Count down to Korea....

Okay.....I began this blog to chronicle my adventures in South Korea and now this blog's destiny is another step closer to being fulfilled. My passport is in the mail and I have a leave-by date: February 13th (arriving the 14th in Korea). I'll have a day to relax (or more likely be pounced upon by my birth family) and then I'll start a week of training and studying before moving on to the actual teaching. SO.....in other news.....

I spoke with my birth father for the first time the other day. Ever since my birth family first made contact, I was nine years old (16 years ago, in case you're mathematically challenged like me. In fact, there's a good chance I'm wrong.). Since then, I have spoken to everyone except for him. I was told he is very quiet and shy and doesn't like to talk much. And although I've always accepted that, in the back of my emotional mind it's always made me question whether it was because his interest in me just wasn't there.

 (1st pic of birth father and me when I arrived in Korea--taken from one of my first posts written in Korea, "Picture Update")

It was New Year's Day (the day after New Year's in Korea, but that day is also considered a holiday apparently), and Eunkyung called me to tell me "Happy New Year" and that she was drinking vodka. I'd once told her I liked vodka, so I suppose this is, for now, our common bond. Then, out of nowhere, she suggested she put her father on the phone. Coincidentally, not even an hour before the call, I had taken a nap and had a dream about meeting my birth father. In this dream, he'd decided to get a tattoo upon seeing mine--but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, he got on the phone and I realized his voice was a lot deeper and more commanding than I'd expected out of such a "quiet" and "shy" man. He told me "Happy New Year" and managed (with Eunkyung's help) to convey to me that I should thank my parents for taking such good care of me. He also added that he, too, was drinking vodka. By the way, it was about noon over there.

Next, my birth mother got on the horn, saying that she was drinking vodka as well and that she was drunk. The enthusiastic phrase "I drunk!" elicited a giggle from me, which delighted her. I then rattled off a couple of Korean phrases I'd learned since Christmas which made her and Eunkyung squeal simultaneously with excitement.

All in all, it was a pretty good phone conversation. It renewed my excitement about going on this trip. I have such curiosity about my birth father and the short conversation I had with him only strengthened my desire to get to know him.

Once again, I feel positive about going to Korea, which is something I really needed.