Until I met Kimchi!

No Korean meal - and no Korea-related blog - without kimchi!

Upon registrering for the International Gathering for Korean Adoptees in Seoul next August 2007, participants are asked to write a short quote about what it means to be adopted or how it has affected one's life. Well, that is - I get 25 words to coin the essence of this lifespan of first hand experience on the issue. So - I had to go 'meta' - here's what came up:

"Growing up

being part of someone unknown, something unseen

has been like a journey without a starting point

without an ending point

- until I met Kimchi!"

Kimchi is "gourmet" to some and "get-it-away-from-me" to others! It's fermented cabbage with loads of garlic, ginger and chilli - and Korea and kimchi are synonyms! Korea is kimchi and kimchi is Korea..

Like love is more that being in love, being Korean is more that being born Korean. It's a journey which is constituted within the individual person, based on a bodily experience - as Merlau-Ponty would agree.. - however, I have no clue as to whether Merlau-Ponty liked kimchi or not!

Travelling in Korea some 8 years ago, being vegetarian, I lived of a delicious diet, consisting of rice, seaweed and kimchi - but next summer I'll be sure to go visit Sanchon restaurants for a more gourmet version of the Korean vegetarian kitchen! Experiences of life so far, being Korean, adopted, a woman, a daughter, a friend, a human being are not easily expressed in words. But the taste of kimchi....whether I eat kimchi here or in Korea - in the company of Koreans, adoptees or by my self...somehow defines the undefinable.