FROM
MORNING CALM TO MIDNIGHT SUN
by
Sunny Jo
A
Korean adoptee’s journey from Land of the Morning Calm to Land of
the
Midnight
Sun. And back to Morning Calm again.
When
a Korean-Norwegian-Canadian woman started tracing her roots in a
foreign country, she uncovered deception, lies, kidnapping, tragedy
and family rivalry. Twenty three years after her identity was
switched from being Park Young-Joo, the youngest member of an intact
family of four, to Jung Ahn-Sun, an “orphaned foundling” available
for international adoption, Sunny Jo returns to Korea to meet the
birthparents who never voluntarily gave her up. But the years apart
have turned the family members into strangers, and barriers of
cultural and linguistic differences lie between them. Will the
language of blood be stronger than estrangement? Can the pain ever
heal?
Sunny
Jo was born in Korea, grew up in Norway, and attended university in
Canada. She currently lives in Sweden together with her two cats.
She is the founder and president of Korean @doptees Worldwide and is
a dedicated adoptee writer and activist. From Morning Calm to Midnight
Sun is her first book. $1.00 from each book purchase goes
to SOS Children's Villages work in Korea
(http://koreasos.or.kr/sos_eng.htm).
Korean
@doptees Worldwide
Torneågatan
41
SE-164
79 Kista
Sweden
www.koreanadoptees.net
Truepeny
Publishing Company
P.
O. Box 350
Bloomfield,
Indiana 47424
USA
Tel:
+1-877-805-3102 or +1-812-384-3521
Fax:
+1-812-384-8518
$14.00
each
ISBN: 91-975534-1-7
Excerpt:
This is a personal book about me, my search for roots and
biological ties in Korea, and my two families. It is based on
personal experience, and testimonies from the involved parties, in
addition to lessons learnt from several years of activism and
involvement inside the Korean adoptee community. Even though
personal experiences and emotions only belong to the mentioned
persons, our situation is far from unique. Other adoptees and their
families might be able to recognize themselves in parts of the book.
After I told my story to other adoptees, to biological parents, and
adoptive parents, I learned about similar stories. Over time, it has
become important to me to shed some light on the issues that these
stories raised, without losing my own personal
perspective.
Numerous books have been written about adoption of children
from the “Third World” to Western countries and white families.
These are written by adoption professional or academic “experts,” or
adoptive parents with a perspective different from that of those who
must experience adoption as pioneers: the children. Very little has
been written by the real experts in the area – the adult adoptees.
This book is not a textbook in adoption, nor does it break adoption
into statistics or numbers. It is a personal narrative told by an
internationally adopted person, a story about human beings and their
emotions. But the book is also more than one person’s memoir, since
the situations, issues and circumstances have a much wider relevance
and a larger scope than only the mentioned individuals.
(p. 6-7)
It
all started February 27th 2000, on a regular Sunday morning. I had
no classes and no plans for the day, so I slept in late – until the
cat, my only roommate, woke me up in order to get her breakfast. I
was careful not to roll over the numerous books and magazines which
lined the empty half of my futon, before I got up, stepped over a
pile of books on the floor, and went into the kitchen to feed the
cat. Next stop was the
bathroom where I washed my face and brushed my teeth, before
returning to the bedroom, stopping at the fridge in order to grab a
can of Coca Cola Classic on my way back. With the morning procedure
taken care of, I seated myself by my desk and turned on the computer
in order to check my e-mail. Starting at the top, I scanned the list
of incoming e-mails consisting of a few messages from different
mailing lists, a few letters from friends, and some spam. Little
could prepare me for the shock that awaited me. I reached for the
can of Coke and continued reading. My heart almost stopped! The mail
was from Jeannie at G.O.A.’L., Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link. The
subject line said “good news” I continued reading without fully
comprehending the content:
“Hello
Sunny, this is Jeannie from G.O.A.’L. We got your story out in
newspapers and on cable TV, and today a man called us who claims to
be your father. He remembers your birth date; your real name is Park
Young-Joo. His name is Park Jin-Soon; your mother’s name is Jo
Kyung-Soon. Both have blood type B. They live together and have a
daughter. They have searched for you and your brother for 25 years.
There is only one detail which does not fit, your grandmother’s
name. I will meet them 3.3.2000. He will give you photographs of the
family, and write you letters, and we will forward it to you as soon
as possible. I hope this is your family. Please write me back as
soon as possible. Good luck. Jeannie from
G.O.A.’L...”
For
several minutes I sat paralyzed only able to stare at the screen. At
the same time, I did not really dare to believe, not yet. Ever since
I started searching for my biological family in the summer of 1999,
I had prepared myself for disappointments. I knew the chances of
finding them were slim and that most likely there would never be a
reunion, but now, less than a year later, the flame of hope had been
rekindled. Maybe….
(p.
9-10) | 
