Korean Culture Day

Justin working hard on his Hanji box

We attended Korean Culture Day which was put together by a college aged Korean adoptee and several friends from the UW Madison adoption group. The adults learned how to make Hanji boxes (decorative boxes made from special paper) and heard a panel of older Korean adoptees (college age or just graduated) share of their adoption experience followed by insight from a few of their adoptive parents. After the panels, we joined the children in learning how to make Mandoo (Korean Dumplings or Potstickers).

Panel of college age Korean adoptees share their experience of growing up, traveling back to Korea, and some meeting birth parents

Drum Playing

The finale was performances put on by the kids (they showed us different things they learned that day.) and then a few of the college helpers shared some of their talents as well. My favorite was a break dancing routine. The kids LOVED it and couldn't take their eyes off of the guy performing.

The younger kids enjoyed Korean Story time, song & dance time, and making a Korean Chonggo drum. Ben's group learned another type of Korean drum dance, participated in Korean follow-along dance videos, learned some beginning Korean phrases, and learned how to write their original Korean name. We all had a blast. After a very enjoyable morning, we headed to Panera with our friends, the Weber family, for a delicious lunch before they headed back to Milwaukee.