Traveling to Korea: Chasing My Biggest Dream Yet
With the rise in popularity of K-dramas and K-pop, it seems like everyone wants to go to Korea. In fact just last week the Korean Singers Association President asked K-pop global superstars BTS, “to reconsider their hiatus, just weeks after the septet announced that they will be taking a much-needed break to focus on solo projects.”
“BTS’s popularity is fueling tourism to Korea, study of the Korean language, interest in Korean movies, television, fashion and food. All told, BTS is bringing in an estimated $5 billion a year to South Korea. That’s around half a percent of the country’s entire economy.”
Count me as one of those people who’s been contributing to the South Korean economy for the past two years via Korean language classes and BTS merch. And I’m about to make an even bigger contribution. In July, I’ll be one of the thousands who will be visiting South Korea this year. But for me, this won’t be the first time I’ve been to Korea.
Two days after I turned one-year old* I was sent from Korea to the U.S. to be adopted. On July 10th I will take my first international flight since leaving Korea. On July 11th—the exact date I left Korea—I will step back on Korean soil for the first time. This trip has been a long time coming—but not as long as you might think.
If you follow this blog, you know I had very little interest in the country where I was born until I discovered K-dramas and BTS during the Covid-19 pandemic. I won’t delve into the backstory here but if you read my Crash Landing On You, City Hunter, Her Private Life, or Permission to Be Asian blog posts there are details about the journey I’ve been on these past couple of years.
After connecting with other Korean adoptees back in 1999, I’ve had multiple opportunities to return to Korea with K-Adoptee friends but the desire was never strong enough to make me go. K-dramas and BTS changed that by helping me to see myself and the country where I was born from a different perspective. My youngest, Chlo, asked me if I regret not going sooner. I don’t. I do wish this ah-ha moment hadn’t come so late in my life, but without the influence of K-dramas and BTS I don’t think I would’ve appreciated Korea the way I will now. When I visit the cities and sights I’ve only seen in Korean dramas, movies, and BTS music videos I’m literally going to be like one of my favorite Korean actors, Jung Hae-In, who looked like a kid in a candy store when he visited New York City (as seen in Jung Hae-In’s Travel Log).
On March 11th, I heard the news that Korea was lifting its required 14-day quarantine period for foreigners. The fact I’ll be a foreigner in the country where I was born is in and of itself quite ironic. My heart was pounding as I sent a text to my KAD sister-friend to tell her the news. I had been waiting for this for over a year, so once it became official I wanted to start planning this pilgrimage back right away.
The first thing I needed to do was to be realistic about what I could do in a short amount of time. If I had my way I’d live in Korea for a year because I don’t want to just be a tourist in the country where I was born. If not a year—three months—the maximum allowed without a visa. But I want to go to Korea as soon as possible, so trying to plan something long-term would only delay when I could go. Making a major life change isn’t something I can do overnight, and like most everyone else, the pandemic has definitely impacted my wallet.
My KAD sister-friend and her family wanted to go at the end of May, but my kids couldn’t go then. If I couldn’t be there on my real birthday (May 29th) I got it in the back of my mind that arriving in Korea on the date when I left would hold some kind of significance. But it’s more expensive to go in July. Not to mention it’s monsoon season and quite hot. September would be less expensive and the weather would be nearly ideal, but it would also mean another delay. What to do, what to do?
When I was chatting with a Korean American acquaintance (who lives in Korea) on Instagram he said, “Sentimentals are important, too, which money can’t buy.” His sage advice helped me feel like I wasn’t being silly for wanting to land on July 11th. We hopped onto a Zoom call and during our in-depth conversation, he also helped me see that being a tourist for the first time isn’t a bad thing. He encouraged me to take my time and explore everything so I can get a good feel for Korea. That relieved some pressure. I don’t have to move to Korea the first time I go back. I realized whether I am able to make that dream a reality or not, I also don’t need to look at this trip as a one-time thing. In some ways, it seemed like this was going to be my one shot to go back. But hopefully, it’ll just be the first time.
Realistically, even the 3-month plan was also out of reach because I don’t want to take the time to plan that far out. I want to go now! If the pandemic has taught us anything, we can’t keep putting things off because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Another COVID spike could derail this trip if Korea closed down again. I need to get over there while I can, even if it’s not the ideal time, weather, or circumstance. Who knows maybe something will happen that allows me to stay for three months.
I always thought my first trip back would include my KAD sister-friend. I also wanted to have my kids there if possible. They’ve wanted to go to Korea longer than I have. But trying to plan around seven people’s schedules and four different budgets is nearly impossible, and the caveat I hadn’t necessarily expected is that my kids want to be with me when I step off that plane the first time.
