languages, and everything was very quick and efficient.

Although hanboks traditionally come in bright colors, I opted for one that's more modern-looking made with darker colors. Those who know me, know that I'm always wearing dark colors. I haven't worn brights in...a long time.T and you get to try on two different options, but if you're still not satisfied with the first two tries, you can pay extra to try on more. I got lucky and ended up going with the first hanbok I tried on.

Potato in Seoul - Hanbok Studio / 한복 스투디오

As South Korea becomes an ever-more popular tourist destination, the country is more than willing to share its history and traditional culture with its visitors while also creating an atmosphere not unlike the busyness of other modern cities. Skyscrapers and large shopping malls are starting to take over Seoul's mom-and-pop shops while restaurants are starting to cater to a broader range of tastes. Certain areas of Seoul are known to cater to western tastes in food and music while other areas draw large crowds of Southeast Asians.

One thing that is popular among tourists from everywhere is trying on Korea's traditional hanbok/한복. The outfits are made out of colorful fabrics with more variations in patterns than you could ever look through in a day. There are now even photo studios that dedicate themselves entirely to letting people wear hanboks and have their photos taken professionally against dramatic backdrops for a fun souvenir. So, of course, my family and I had to go.

My two sisters and I were plopped into makeup chairs immediately after being called in, and the ladies working there set about making up our faces. Foundation that was too light, false eyelashes, eyebrow shaping and filling/coloring, and even styling our hair and adding false hair pieces (in black to cover up my purple/green/blonde hair) was all part of the included package. After we got made up, we were taken over to the long row of hanboks. We all got to choose the one we liked, and the ladies helped us put them on.

The hanboks were divided by size (and also length) ranging from XS-L. You could choose whichever one you wanted, but the key was finding one that touched the ground, not the top of your feet. This meant that the hanbok I fell in love with (at first sight) was not meant to be since it would have been too short (not that I'm even tall).

Potato in Seoul - Jeju Island: Day 4

Our final day on Jeju Island was better than we could have hoped for

DAY 4

Day 4 of our Jeju trip went exactly not as planned. It was way better than we had planned. We had another late starts, knowing it was our last day, but despite the cloudy skies, we wanted to go somewhere. Marley told us about Sewha Beach/세화해변, which is a popular beach spot, so we decided to go for it. We hopped back on that city bus and took the trip to the beach.

To get to the beach, you have to first walk through a super movie-set-like small town. There were little, old people all over the place: selling fish, vegetables, chattering away with each other as they sold and bought food and other things. Run-down, abandoned buildings mixed in with older apartment complexes, and small houses that looked no bigger than the standard American bedroom abounded.

What I loved about that little town though was that you could smell the ocean from wherever you were walking in that town. The ocean breeze followed us around as we made our way through the town heading towards the beach.

Potato in Seoul - Jeju Island: Day 3

More rain, more fun

DAY 3

Day three of our Jeju Island trip was predominantly spent hiking. Gedas was the rise-and-shine-let's-get-going-at-6AM guy who stirred up a ruckus getting ready while trying to convince us it was a great idea to get up before the sun to go hiking. Needless to say, it didn't work. Convinced he had to leave no later than 8AM to be able to hike all the way to the top of the mountain, Gedas ended up going by himself to hike. The other four of us decided to take a more leisurely hike up the same mountain but not go all the way up.

We took a bus from the Jeju City bus terminal to Mt. Hallasan National Park/한라산국립공원. This mountain is a popular hike because of the giant lake at the top of the mountain. The main mountain is also surrounded by small, parasitic volcanoes, which is a fun fact. The park is situated in almost the exact middle of the island, and it took us around one hour by bus to get there. The park had two entrances, and we didn't know which bus stop to get off of. Of course, we picked the wrong one and ended up walking for about 35 minutes just to get to the actual park entrance.

Potato in Seoul - Jeju Island: Day 2

After a successful first evening in Jeju, we went to bed ready to welcome our first full day on the island. The weather, however, wasn't as happy as we were.

DAY 2

Our first full day in Jeju, we went to a beach that Gedas had found. Gedas was our travel guide that week. He was the one who did all the research of places to go and things to do. He would get up early every morning, ready for whatever he had planned for the day, laying out his big map and looking over it like a treasured possession every evening before bed. The rest of us were more content just going around doing whatever was easy to get to and just relaxing.

