Susan's Story

An adult understanding knows there's always two sides to every story.

When I was just a few days old my mother wrapped me in her warmest blankets, placed me cozy in a basket, and left me on the steps of a police station in Seoul, South Korea. Abandoning your baby isn't easy, and I have no doubt that it wasn't for her.

Six months later I was with an American family in a small town on the lower Great Lakes. With three older brothers, I grew up as a Michigan tomboy, playing tackle football, exploring the autumn woods, and watching the Chicago Cubs. I didn't realize that I looked different than the rest of my Scottish-Dutch family until after our first family photo. To kids growing up in a small mid western town, all "Asians" are "Chinese" so I thought I was Chinese for most of my early school years.

The nightlight in my room outlined the map of Korea on my childhood wall, shaped as a rabbit. This was the extent of my interest in Korea and my culture for much of my young life. I was far too busy being "American."

I grew up in a loving adoptive family. And, as a curious woman I had opportunities far more than many. Since completing college in Michigan, I have explored 47 states, 34 countries, and 5 continents - and I'm still curious. In 2001 I returned to Seoul on a one-year contract to teach English to Korean children at an English as a Second Language (ESL) academy. It was the loneliest and most uncomfortable year of my life, but also one of the most defining, with adorable kids, lifelong friends, earning a black belt in Korean Taekwondo, and understanding the many emotions of adoption. Destiny, Hope, and Luck are some.

Many people ask if I tried to look up my birth parents in that year. I was lucky and never lacked for a "family" or sense of self. I was determined to spend some time and energy experiencing "my" culture, understanding its reasons for adoption, and volunteering at an orphanage sharing my hope and luck with other abandoned children.