But, are we teaching him Korean?...No. At least not right now. We can't teach what we don't know, right? Actually, the whole concept of teaching him about Korean culture is a very thin line for us. Yes, I want him to be aware of his birth culture, and celebrate the wonderful things about it. At the same time, I think it's important for us to realize that he'll be raised as an American. I don't want him to feel alienated from his peers because of emphasis we might place on Korean culture. Having recently listened to adult Korean adoptees talk about how they fit into Korean culture, we learned they simply don't. In Korea, international adoptees are looked at as more American than Korean. So, they're lost somewhere in between. Not quite American, not quite Korean. It is all very sad for us. Everyone wants so desperately for their child to fit in. It breaks my heart that someday, our little boy may very likely have a racial identity crisis. I think the best thing we can do is align him with other international adoptees, from Korea and elsewhere. These are the people who will be his biggest support... the others who have BTDT (been there, done that). The other thing we can do is work hard now to create (and maintain) an open communication about how he feels about this. I know he's a little young to really get it, but I think it's important to practice now, so it all comes naturally when he's older.
OK, so I got off on a little tangent...sorry. But, this has been on my mind recently. And afterall, isn't that what this whole blog thing is about?
1 comment:
Can I just print out this part of the blog and hold it out for people to read when they ask us the exact same questions??? It would be SO much easier ;) With Eli's speech delay, the #1 comment we now hear is..."Maybe he is speaking Korean and you just don't know it!" ;)
Mara
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