The weather when we woke up that day, though, was not extremely pleasant. We knew we were going during rainy season, but you can always hope that the weather will go against the norm and not be what you expect. However, it was exactly as predicted: rainy. There was a light drizzle almost all day that was a bit disheartening. The sky was cloudy and gray and the temperature wasn't very warm. So, we decided to take a bus ride that took you all the way around the city, mostly outside of it so you could see the sea and other pretty places.

Potato in Seoul - Jeju Island: Day 1

The sudden snowstorm this past weekend inspired me to write about a time when snow was a distant memory and summer was about to enter full-swing. 

During my summer in South Korea, I took a week-long trip to Jeju Island (제주도) off the southern coast with three friends, two from CAU and one from home. It's a popular vacation spot and tourist destination full of beaches, mountains, and a peaceful atmosphere that's a great escape from the business of Seoul. (Though, personally, going to a busy city is a better escape for me than a quiet island.)

PREPARATION
A few weeks before we were planning on going, my (Parisian model) friend Andy (from CAU) and I spent around six hours using four different computers trying to buy our plane tickets, which was such a hassle. Funny how buying airplane tickets can sometimes be the most difficult part of the trip. However, in the end, the tickets (round-trip) only cost us $40 for each person! So, you could say those six hours paid off in the end. After that, it was just the waiting game: finishing our classes and taking final exams and saying goodbye to friends who were leaving right after the semester ended.

Our third group member, Jenni, actually flew in only a few days before we left for Jeju Island. Incidentally, she saw most of Jeju Island before she ever saw much of Seoul. However, I did make sure to introduce her to my favorite boba place (which has since closed ㅠㅠ) before we jetted off to Jeju.

Lonely Seoul - Your Questions Answered: Adoption

About three months ago, I posted on Facebook asking people to share questions they had about either my personal adoption story or just questions about adoption in general. This post is to answer those questions as well as to share a few questions that have been commonly been asked.

The answers to these questions are, of course, going to be influenced by my personal story as an adoptee and shouldn't be seen as an answer or all adoptees since every story is so different. There is no way to generalize an entire group of completely unique individuals. However, I hope the answers I've provided can give you a little bit of understanding or at least insight into adoption.

Questions

What was it like growing up with a family that doesn't look like you?

Growing up, I knew I didn't look the same as my family. However, I didn't really care. I was lucky enough to be adopted by parents who treated me the same as their biological children, and I was also in a healthy environment unlike many other adoptees. As an adult, looking different from my family still isn't something that bothers me.

      One thing I can say, though, is that there have been times when I've completely forgotten I don't look like my family. I've seen other adoptees say similar things, and as I get older I've found it rings true with me. What I mean is that sometimes I completely forget I'm Asian. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean, and I know that this kind of thought manifests itself differently in each person. Essentially for me, I often feel as if I am of no particular race or ethnicity. It's kind of an "I'm here, and that's it" kind of feeling. I feel that I'm just something undefinable. Long story short, I'm still figuring this out for myself.

Were you ever made fun of for being adopted?

I was never personally made fun of for being adopted. Interestingly enough, it wasn't until I entered university that I started realizing how little people really know about adoption and how infrequently people have interactions with people who have been adopted, whether domestically or internationally.

      My first year of university was actually as a post-secondary student. (Note: post-secondary means taking university level classes while still in high school to complete both high school and university requirements.) After that first semester, I was left feeling really out of sorts with people, and I felt off-centered. I had never before experienced almost daily comments about my race and origins. I had also never had to explain the fact that I was adopted before to so many people. (Not that I technically owed anyone any kind of explanation.) It kind of felt like a daily routine: go to school, get asked by some stranger about my origins, go to work, get asked by some stranger about my origins, go home, and repeat. It felt like I never got a break. It built up a lot of frustration at other people and self-consciousness and self-doubt inside me about who I was and where I belonged.

