Day 21
First of all, just to clarify, I was not given any sort of confidentiality documents that I needed to sign, nor was I told that I'm not allowed to reproduce my story elsewhere. However, appreciating the privacy of such an event, I shall go with 1) No names, 2) No personal info, and 3) No specific location names. That should cover it.
I left my aunt's house at a whopping 8:00 A.M. when it was raining like crazy. To sum it up using obsucre references:
"Thunder, rain, and lightning, Danger, water rising; Clamour, sirens wailing, It's such a bad sign."
I took my aunt's ginormous umbrella and arrived at my office at 9:30. There, I expected to go to the hotel via taxi like I was told, but nooooo, schedule's changed or something, and I need to take the subway again for about an hour and take a bus for god knows how long. The other translator and I laughed awkwardly in the elevator, dreading having to ride public transit again after all the time it took coming here. Both of us having come from the States (academics-wise), we sucked at finding our way and had to take a taxi after the subway ride.
Cue the other office and meeting the adoptees who we were translating for the day. Needless to say, both were very nervous and emotional about meeting birth parents, and although we were told to be more relaxed than they were, it was a rather difficult thing to do. We did make some small talk, but it was rather hard to in such a situation.
I expected to translate the adoptees meeting their birth parents amidst the emotional turbulence all around me, but that was taken care of by the regular workers, who are obviously the experts. We were to be assigned translating for them while they spend time with their birth families before going back to the hotel.
The adoptee (who I shall refer as "Ms. A" for convenience) and her birth family were to visit the birth family's house, have lunch, and perhaps shopping. Because I was the freer one of the two translators, I was assigned to go to their house, which was outside of Seoul.
I translated for Ms. A and her birth family starting from in the car. Gven the different cultural norms, we were told there were some things Koreans can say to each other without any hurtful intent, though it may be otherwise for the adoptees, so we had to act tactfully. It was my second time translating for work here, but first time translating for adoptees and birth families. Trying to figure out if this comment would sound okay when translated was the hardest thing to do, not to mention trying to use neutral vocabulary and tone while containing the truth. And, although minor, continuously speaking in a car that was going outside of Seoul, while being carsick, was a bit of work, too, though I didn't (and shouldn't) complain about that part.
After a brief house tour, we had lunch at a Japanese restaurant. Ms. A's aunt gave her niece a bunch of creams to make fair skin, though Ms. A was amused and said how she actually preferred getting some sun, as per the usual Western preference for skin tone. Her aunt still gave her the creams anyway, saying that it's better being tan when one has a clear complexion. Ms. A's aunt also used me as a reference, saying women should have nice, fair skin, "like this student here", and pointed to my arm. So... I guess I'm on the pale side? *shrug* Never really cared for whitening OR tanning, I really wouldn't know.
We then went shopping, where Ms. A bought some Korean foodstuffs to send to her adoptive family, and after some time, had to take her back to the hotel, in Seoul. I wondered how Ms. A and her birth family would handle all this, and although they were naturally slightly shook up at times, all in all it seemed to be a polite and peaceful affair, no huge conflicts or any content that I would have hesitated to translate. It was also something to have my translation work appreciated, especially by Ms. A, especially since she was familiar with such procedures and was shocked that we came to translate without any particular formal training or confidentiality documents.
It was during the car ride that I forgot my (aunt's) umbrella at the birth family's house. Oops. I apologized profusely, but they didn't mind too much, thankfully. So outside of Seoul we went again to fetch an umbrella. And then I took the subway and bus to go back home in the route I was familiar with, which was another trip to Seoul and back, because being horrifically direction-challenged, I wasn't going to risk myself of finding a new and potentially faster way home. I've had too many unfortunate results from being risky.
Starting from 8 A.M, outside of Seoul, I:
went to Seoul - went outside of Seoul - went to Seoul - went outside of Seoul - went to Seoul - went outside of Seoul and came home. MY GOD.
It was 9 P.M. when I came back, and I was hungry and exhausted to the point that I was having temporary memory failure with what I did that day. Was still an extraordinary experience.
Day 22
Highlights:
1) Watched "Inception" with my aunt and cousins. Great movie.
2) My little cousin wanted to order (baked) chicken from this chicken place because they offered Girls' Generation posters, as opposed to the usual place that my aunt orders chicken. We ended up ordering both and having lots of chicken. This is why idol singer worship is not healthy.
3) Went clothes shopping again with my aunt in a place very near the apartment, failed once more, and my aunt just said to go find clothes myself, since she couldn't seem to help and her tastes and mine clearly do not match. I'm sorry that I don't like flashy print shirts or girly tops that isn't washing machine-friendly!
