Saturday, July 5, 2008

Lost in Translation

(photo: birth father and his wife, brother - in birth father's kitchen/dining room)

I spent quality time with my brother this weekend and found out some interesting information. It was to my understanding that I was ship to America because my birth parents got pregnant w/ me and were unmarried (which is a no-no in Korea) and then got married and had my brother a year later. However, I found out my birth parents got married when my brother was 3 or 6 years old!!! That caught me off guard and pissed me off a little since for the past 14 years I’ve had the wrong information. Guess my birth parents thought they matured in the three months between the birth of my to the conception of my brother and thought they were now ready to handle a child. What sucks is I don’t think I’m ever going to know the whole truth since things seem to get lost in translation ….

However, so far every time I see my family, I learn something new about the culture, their personality, or my family history so this year is starting off just as I hoped. I need to believe I’m getting the right translation as I continue to figure out why I am who I am.

My birth father said the first time he saw me (12yrs old) he could tell I was stubborn and that I get that from my birth mother. He likes to run and can play sports but isn’t good at one in particular. He likes to drink and has a good tolerance.

My birth mother likes to bike and seems to be kind of a “tomboy.” She doesn’t play any sports and she’s glad I didn’t get her teeth (and so am I). She’s good at writing.

My birth brother
likes to help others more than himself. He doesn’t do sports but likes to swim. He’s never been in an airplane! He didn’t go to college because he didn’t think he needed to. One day he might go and study law but he said it’s really hard. He’s very organized and when he has to do something, he does it well.

My half-sister (who I haven’t met yet) apparently wants to learn how to play softball/baseball so I volunteered to help teach her. Apparently she’s going through “puberty” so she’s doing teenage behaviors.

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