Potato in Seoul - Seoul Fashion Week Fall 2016

Just recently, Seoul has become one of the new fashionable places to go. There are dozens of Korean models being sent down runways in New York City, Paris, and Milan. Korea's designers definitely lean towards the unique and the styles are hard to find elsewhere in the world. Brands like 99%Is and Kim MeHee are putting Seoul onto the map. The mixture of modernizing traditional clothing and the growing hip-hop and edgy clothing scene strongly influences the Seoul runways.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an interest in fashion. Since I was young, I've always enjoyed "making" my own clothes by fashioning blankets into skirts with a series of complicated knots or anything similar. I dreamed of learning to sew and someday hand making couture dresses that would be sent down the runway in New York City, Paris, and Milan. That dream never came true (though it's ever too late to try!), but I've still kept up a bit with the fashion world. It was always on my bucket list to attend a "fashion week" somewhere in the world. I was keen on Paris or London but thought that any of them would be fine. I managed to halfway cross that off my list by attending Seoul's Fashion Week held in March of 2016. (Yes, the fall designs are sent down the runway in March.)

When I say "attending", I don't mean I got to sit in the front row (or even general audience) of a runway show. That part of my bucket list is still up for completion. However, I did head on over to Dongdaemun Plaza, one of Seoul's famous art exhibit galleries. Seoul Fashion Week is generally held here with the runway shows taking place inside. Many of Korea's most attractive people strut around outside the Plaza either in hopes of to be spotted by a casting agent or to show off their stylish outfits and (perfectly practiced) model poses. Tourists go to spot popular Korean models and take pictures of the event and to possibly catch a glimpse of any celebrities attending the runway shows and hitting up the red carpet that leads into the building.

Potato in Seoul - Gyeongbokgung Palace / 경복궁

 Gyeongbokgung was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. Built in 1395, it is located in northern Seoul, South Korea (Wikipedia)

Gyeongbokgung is one of Seoul's most famous historical landmarks. Otherwise known as the Northern Palace, its history runs long and deep. Most of the palace that's there today are replicas or re-built buildings based on the originals. Many of the original buildings were destroyed or taken by the Japanese government and then set up in Japan. All of the buildings were restored or re-built in the late 1800s under King Gojong.

The palace is also the setting for many popular Korean dramas such as Moon Embracing the Sun (해를 품은 달), Mirror of the Witch (마녀보감), and Scarlet Heart: Ryeo (보보경심: 려). It's seen its fair share of famous Koreans, past and present. 

This archway is in the subway station closest to the palace. It's said to bring good luck if you walk under it

Potato in Seoul - Studying in Korea

CAU Library

My entire reason for going to Korea was to study. Technically speaking. It took up 4 of the 6 of the months I was there. I studied at a university in the southern region of Seoul called Chung-Ang University, or CAU (중앙대학교). Located in the Heukseok area (off of the Heukseok station/흑석역), it's essentially the Korean version of a college town. Despite being part of Seoul itself, Heukseok is pretty self-contained. All the popular makeup chains have stores located there, there's some local shops, and there's an abundance of restaurants. There are several convenient stores, and a Daiso, which is a discount retailer similar to a dollar store here in the US.

Yook-sam Naengmyeon: a lunch-time hot spot as shown by the line

The CAU campus is pretty average looking, to be honest. It's definitely prettier than my home university, but seeing that CAU is built entirely up hill, the administration is pretty limited in terms of what it can do for beautification. The school is made up of three sections: front, center, and back gate. The dorm was at the back gate, literally all the way in the back. It was at the top of the giant hill. Just guess where all my classes were. Front gate. Of course, right? It took me about 15 minutes to walk to the giant 102 building for classes from the dormitory. I could make it in ten if I was rushing, aka I slept in a little too long, but honestly, running to class wasn't necessarily an option unless you wanted to risk breaking a bone by rolling your way down to class instead of walking.

308 is the dorm. 102 is where most of my classes were

The stairs of death at front gate

Lonely Seoul - Reuniting

Imagine you have the chance to talk to someone that you haven't seen in a really long time. Maybe that person has passed away, or maybe they live rather far away. Perhaps they live nearby, but you're both just so busy that you don't get to see that person very often. If you had that chance, would you drop everything and go see them? Go talk to them? Maybe you'd spend the whole time talking and talking, whether the topics are significant or not: it would just be nice to talk to them.

What if I told you that I have that opportunity? To meet someone who was once dead to me and is now alive? Someone I spent my entire life not thinking about. Someone I still don't even know how to imagine in my head because I have no physical image to remember this person by. If you know my story, you've probably guessed by now, who I'm talking about. I'm talking about my mother. Not the mother who raised me (love you, Mom), but rather, the mother who gave birth to me: the one who gave me life.

