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Center for Reproductive Justice
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Don't be afraid!! Getting around Korea isn't hard.Korea has the world's 10th largest economy--it's no longer poor and war-torn. Seoul is similar to New York, only the K-Town never ends! Here are some basic facts about visiting Korea that your adoption agency tour guide is probably not going to tell you: Lodging Why spend $80-$100+ a night on a "Western" hotel with disgusting carpet that has been walked on with SHOES? (YUCK.) Lodging is available at KoRoot for ADULT ADOPTEES and their guests. It's about $15 a night. It is like a very, very, very nice hostel. There is no praying required! However, males and females bunk in different rooms. So if you want to sleep with your opposite-sex partner, get a "motel." In Korea, the word "motel" connotes impropriety, but these days married couples use them as a place to get away from the kids and in-laws for a few hours or a night. Motels are cheap, safe, and clean. You can find them ANYWHERE in Korea, and depending on if it's a weekday or weeknight, you can crash for about $30-$45 per night (after 8:00 PM). Tiny beverages, giant TVs, toiletries, and internet are often included. You may be able to negotiate a deal if you stay for a couple of weeks. If you are tremendously cheap, you can sleep in the sauna (jjimjilbang) for $7-$10 a night. Gositels and hasukchips can be found in any university area. You can rent them by showing your passport and paying about $300-$400 in advance per month. You get a shared bath, private small room to sleep in, and sometimes food. Hasukchips (boarding houses) always provide food, while gositels sometimes provide rice, soup, tea, and kimchi. There's no reservation required; just walk around and ask to see rooms until you find one you like. Click here to see what they look like. Eating It's possible to not starve in Seoul for about $10 a day. If you want to eat very well and eat a lot of "foreign" food, that's a different story. Don't worry about planning where you're going to eat; there are restaurants EVERYWHERE. I don't think it's possible to be a strict vegetarian in Korea. Prepare to at least eat some seafood friends. And, there is no getting away from white rice! Transportation Korea has a wonderfully developed and cheap public transportation system. You can take a train, bus, or taxi nearly anywhere. Addresses don't mean a lot in Korea, so bring a map with you if you think you might get lost. Taxi drivers can look at maps and figure out where to take you, and if you have a phone number to where you're going, he can call the other Korean person and get directions if you get lost. I drive in Korea because I live in the countryside, but Korean logic for road signage is different than Western logic. And the price of gas will make you cry (about $70 for one tank in my Hyundai Sonata). Unless you absolutely must go somewhere off the beaten track, I wouldn't recommend driving. Important things you might need to buy Medical services are amazingly cheap in Korea compared to the U.S. A visit to the doctor including labs and prescription medicine might run you about $30, depending on what you need. Doctors speak English; desk staff may or may not. You can buy birth control pills without a prescription. They cost anywhere from about $5-$15 for one month's supply. Just go to the pharmacy and ask. If you want the patch, you have to go to the doctor. Your brand might not be available, but they have a lot of German-manufactured pills. Condoms are available at any covenience store (like 7-11). You don't have to bring tampons/pads with you. You can buy them in many stores in Seoul. If you go to the countryside and you must use tampons, bring them along. Contact lens solutions are widely available (Alcon and Renu). There's no need to bring large amounts of beauty and hygiene products in your suitcase. Contacts and prescription glasses are cheap and of good quality in Korea. In general, I've been able to buy anything I want in Seoul (except clove cigarettes and good Chinese food). Imported products are available but expensive, as they are everywhere. Sightseeing OK, my critique of the usual thousands-of-dollars tours is that they have no relevance to everyday, contemporary Korean life--and besides, admission to all those palaces and temple is usually only about a dollar anyway. Heck, if you go in through the back gates, there's no admission fee at all! If you come to Korea, try to get away from all the palaces, temples, orphanages, and unwed mothers' homes and see how ordinary Koreans live. Spend some time looking at people in the subway. On your way out from Holt Children's Services and Travel Agency, grab yourself a bottle of soju at a convenience store, and then take a right across the big intersection and walk down to the Han River to enjoy the walking/biking paths. Check out the newly renovated Cheongyecheon area, which restored some natural life to Seoul. Or explore a neighborhood to see what kinds of housing people live in. You can experience Korean university student nightlife near Hongik University, Ewha University, and Sinchon (close to Yonsei and Sogang). You can see the rich part of Seoul in Gangnam and Apkujeong. And of course, don't forget to take a trip outside Seoul to enjoy the beautiful countryside. Visas Most adoptees can get an F-4 Visa, which gives overseas Koreans almost all the benefits of citizenship. In my everyday life, what is most important about the visa is that I can live and work here indefinitely. You can apply for it while in Korea (at an immigration office), or you can get it through your area Korean consulate. Warning: in order to get the F-4, you have to renounce your Korean citizenship. Adoptees might still legally have Korean citizenship but not know it. Settling in The adoptee-run organization G.O.A.L. can make your stay easier by helping you with any problems, informing you about language scholarships, and introducing you to the other 100-200 of us who have repatriated to Korea. Many adoptees live in the Hongdae, Ewha, and Sinchon neighborhoods of Seoul. There are also adoptees living in Daejon, Pusan, and at the university I attended, Geumgang University. *I recently met an Australian adoptee here. His name is Lee, he thinks kangaroo meat is great, and he keeps an excellent blog of what I think is a pretty typical native-English-speaking adoptee experience in Korea. While the rest of the gang is out on the town, I prefer to stay home and read a book or watch TV, but I'm a 35-year-old INFJ, what can I do...so anyway, that's why Lee's blog is here--because it's way more exciting than mine!
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| The Language of Blood: A Memoir Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption | Fugitive Visions |
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