Korean Air is not the cheapest way to fly, but friends in Korea, Canada, and the U.S. tell me the Korean Air experience is worth it. Since I only get one chance to go back for the first time, the experience is important. I didn’t want to cut corners and regret it later. After looking at every flight that would put me in Korea on July 11th and much back and forth with everyone, I booked tickets on Korean Air via Delta. The two airlines are partners—which works well for me since I live in Atlanta (where Delta has its headquarters). I’ve heard the economy seats on Korean Air have similar room to first class on other airlines, so with a 13+ hour flight that is going to be nice. The flights do not have a change fee, so if something should happen that will allow me to stay longer I can always change my flight without being penalized.
I was tasked with doing the research on what we need to do to get to Korea (given how the COVID rules keep changing here and there). My daughter, Taylor, and I figured out our lodging via Airbnb—we don’t need fancy but we want to be comfortable. Tours sell out fast so I had to figure out must-dos and maybes, what we need a guide for, and what we can do on our own. Planning a trip like this isn’t for the faint-at-heart. It requires a lot of Internet research. I also reached out to friends who live in Korea and friends who’ve traveled to Korea for recommendations. Throughout this process, I’ve been taking notes so I can blog about everything you need to know if you want to plan a trip to Korea.
I’ve got a list of things we want to see in Seoul, Busan (where I was born), and a few other smaller towns. Everything from cafes to K-drama and BTS shooting locations as well as markets, museums, palaces, the DMZ, a couple of temples, bridges, parks, and forests. I desperately need a haircut, so I’m waiting until I get to Korea for that. I also want to check out all the K-beauty firsthand to see if Koreans really do have the secret for better skincare. I would be thrilled if I could see a K-drama being shot on location and even better would be to sneak in as an extra. It would be interesting to compare the difference with my three seasons as an extra on ABC’s hit show Nashville.
One thing I’m really looking forward to is meeting friends and acquaintances I’ve made over the last two years via Korean language classes, Instagram, and Clubhouse. Some are native Koreans and some have moved to Korea in recent months. My Korean language buddy from the Netherlands will be in Korea during part of the time I’m there, and so will my co-host (Noona’s Noonchi) of the monthly KADs & K-Dramas room in the K-Adoptees club on Clubhouse. It’s going to be surreal to meet all these folks face-to-face who I’ve been Zoom-ing and talking with via Clubhouse and Instagram for nearly two years.
Everyone is asking if I’m excited. If I’m honest—excited isn’t how I’m feeling. There’s a lot of anxiousness because I only have one chance to go back for the first time and I want it to be memorable—in a good way. But that puts a lot of pressure on me, so I’m also trying to manage my expectations. There’s a part of me that won’t even believe I’m going until that Korean Air flight is in the air. Watching Youn Yuh-Jung’s character return to Korea on the AppleTV+ series Pachinko was very emotional for me—but unlike Sunja—I have no memories. Honestly, I don’t know how I will react. I want to live in the moment and not have to worry about trying to document everything, but if we don’t have videos and pictures how much of the initial arrival will I even remember?
Another thing people want to know is if I’m going to search for family. Over the past couple of years, I have begun to wonder if anyone in Korea is looking for me. Does anyone think about me on my birthday? I’m quite certain I would at least have half-siblings if not full siblings living in Korea—or maybe the U.S. if they immigrated here. I always thought my birth mom was probably younger when she had me before I found out through 23andMe I am full Korean and not mixed as my parents had been told. Having two Korean biological parents potentially changes my backstory from single mom to youngest child my married parents (with a fully intact family) couldn’t afford to keep. But finding family is easier said than done because my generation has such little information to go off of. If the opportunity arises to connect with family, of course I would jump at it. But I have zero expectations. And I also wonder if learning about me would be something my Korean family would welcome or dread? I’m not even sure how accepted I will be in general as an adoptee. Either way, it would probably require me to run smack dab into a doppelgänger, which seems highly unlikely. So I’m not going to be searching for family—but that doesn’t mean I won’t be looking.
If you want to keep up with my journey back to Korea follow me on Instagram and TikTok to watch me chase down my biggest dream yet. I really hope this is only the first of many trips back to where I started.
Have you ever been to Korea? Let me know what you thought about your visit or if you have any recommendations, in the comment section.
*When I say two days after I turned one, it’s because my parents were told I was born on July 9th. But I found out in 2000 that my birthday is actually May 29th, so technically it would’ve been six weeks after I turned one. If you want to get even more technical—when I boarded the plane in Korea I was actually two years old, but when I landed in the U.S. I was one. That’s because in Korea you are considered to be one-year old when you are born and every January 1st everyone together turns the next age. So depending on what month you were born some Koreans are considered two years older than those born on the same date in the U.S. The new Korean President, has a plan to switch Korea over to the international system to measure age before the end of 2023.