As a kid, I rarely thought about my origins. The closest I got was listening to Korean pop music (otherwise known as K-pop) in my early teens, which I couldn't even understand. It was catchy music in a language I didn't know. It was a language that I was born into but not raised in. As most Korean adoptees were. 

For those of you who don't know the details, I was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1996. I was given to a social worker the day of my birth, and I was adopted by my American parents in 1997. I'm definitely not alone in this. From 1999-2015 alone there have been 20,058 Korean children adopted by American families with 16,474 of those kids being under the age of 1 at the time of their adoption. (Source)

In April of 2015, I called the Ohio adoption agency (the local agency) and talked to an employee there about starting the birth search process to find my birth parents. I was on the fence about starting a birth parent search, but I wanted to have the paperwork in case I decided to do it. I got the paperwork and ended up filling it out a few weeks later, but I didn't send them to the agency until August of that year after I came back home from spending a summer in Nashville, TN.

It was actually my time in Nashville that finally gave me the push to officially start the birth search process. In Nashville, I met Koreans that weren't adopted. I met Korean people my age who spoke Korean. It was my first time being exposed to the Korean language, which I really didn't know anything about. I could kind of read it, but I couldn't speak it at all. It was there that I truly first felt like I was Korean, though I also sometimes felt alone and excluded at times because of the language barrier, but I had decided that my Korean heritage was something I wanted to explore more into.

Also in April of 2015, I decided I wanted to go to Seoul to study abroad for a semester. I spent the next 10 months planning, earning and raising money, and finally, on Friday, February 26, 2016, I jetted off for a 6-month adventure. It was my first time stepping foot in my birth country since I had left it in 1997. 

Being in Seoul was a unique experience. There were many times where I totally forgot the fact that I was immersing myself into the country and culture of my ancestors – of my birth parents. It often felt like any other trip abroad I’d been on: London, Ireland, India. I was disconnected emotionally through a lot of my time in Seoul, though that’s pretty typical of me. For most of the beginning of the trip, I didn't feel connected to the country or the city or the people. It was just another city, another country, other people.

Prior to leaving for Korea, I had found out about the IKAA Conference (International Korean Adoptee Associations), and I decided to go. It was being held the week prior to me leaving, so I thought I’d go as a last hurrah. It was during the conference I decided to go contact my Korean adoption agency to see if there was any news yet. It had been almost exactly a year since I’d submitted my paperwork. I knew some searches took up to 3 years before anyone was found, but I wanted to check anyways. I e-mailed the agency. I heard back 2 days later with the response that they had never received any paperwork from me to initiate a birth search.

It was then that the emotions came out. I was angry that I had waited a year to contact them. I was frustrated that the local agency here in the US apparently didn't make sure this very important paperwork got through to the Korean agency. I e-mailed the Korean agency back that same day asking if I could meet with a social worker and to get a new set of paperwork to fill out to initiate the search (again). I set up an appointment for the day before I left since that was the only day that I had left at that point.

My time at the agency was bittersweet. The social worker showed me a scale model of what the agency grounds looked like around the time I would've been adopted. The agency office is still in the same spot as it was when I was adopted almost 20 years ago. I handed off my paperwork directly into the hands of the social worker, and I left. I walked along the street that was my home for a few short months, although most of the buildings that were there in 1997 don't exist anymore.

October 20, 2016. I got an e-mail. “On your request, we tried to find your birth parents and have the good news for you that we found your birth mother.” I was at school when I got the news. I had just walked into the building to get work done before class. I walked outside to call my parents. I was crying. I was crouching in the grass next to the main entrance, unable to control myself. I was getting stares, but I couldn’t even move. I was overwhelmed.

I had so many questions, but the main question running through my head was, “Why was it so easy?” If it was so easy, the agency could have found her a year ago back when I originally submitted for the search. I didn’t understand the timing. It seemed wrong and inconvenient. My mind immediately jumped to how quickly I could make it back to Korea. Could I go this year even? I had just come back home two months prior.

In the end, it happened. In fact, I'm in Seoul right now. I still don’t understand the timing, though I’ve accepted it at this point. Now, I’m just grateful that this is happening, thanks, mainly, to the support of my parents and a few adoptee friends.

I wasn't sure what to expect, what I was going to ask, or how I was going to handle all of this. But I knew I wanted it to happen, and that was enough.