Mega mini

One of the coolest things about getting together with other adoptees — and transracial adoptees in particular — is that when we meet, it often tends to feel less like meeting a stranger and more like catching up with a distant cousin or an old friend. For me, this was the case with several of the mini-gathering attendees I had the pleasure of meeting this past weekend in Seattle.

Whether listening to others talk about their perspective and experiences as an adoptee in group sessions, or talking one-on-one in a social setting, the familiarity that’s often just there between us is one of the most comfortable feelings that I have ever felt — which is significant because of the social awkwardness I tend to feel, both outwardly and inwardly, in so many other situations. But with many adoptees, and especially Korean adoptees, there’s just that sense that these are my people, my family tree beyond the lines.

There’s also that strange sense that the room is spinning … or maybe that you are spinning. Anyway, that part might have been because of the lethal cocktail of the severe sleep deficit I was operating under for the duration of the trip plus all the … well, cocktails. But who’s really keeping track?

At any rate, a good time was had by all, as they say — although the time seemed to pass all too quickly. A couple of my fellow KAD bloggers and I were well met. And while I didn’t get to spend nearly enough time with you ladies, it was awesome meeting you nonetheless. Hawai’i would make a nice halfway stopover en route to or from Korea, you know.

Involvement in global and local adoptee community played a big role in the discussion. And how appropriate, with two Korean adoptees joining us in Seattle all the way from Sweden. With so much to do and so little time, I missed my opportunity to spend any quality time with the Swedes, which I’m kind of disappointed about, because I meant to ask them if all the quirky Swedish customs we always partook of in my childhood hometown were taken as far out of context as I’ve suspected. An odd ritual involving rides in a wheelbarrow on one’s birthday has long roused my suspicion. The Swedes in my community may or may not have been slightly senile — I’m not sure.

Thanks in large part to Sarah Kim, some of us also engaged in a thoughtful discussion about birth family reunions and the added tier of complexity they add to the layer cake. (Although to clarify, no dessert metaphors were actually used in the session; I merely have case of the munchies as I sit here, composing this blog entry.) Again, time seemed to be working against us, as we could have really used a whole day to discuss birth family dynamics post-reunion even more in-depth among the reunited adoptees in the group. But other topics — and the city — beckoned.

In our off-hours, various friends and I roamed the stalls of the public market at Pike Place, did some emergency shoe-and-accessory shopping downtown (fashion crisis narrowly averted!), sought out some soul food at Shilla, and finally got to ascend the Space Needle. We all dug Varekai, under the blue-and-yellow big top out in Microsoft territory. And there might have been some very light drinking involved at various points — or so I hear.

I have to hand it to the fine folks at AAAW for throwing one helluva floating party Saturday night. You’ve given us KAHI kids quite a bit to think about as we consider hosting a future mini here in Hawai’i. How to top the dinner cruise? Nothing’s certain, but I’m thinking some hula kane in very small malo/loincloths might be a logical place to start.

So we’re all agreed, then, that 2007 is all about Korea. (Am I right? Good. Glad we have that settled.) Hawai’i mini-gathering 2008? We shall see. Log those frequent flyer miles, kids, and stay tuned.